Shawna Gardner is a 24-year-old, African American female. She is single and does not have any children. Ever since she was 18 years old, Shawna has not been able to go anywhere without having her mother by her side. When she was asked why she hasn’t ventured out alone before, she referred to it as “entering a war zone.” She admitted that she finds herself extremely overwhelmed with nervousness when placed in different outside world situations. She had never experienced any shortness of breath or panic attacks, but she did experience severe motor agitation when placed in stressful situations.
There was a period of time up until she was 17 years old where this condition did not exist. However, after her father died from leukemia, Shawna found herself incapable of being alone. Shawna Gardner is heavily reliant on constantly having someone with her to feel secure in normal …show more content…
Initial observations of Shawna in her natural state are required. From the initial observations, I could then deduce that the problem Shawna’s fear of doing anything alone. In the past, Shawna’s father was the only person that truly pushed her to conquer her fears and live life as a normal individual. In the past, her mother has reinforced this current behavior. So to counteract this learned behavior, we must establish specific goals that we want to achieve and then actively work towards them. We will need to work on Shawna being mindful of her actions and responses, allowing her to recognize that they do not pose any real threat to her safety. Setting goals that we mutually agree on as progressive. Some common goals would include the client spending at least 30 minutes in a shopping mall or grocery store, riding on a bus from one stop to the next, or taking a short walk in her neighborhood on her own during the day. The client’s reaction and progress towards achieving these goals are constantly going to be