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Karen is a 70-year-old, white woman who was been referred to you at the clinic where you are working as a full-time social worker by her family physician

Psychology

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Karen is a 70-year-old, white woman who was been referred to you at the clinic where you are working as a full-time social worker by her family physician. She began treatment with you when her husband Harold died two months ago. Initially, she expressed feelings of grief and explained to you that it was so strange for her because they had been married for 45 years and she could not imagine life without Harold. She reports being anxious since his death, but recently she has expressed some feelings of fear about living life alone. Karen has 2 children (a son named Paul and a daughter named Laura) both of whom live in California and are raising families of their own. She describes her relationship with both her son and daughter as very strong but talks about not wanting to burden them with her feelings of grief and anxiety. Karen has 4 young grandchildren and expresses joy when talking about them but says she wishes they lived closer to her.

Karen is a retired teacher that has continued to volunteer in the school system, post retirement. She has been teaching reading to children in elementary school that have fallen behind. Karen describes her volunteer work as very gratifying but has not returned to it since her husband died. She has a wide group of friends who are constantly calling her to ask her to go out for lunch, dinner, and the theatre. Karen always had an active social life both with her own group of friends and with her husband and other couples. Since Harold died, Karen has become extremely isolated. She finds herself drinking wine at night to help her to fall asleep. Some nights she finishes ¾ of a bottle, which she states as "not being like me at all"

Karen, for the past few weeks has started to focus on the hopelessness of her future and being alone for the rest of her life. This week she told you in session that she has begun to think about whether her life is worth living. She also shared with today you that she has been "thinking about joining her husband".