Susanna Case Study

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In the case of Susanna, we learn the client is a 15 year old girl, and is currently pregnant.  The length of her pregnancy is unknown though.  She is enrolled in school, but the school she attends has 450 students in it, so it is very easy for Susanna to get lost in the crowd.  Her current is living situation is with her boyfriend (father of the baby) and his parents.  Prior to living there, she was on the streets, because she left her mother’s house and has not returned.  Her boyfriend’s parents want her to move out (reason unknown) and her mother wants her to move back home.  Ideally, Susanna would like to get her portion of the child support her father gives her mother, so she can have her own place to live.  She is also struggling in school- failing some classes and missing school.  Her absences are blamed on fatigue and not having healthy food to eat.

Three issues that must be dealt with are Susanna’s need for a home where she feels comfortable staying put- hopefully her mother’s house, fixing her health (need for healthy food and sufficient rest) so she can attend school on a regular basis and to have a plan (housing, money, childcare) for when her baby arrives.

I am made aware that Susanna’s mother wants to withdrawal Susanna from her current school, where she is in poor standing, and enroll her in the school that is closest to Susanna’s mother’s home. But I also understand that the mother’s solution will not resolve all.  In order to make the move back to her mother’s home successful, Susanna and her mother must address the reason Susanna left in the first place.  In this case, family therapy would be a step in the right direction to initiate communication and possible resolution.  However, Susanna has made it clear she does not want to move back home.  Whether or not Susanna is receptive to moving back to her mother’s house, family therapy could still help resolve the problems that have come between herself and her mother.  My hope for Susanna is that if she moves home to her mother’s, she will be able to receive the emotional support she needs.  I am uncertain of what the home life is like at Susanna’s mother’s home, but if her mother is raising Susanna’s baby brother, it would be beneficial for Susanna to be there to learn how to care for her unborn baby.