MS NUR 6650. Hernandez Family Assessment. Health, Medicine, Nursing
Assignment : Hernandez Family Assessment
Assessment is as essential to family therapy as it is to individual therapy. Although families often present with one person identified as the “problem,” the assessment process will help you better understand family roles and determine whether the identified problem client is in fact the root of the family’s issues. As you examine the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat the client family.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Assess client families presenting for psychotherapy
To prepare:
Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on family assessment.
View the Hernandez Family: Sessions 1-6 videos, and consider how you might assess the family in the case study.
Note: For guidance on writing a comprehensive client assessment, refer to pages 137–142 of Wheeler (2014) in this week’s Learning Resources.
The Assignment
Address in a comprehensive client assessment of the Hernandez family the following:
Demographic information
Presenting problem
History or present illness
Past psychiatric history
Medical history
Substance use history
Developmental history
Family psychiatric history
Psychosocial history
History of abuse and/or trauma
Review of systems
Physical assessment
Mental status exam
Differential diagnosis
Case formulation
Treatment plan
MS NUR 6650
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Hernandez Family Assessment
Health assessment constitutes a critical foundation for mental health interventions. A mental health assessment is designed to diagnose mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, mood disorders, eating disorders, and psychosis. It is also essential in differentiating mental disorders from physical health problems. The mental health assessment findings guide the therapeutic processes. More often, mental health assessment revolves around symptoms, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, frequency and intensity of symptoms, and events that are associated with particular thoughts or feelings. The assessment commences the therapist meets the client. During the initial stages of the assessments, the therapist is expected to build a rapport and set conditions of engagement to allow the family members to open up to each other. The therapist may need to inform their family about individual rights and what issues they can raise, especially in the light of the client’s safety, ethical requirements, privacy, and confidentiality.
Demographic information
Juan Hernandez is a 27 years old Hispanic male married to Elena Hernandez. They have two children, one being called Juan Jr. and another named Alberto, six years and eight years old, respectively.
Presenting problem
The primary complaint in this scenario entails the perceived excess punishment of children by Juan and Elena. The social worker says that parenting Juan and Elena are harshly disciplining their children. Juan Hernandez Junior defines the harsh punishment by saying that her parents make him kneel on his knees for hours. While kneeling, his parents force him to hold two heavy encyclopedias. The social worker is concerned that forcing the child to hold heavy encyclopedias for prolonged times is an abusive practice requiring intervention. The social worker sanctioned the children to be 6aken away from the family. Hence, the two parents reported a complaint about their children being taken away due to harsh punishment. When asked about such punishment on their children, the parents responded by saying that they punish children because it is a cultural norm to correct children when they misbehave through discipline. They said that their parents were harsh too, which allowed them to succeed in life.
Past psychiatric history
The family, i.e., the parents, reported no previous psychiatric history but talked about being harshly punished for mistakes during their childhoods.
Medical history
Juan Hernandez denies any medical history. Juan Hernandez does not have any history of hospitalization, surgery, or any chronic illness. However, Elena has diabetes, and she is currently on treatment but has no previous history of hospitalization, surgery, and admission.
Substance use history
Juan Hernandez reports taking alcohol about six bottles of beer spread throughout the week, but his wife does not take any drugs or substances.
Developmental history
Juan and Elena Hernandez had typical developmental milestones trajectories. According to the mother, Alberto and Juan Hernandez junior met their developmental milestones in terms of physical change, language development, thought, and emotional changes. The children’s developmental milestones features were typical of expected developmental milestones marked by behaviors and physical skills, including rolling over, crawling, walking, and talking.
Family psychiatric history
No known familial psychiatric history was reported.
Psychosocial History
The family is comprised of a heterosexual couple. Juan Hernandez works full-time and overtim...