Respond to two colleagues by proposing an intervention that would address the indicators identified. Explain the potential impact of social work interventions such as this on adolescents’ lives. How might Stephanie’s adolescent life have improved with this intervention?
Parker Family Episode 3
Parker Family Episode 3
Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: I want to take care of her. I really do. I mean, she’s my
mom, and she’s not getting any younger. But I deserve my own life, my own
place. And I’m always tired of feeling like I’m suffocating all the time. It’s just– It’s
so confusing. I love her, you know?
FEMALE SPEAKER: I understand that you want a place of your own to live. You
mentioned before that you and your mother argue a lot.
FEMALE SPEAKER: A lot? How about all the time? And all that stuff she hoards,
it’s just like, I’m drowning in it. It’s like there’s more room for her junk than there is
for us. It just drives me crazy. Right to the hospital sometimes.
FEMALE SPEAKER: How many times have you been hospitalized?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Let’s see. Three times in four years. I think I mentioned to
you that I’m bipolar, and I’m lousy dealing with stress. Oh. Wait, um, there was
another time that I was in the hospital. I tried to commit suicide. I guess I was
pretty lousy at that too, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What made you want to do it? I was a teenager. And when
you’re a teenager, you find a reason every day to try to kill yourself, right? I was–
I was depressed.
I remember one night I went out with some of my friends. And, um, they were all
looking up at the sky and talking about how pretty the stars were. And all I could
think about was that that sky was nothing more than a black eye. It was lifeless,
and it could care less about any of us.
When they finally let me go home from the hospital, my family– wow– what a trip
they were. They didn’t want to talk about what I had tried to do. That was off-
limits. I tried to kill myself. And I they acted like nothing ever happened. I’ve never
told anybody that before.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Are you seeing a psychiatrist now?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Um, I go to a clinic, and I see him once a month. I also go
to drop-in centers for group sessions, mostly for my depression.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What about medications?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Hell, yeah. They’re my lifesaver.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What are you taking?
©2013 Laureate Education, Inc. 1
Parker Family Episode 3
FEMALE SPEAKER: Let’s see. For the bipolar I take lithium, Paxil. Oh. Wait a
minute. I made a list so I would not forget the medications that I take. Let’s see. I
take lithium, Paxil, Abilify, Klonopin–
Parker Family Episode 3
Additional Content Attribution
MUSIC:
Music by Clean Cuts
Original Art and Photography Provided By:
Brian Kline and Nico Danks
©2013 Laureate Education, Inc. 2
P
o
s
t
your
in
it
i
a
l r
e
sp
on
se
to
t
he
following:
·
After le
ar
ning ab
out
Steph
an
ie
, imagine
that
you ha
d
be
en
the
school
so
ci
al
w
or
ker at the
ti
me
of
her
suicidal
i
de
ation
.
Which indicators
would
you
have
look
ed
for
in
Stephanie
and
why
?
·
How
would you have responded to each of those indicators?
What
kinds of
questions
would you
have
as
ked her and why?
·
Respon
d to
tw
o
colleagues by proposing an intervention that would address the indicators
ident
if
ied. Explain the potential impact of social work interventions
such
as th
is
on adolescents’
lives.
How might
Stephanie’s
adolescent life have improved
with
this
intervention
?
Colleague 1:
Discussion
What to look
for?
Adolescence
is a time
when
teens
are
experiencing
m
any
changes
and
stress
ors
in
their
lives.
Not
only
are teens
going
through
puberty
they
are
developing
their
identity
which
is
tied
to
peer
acceptance.
I
f
I
was
working
with Stephanie as her
high
school social
worker,
it would be
important
for me to
understand
the stress
related
to
develop
mental
changes.
Additionally,
I would be
looking
out for
warning
signs
that would
indicate
Stephanie’s suicidal ideation.
