Scenario:
You are an intake coordinator at a mental health agency. You meet with a father and his 13-year-old teenager daughter, Louisa. According to the father, Louisa shifted from being a happy, well-adjusted child earning excellent grades to a moody, irritable teen with slipping grades who now much prefers to be in her room.
Louisa argues with her mom when asked to help with her siblings and spends an increased amount of time surfing on the Internet. Dad shares that he and Louisa’s mom recently discussed separation and have yet to share it with Louisa, the oldest, and her younger twin brothers. Dad asks you about ways to reach Louisa and pull her out of her shell.
When you meet with Louisa privately, you initially find her to be quiet and reticent to engage. However, after a few art activities, she begins to open up and talk more freely. Louisa shares that she recently discovered that her group of friends who she has had since elementary school is now hanging out with an older, more popular group. She also tearfully mentions that she discovered a series of Facebook messages where they ridiculed her for not having the “right” clothes, not being skinny enough, and being socially awkward with boys. She states, “You wouldn’t believe some of the other insulting comments that I’ve read about myself on social media! I have no idea when they turned into complete mean girls.”
She discloses that recently she has been skipping lunch to avoid seeing her “friends” in the cafeteria and hangs out in bathroom stalls to study. She denies any thoughts of hurting herself but does share that she has been approached by a senior in her advanced math class to try marijuana and is seriously considering it. She states, “He says that it will help relieve some of my stress.” She further asks, “Who wants to deal with people you can’t trust and will turn on you? I’m better off alone.”
Tasks:
Create a 6 -age Microsoft Word document responding to the following.
Part A:
Analyze the psychosocial stage of development Louisa is in; why you believe she is in this stage; and how personal, family, and community relationships, as well as related attachments, influence her psychosocial development. Be sure to provide a research-based discussion on why she should or should not experiment with marijuana.
Part B:
You are a member of a multidisciplinary national advisory committee charged with developing programs to help children manage the psychosocial aspects of adolescence. Based on your readings and research-based findings, what recommendations might you make? Consider all of the possible positive and negative ways teens influence each other with regard to specific topics such as cyber bullying, substance abuse, sexual activity, etc.
Support your rationale and analysis by using at least five resources from professional literature. Professional literature may include the NLU online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (websites ending in .edu or .gov).
