Subiect: Psychology
Topic: case vignette; clinical mental health counseling treatment for client
Paper details:
Below is a case vignette that must be used to write this paper; the instructions for writing the paper are also
included below. Instructions are first, then the case vignette. There must be a minimum of 2 professional
-scholarly sources and these sources must be from clinical psychology, psychology or counseling psychology
the paper needs to be supported by evidence-based information – (that will come from the 2 professional
references used). Must be APA 6th edition.
Instructions for paper:
Identify 3 issues you believe are essential to treat/address if Cassandra were your client (and you had
unlimited time to work with her). Provide at least a sentence each to explain why you are focusing on these
particular 3 issues. Provide at least 2 professional references from counseling (clinical psychology,
psychology, and counseling psychology) as your paper needs to be supported by evidence-based information.
Paper must be based on the following case vignette:
Cassandra is a 15 year old male to female 9th grade transgender student. Her birth name was José, but she
has communicated to all of her classmates and teachers that she’d prefer her “correct name,” Cassandra, a
few years ago. She comes from a self-describe “traditional Mexican household” with strong family ties.
Cassandra is the youngest of four children (3 brothers and 1 sister), and she is the only transgender child
among her siblings. Her parents, although very confused about Cassandra’s transition, are reportedly
supportive of her “new identity.” Her father, however, has voiced some concerns and fears for Cassandra that
she will be a target of bullying or abuse by other children at her school. For this reason he has recommended
Cassandra to change her school a few times with no success. He also indicated that he does not know how to
explain “what happened to my son” to some of his family members, and there is an undeniable shame that is
expressed when talking about Cassandra. Her mother reports she loves all of her children “no matter what”
but blames herself for Cassandra’s transition due to her poor parenting.
Cassandra shares that she has a few best friends (all are cisgender) who are emotionally available and
supportive for her transition. She also shares that she believes her parents are “old fashioned” and do not
fully understand how excepting her generation is with transgender individuals. She does, however, indicate
all of her older brothers have shown difficulties accepting her change. “They think this is a choice I have – so
they keep asking me why I cannot just transitioned back to who I was,” Cassandra states.
Because Cassandra is under age, she has not undergone any physical and medical procedures yet. However as
soon as her medical doctors sure her, she plans to begin hormone therapy and eventually an extensive gender
reassignment surgery process.
A few weeks ago, Cassandra was caught selling Ritalin (2 of her brothers have been prescribed Ritalin for
ADHD symptoms) after students who bought it misused it (mixed with alcohol). Although one of the students
went into ER, Cassandra showed no remorse stating that she is aware of how much the transitional
procedures will cost her – hence her need to make money “by any means necessary.”