Those
warning signs are
increased
substance
or al
cohol
use,
aggressive
behavior
s,
suicidal
statement
s
,
isolation,
and
risk
–
taking
behavior
(NAMI.
n.d.).
Looking
for the warning signs and
pay
ing
attention
for any suicidal statements
will
be important when working with
Stephanie.
When
Stephanie
mentioned
the
stars
in the
sky
are
lifeless
and
could
careless
about
others,
I would
ask
to
explore
that statement
some
more
with
her.
Stephanie mentioned that
she
is
diagnosed
with
Bipolar
and
has
suffer
ed
from
depression
.
Individuals
who
suffer from depression are
20
to
30
times
more
likely
to
commit
suicide
(Udo
et
uk
et
al.,
2019).
Given
that Stephanie is diagnosed with Bipolar with
depressive
episodes
it is important to pay attention to any increased depression
symptoms.
How to
Respond
Using
a suicide ideation
screening
tool
such as
Depressive
Symptom
Inventory
–
Suicide
Subscale
to be
able
to
assess
the
severity
of Stephanie’s suicidal ideation will
allow
me to assess for
suicidality.
When
assessing
for suicidal
intent
it is important to
know
if the
person
is in
danger
of
acting
on their suicidal
thoughts.
I would ask Stephanie
directly
about her
feelings
and
provide
active
listening.
Providing
her with
reflective
responses
that
shows
I
am
listening.
While
interview
ing
Stephanie I would be
asking
questions about her
intent?
If
during
the interview it
becomes
clear
that Stephanie is a danger to
herself,
I would
remind
her of the
confidentiality
agreement
we
went
over
previously.
I would
inform
her that I
need
to
call
authorities
because
she is a danger to
herself.
Of
course,
it is important for me to
remain
calm
and
empathetic
while
responding
to Stephanie during this
vulnerable
time.
During
my
experience
working in mental
health
for the
past
twenty
years,
I have on
many
occasions
had
to de
termine
if an
individual
is a danger to
themselves.
Despite
the
trainings
I have had I still find each time a person mentions they want to harm themselves I feel apprehensive and anxious. What if I make the wrong call or don’t act when I am supposed too? During those times when I feel uncertain, I make sure to get the advice of a supervisor.
References
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.-a). Risk of suicide.
https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Common-with-Mental-Illness/Risk-of-Suicide
.
.
Udoetuk, S., Idicula, S., Jabbar, Q., & Shah, A. A. (2019). Suicide in adolescents. Psychiatric Annals, 49(6), 269–272.
https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20190509-01
.
Walden University, LLC. (2013–2021). Parker family (Episode 3) [Video]. Walden University Blackboard.
https://class.waldenu.edu
.
Colleague
2: Discussion
RE: Discussion – Week 11
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
As a school social worker, I would look for lowered grades, lack of extracurricular activities, etc. According to Udoetuk et al., risk factors are mental illness, social isolation, dysfunction in the family, and low self-esteem (2017). These risk factors can be noticed by observing an adolescent. Once the social worker has been made aware of a potential problem, the social worker can call the adolescent in to discuss what problems they may have. For Stephanie, if she was already diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the social worker can ask how the teen has been coping with her diagnosis and if she is having any difficulties. As the school social worker builds rapport, hopefully, Stephanie will begin to talk. I would have looked out for discomfort and body language. Body language can tell a lot about someone. If they are not making eye contact, I could take that as an indicator that they are hiding something to which I would continue to build rapport.
