Abigail Neeley

SOWK 312

3 April 2023

Candice Morgan

Psychosocial Assessment

Section One: Client Identifying Information/Demographics

On February 22, 2022, Jennifer McArdle completed a counseling session through the

University of South Carolina’s counseling center. Jennifer is a white female who is 27 years old,

and she lives in the Pollo Road area in northeast Columbia. The client is currently divorced and

has been divorced for almost two years from her husband. McArdle grew up near Rockport,

Maryland, and she moved to Columbia, South Carolina about six months ago.

Section Two: Background

The client is currently in her first year of her master’s in social work program and attends

the University of South Carolina. She is pursuing her degree in social work and has completed

her undergraduate degree in psychology with aspirations to become a therapist or counselor.

McArdle worked at an adolescent inpatient facility shortly after graduating with a psychology

degree for about two years, but she felt the work was too “emotionally draining” for her and “had

a hard time leaving it at work.” McArdle expressed that she “couldn’t do what she wanted to”

with a psychology degree, and then decided to work on her master’s in social work so she would

not be on the “front lines.” The client was previously married when she was 18 but divorced

from her husband about two years ago. The client also saw a therapist eight times, six to eight

weeks after her divorce and claims that the therapist was helpful in the process of her divorce.

Since she has moved to Columbia, McArdle expressed she has left all of her family and friends
behind in Maryland and has had difficulties making new friends in Columbia. McArdle’s

hobbies consist of going to the farmers market a few times a week and attending class and her

internship. The client has considered herself a “healthy eater” and claims this is why she attends

the farmers market several times per week. McArdle has previously enjoyed reading and

watching television, but she has not found these hobbies entertaining since she has moved to

South Carolina. The client claims to have been previously active in the Catholic church while in

Maryland, but she says she has been unable to find a church nearby and has only attended one

service since moving to South Carolina. Recently, the client has expressed issues with appetite,

decreased energy, and sleeping problems which consist of her waking up several times

throughout the night. Exercise used to be a major aspect of her life, but the client states that since

she has moved to Columbia, she has been too tired from class and has not had a friend to go with

her to exercise. McArdle claims to have been “managing” her classwork and grades, but her

grades are not where she would like them to be. The client seems to be lacking social support

systems and claims to feel out of place as a non-traditional student.

Section Three: Current Situation

In the client’s current situation, she has expressed that she has been feeling “down”

recently because of her lack of friends and new environment. She was previously disappointed in

her fall semester due to the classes not being practice-based but claims to be more satisfied with

her spring semester classes. McArdle states that her homework and classwork has been

overwhelming, and she has been struggling to meet her personal expectations for her grades. The

client’s reason for meeting with the counselor through the counseling center at the University of

South Carolina was because she has been having a difficult time adjusting to moving to

Columbia and being away from her friends and family. McArdle expressed that she had thought
she was going to make more friends but has felt isolated because her classmates are younger than

her and they “don’t have much in common.”

The client made the decision to reach out to the counseling center because she had been

feeling “worse” since she had decided to stay in Columbia over break rather than returning home

to Maryland. McArdle then expressed that she has been having problems with her self-esteem

due to her looks and weight, stating that she had lost 20 to 25 pounds since she moved to

Columbia. The client states that her low self-esteem is caused partially by her wight loss and her

clothes now being too big for her and is having difficulties gaining the weight back due to her

low appetite. She then expressed that her low energy has also been a contributing factor to her

weight lost, claiming that she no longer has the energy to cook due to being busy with class and

field work during the day. McArdle also stated that she had a similar experience around the time

of the divorce with her husband, except “the reverse.” Around the time of the divorce with her

husband, she claimed that she was stress eating to cope with the separation and had put on

significant weight.

The client also lives alone and feels isolated from her neighbors due to their military

background, so she has found this to be difficult in her transition to Columbia. Due to some of

her self-esteem difficulties, the client has been having problems completing group activities with

classmates. She states that the group assignments are a “big challenge” for her and has

difficulties attending meetings with her groups. The client is also concerned that her lack of

participation in the group work and activities is causing her classmates to dislike her and could

also affect her grades. McArdle currently has no financial concerns because she is still receiving

alimony from her husband, had saved up some money from living in Maryland, participates in a

work study, and uses loans.

Section Four: Client Strengths, Capacities, and Resources

In the client’s session, it was difficult to assess what support systems and resources the

client had available due to her reasoning for coming in being that she felt she had little support.

One strength of the client is that she is knowledgeable of mental health due to her psychology

degree and working in an inpatient program, and she had shown the ability to ask for help when

reaching out to the counseling center at the University when she felt she was struggling. The

client had also shown strength in her ability to reach out when she contacted a therapist when

going through her divorce two years ago. Another support that the client has are her family and

friends in Maryland, which she had expressed several times were important to her. The client’s

knowledge and self-awareness are also a strength that allows her to recognize when she needs to

receive from an outside source.

Section Five: Impressions, Assessment, and Recommendations

To assist the client in managing her feelings of isolation, self-esteem difficulties, and

adjusting to living in a new location, cognitive restructuring would be an appropriate approach in

helping to reach these goals. Cognitive restructuring is a method in which the client’s cognitive

distortions are thought about in a different way so that the client can dispute these distortions and

improve thinking patterns. This method can reduce negative thoughts and turn distortions into

more positive thinking patters, which can improve the overall well-being of the client through

several sessions with a therapist or counselor. The goal of this method is to create new, healthier,

patterns of thinking, in which the client proceeds to continue thinking in this way following

therapy or counseling sessions.

The first goal of cognitive restructuring with the client is improving the client’s self-

esteem with her views of herself as well as how she believes she is perceived by others. McArdle
stated that one of the main problems she had been facing since moving to South Carolina from

Maryland was that she had difficulties making new friends, believing she was underweight, and

that people had noticed the negative aspects of her appearance. The objectives of cognitive

restructuring with this goal would be to assist the client in viewing themselves in a more positive

aspect and allowing herself to believe that others, such as her classmates, also view her in the

same positive light. One specific objective of cognitive restructuring in this aspect would be to

help turn the negative views of the client’s self-image about her weight into a more positive

view. An example of this restructuring with the client’s weight and self-image would be turning

thoughts such as “I am underweight, my clothes are too big for me” into thoughts such as “I am

beautiful the way I am, and it does not matter if some of my clothes no longer fit me.” To

determine if the goal and objectives have been completed, the client will have more positive self-

esteem and will be attending group meetings with her classmates.

Another goal of cognitive restructuring with McArdle would be focusing on her current

state of loneliness and isolation in a more positive light. Some objectives of this goal would be

finding more hobbies for herself and completing activities by herself that she had normally what

have done with a friend. An example of restructuring the client’s thoughts would be turning “I

am all alone, and I cannot do this activity by myself” into thoughts such as “I have myself, and I

can complete these activities with or without someone. If I have a friend or not, I can still enjoy

these activities and spend time with myself.” To assess if this goal and objectives have been

fulfilled, the client will be participating in hobbies that she had previously enjoyed, and McArdle

will be completing activities by herself rather than relying on a friend to complete the process

with her. This would be beneficial in helping the client because it would allow her to reduce

some of the feelings she had faced with difficulties transitioning to South Carolina and leaving
her friends and family, and this method would give her comfort with feelings of isolation and

loneliness.