Case Study Assignment – Large Scale Event
You are a counselor living in Louisiana. You arrive at a
temporary crisis center to begin helping survivors immediately after Hurricane
Katrina. You will continue to offer support for survivors up to five
years after the event. The emotional and behavioral responses and needs
of survivors will change over time. Discuss your strategy for working
with a survivor of trauma from the provided case study (either Andre or
Alisha). You will use the stages of acute support, intermediate support,
and ongoing care to frame your discussion.
Introduction
·
Briefly explain the
crisis for your survivor in the case study.
·
Describe how the
survivor’s psychological experience was similar and possibly different from
other survivors of the event.
·
Provide a thesis
sentence to summarize how you will help this survivor over time.
Stage 1: Acute Support
·
What is acute support?
When would this be indicated as a counselor intervention?
·
Describe three acute
support intervention strategies you might use to help stabilize your survivor
after the traumatic event.
·
Explain how you would
use each of these intervention strategies.
·
Discuss the benefits
and challenges related to early intervention for this survivor.
·
Explain a strategy you
would not want to use with this survivor immediately following the
disaster. Explain.
Stage 2: Intermediate Support
·
What is the purpose of
intermediate support, and when would this be indicated for the survivor of
trauma?
·
Describe the
importance of intermediate support for a survivor of trauma.
·
Describe a recovery
plan and model of crisis intervention at this stage.
·
Explain how you might
apply this model to the case study.
Stage 3: Ongoing Care
·
Describe the purpose
of ongoing care and when it is indicated for a survivor of trauma.
·
Discuss three specific
assessments, strategies, or techniques you could use for ongoing care as part
of your trauma practice.
·
Explain what each
intervention attempts to do, and why you believe each of these might be helpful
to your client.
·
Describe any steps for
training and/or certification needed use these practices effectively.
Conclusion
·
Explain any insights
you gained or conclusions you drew based on your critical analysis of trauma
counseling at these various stages.
This paper should be
3-6 pages, written in APA style, include examples and reference at least five sources.
The Case
of Andre
The Case of Andre Gabour (2015) shared the story of a
traumatic survival experience following Hurricane Katrina. Andre recounts his
experience with his wife Alisha and baby, Andre Jr.
We will examine part of this story for our case study
assignment: Andre: “We stayed. My fault. We got a solid two-story brick house
out in Gentilly. Had it for six years and it never flooded before, never got
the least bit of water since we been there. Plus, I laid the new shingles
myself, and the roof’s solid, three-quarter-inch treated plywood underneath, so
I figured we’d be fine. We was until the levees broke, then the water started
coming up so fast we had to scramble upstairs from the first floor.” “That
water came right behind us, waltzing up the stairs like it owned the place, and
quick as a wink got to swirling around our ankles on the second floor. Then,
the lights went out. Flash of light and popping of sparks when the transformer
down the block blew. I was stacking stuff in the dark on the beds and chest of
drawers, and hauling stuff to the attic best I could, thinking it would never
stop. But, the water finally topped out around my waist. Just stopped. I kept
watch. ’Bout midnight, I waded out on to the upstairs balcony from our bedroom
to get a look. The water was running by my house just below the balcony
railings, and I could see this black, oily surface going all around the block,
filling streets and yards. People was yelling, banging on the roofs of houses
from the inside. They’d climbed up to get away from the water and got
themselves stuck in their attics with no way to break out.” “Two days earlier
some politician had told everybody staying to make sure they had an ax in their
house, especially in their attics. The news people, and the president even, had
acted like the man was some sort of farm boy for saying such things. ‘Take your
axes upstairs,’ he’d said, and those news folks had laughed. But here it was
a-flooding, and that nasty water was drowning folks like rats in they own
houses, and you better know them folks wished now that they had them axes.” “I
couldn’t tell where exactly the yelling was coming from, because everything was
echoing off the water and spinning from every which way. I went inside to make
sure Alisha and Junior was OK. They wasn’t, but I talked to ’em for a bit and
they calmed down. Late the next morning a motorboat full of guys in uniform
come along and got us out of there. I still don’t know who they was, but got us
out of our house and they took us to the Broad Street overpass, where there was
maybe 200 folks already waiting around. Nothing to do, no food, no water, no
blankets, but I figured somebody would come directly. They wouldn’t just leave
us there, no sir.” “But they did, they left us. Then they up and forgot us, and
that’s when things started to get bad. Really bad. Cause there was some
no-account folks up there, and they were hassling the people who looked weaker
and taking their money and food if they had any. They didn’t bother us, at
least for the first two nights, but I know they was looking to. Especially
after that second night and into the third morning with no food, no water at
all, more and more folks just wading and swimming up there and floating in on
rafts and plastic swimming pools and wheelbarrow tubs and all kinds of stuff.
Folks were getting desperate and mean.” “Now all this time I been calling my
sister uptown on my cellphone and it’s going down and she’s saying ‘Get on up
here right now. There ain’t no flooding and I got running water and electricity
and a working real phone.’ But I’ve been looking down, and the water is deep at
the end of the overpass. I know neither my wife nor baby can swim, and I ain’t
in the best of shape. So up to then we was sitting it out, just waiting and
hoping and trying to stay invisible to the Bad Guys.” “Then, in the morning, it
happened. Some kid, maybe eight years old, climbed up on the overpass railing,
and as soon as he got to the top, he just slips and falls right over. Down
maybe 50ft and into the water. Everybody rush to that side and look for him,
but he don’t come up. And nobody goes down to try and get him, because even if
you jumped off and didn’t get killed, you’d have to swim a good half mile to
the ramps to get back where you started. So we just saw that baby die and
nobody did a thing. I could see the faces of the people that was stealing and
robbing from folks. They saw that baby go down, and you could tell it didn’t
mean nothing to them. Not a thing. That’s when I decided we had to go.” “I had
seen this man down toward the end of things, toward the water on the west end
of the overpass, sleeping on an air mattress. Lot of plastic tubes in a row,
about three feet across, like one of those things you use to float in a
swimming pool. I took the wife and baby and I went to him and I says, ‘Look,
man, I got to get my family out of here. I got to get to my sister’s house
uptown where it’s safe for them, and I want to ask you to loan me that air
mattress. Please,’ I says. And he looks me in the face and looks at the wife
and child, and he gives me that mattress, not saying another word.” “So we go
down to the water and I get Alisha and Andre Jr on that mattress and I start
pushing and wading. It don’t take 50 foot before I am up to my neck and they
both are crying and wanting to go back. But, I keep on, not wanting to see no
more of that overpass.” For this case study assignment, assume that Andre,
Alisha, and Andre Jr. are unable to immediately connect with extended family.
They have lost everything, but they are able to make it to a temporary crisis
center. You are the counselor who meets with Andre, Alisha, and Andre Jr. at
the center, and you also follow-up with them in the months to come. Discuss how
you would apply the stages of immediate, intermediate, and ongoing care for at
least one member of this family. Use the literature and provide examples.