I would respond by chatting with Stephanie. I would make her feel heard, and I would ask her how the dysfunction in her family makes her feel. My response would be heartfelt but still, get to the basis for answers. The questions I would ask would be open-ended which would hopefully open the floor for me to ask if Stephanie has ever thought about suicide. Asking questions outright will help you get to the point so that you can help prevent suicide (NAMI). A specific question could include asking what their plan is if she has stated that she wants to end her life (NAMI). Often times expressing support to get them resources can help someone rethink committing suicide (NAMI). For Stephanie, I would have asked if she had planned on ending her life and then offering support for her to receive resources. I would set a plan with her as the school social worker to ensure that she is benefiting from the resources. Sadly, you can always try to help, but you still never know exactly what someone will do.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.-a). Risk of suicide. https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Common-with-Mental-Illness/Risk-of-Suicide
Udoetuk, S., Idicula, S., Jabbar, Q., & Shah, A. A. (2019). Suicide in adolescents. Psychiatric Annals, 49(6), 269-272. https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20190509-01
Bottom of Form
Bottom of Form
Post
your initial response to the following:
·
After learning about Stephanie, imagine that you had been the school social worker at the time of
her suicidal ideation. Which indicators would you have looked for in
Stephanie and why?
·
How would you have responded to each of those indicators? What kinds of questions would you
have asked her and why?
·
Respon
d
to
tw
o
colleagues by proposing an intervention that would address the indicators
identified. Explain the potential impact of social work interventions such as this on adolescents’
lives. How might Stephanie’s adolescent life have improved with this intervention
?
Colleague 1:
Discussion
What
to
look
for?
Adolescence
is
a
time
when
teens
are
experiencing
many
changes
and
stressors
in
their
lives.
Not
only
are
teens
going
through
puberty
they
are
developing
their
identity
which
is
tied
to
peer
acceptance.
If
I
was
working
with
Stephanie
as
her
high
school
so
cial
worker,
it
would
be
important
for
me
to
understand
the
stress
related
to
developmental
changes.
Additionally,
I
would
be
looking
out
for
warning
signs
that
would
indicate
Stephanie’s
suicidal
ideation.
Those
warning
signs
are
increased
substance
or
al
cohol
use,
aggressive
behaviors,
suicidal
statements,
isolation,
and
risk
–
taking
behavior
(NAMI.
n.d.).
Looking
for
the
warning
signs
and
paying
attention
for
any
suicidal
statements
will
be
important
when
working
with
Stephanie.
When
Stephanie
mentioned
t
he
stars
in
the
sky
are
lifeless
and
could
careless
about
others,
I
would
ask
to
explore
that
statement
some
more
with
her.
Stephanie
mentioned
that
she
is
diagnosed
with
Bipolar
and
has
suffered
from
depression.
Individuals
who
suffer
from
depression
ar
e
20
to
30
times
more
likely
to
commit
suicide
(Udoetuk
et
al.,
2019).
Given
that
Stephanie
is
diagnosed
with
Bipolar
with
depressive
episodes
it
is
important
to
pay
attention
to
any
increased
depression
symptoms.
How
to
Respond
Using
a
suicide
ideation
screening
tool
such
as
Depressive
Symptom
Inventory
–
Suicide
Subscale
to
be
able
to
assess
the
severity
of
Stephanie’s
suicidal
ideation
will
allow
me
to
assess
for
suicidality.
When
assessing
for
suicidal
intent
it
is
important
to
know
if
the
person
is
in
danger
of
acting
on
their
suicidal
thoughts.
I
would
ask
Stephanie
directly
about
her
feelings
and
provide
active
listening.
Providing
her
with
reflective
responses
that
shows
I
am
listening.
While
interviewing
Stephanie
I
would
be
asking
questions
about
her
intent?
If
during
the
interview
it
becomes
clear
that
Stephanie
is
a
danger
to
herself,
I
would
remind
her
of
the
confidentiality
agreement
we
went
over
previously.
I
would
inform
her
that
I
need
to
call
authorities
because
she
is
a
danger
to
herself.
Of
course,
it
is
important
for
me
to
remain
calm
and
empathetic
while
responding
to
Stephanie
during
this
vulnerable
time.
During
my
experience
working
in
mental
health
for
the
past
twenty
years,
I
have
on
many
occasions
had
to
de
termine
if
an
individual
is
a
danger
to
themselves.
Despite
the
trainings
I
