The Client, Caroline Knapp, A Caucasian Female, Russian...

Section 1: Clinical Description Identifying Information (demographic information) The client, Caroline Knapp, is a Caucasian female, of Russian Jewish descent from her mother’s side. Presenting Problems (all current symptoms) The point at which the client’s symptoms were most extreme was towards the end of her alcoholism, which was in her early thirties. She used humor, felt incomplete and fragile, oversensitive to other’s reactions of her, felt the need to hide from people whether it was through work or through drinking, and was aware of her drinking problem. She also presented with anxiety, excessive exercising and healthy eating, and denial of drinking in excess. At age thirty-six when she was in sobriety, some of the client’s symptoms included reoccurring thoughts about drinking, especially during times where pain was likely to be felt, and needing to be reinforced about sobriety as the right decision. The client also became angry or frustrated when people were drinking in her presence or when she felt like she wanted to drink. The client has also become more conscious of feeling emotions and experiencing emotions, like when her family buried her mother’s ashes. She still faces relationships with difficulty but now knows and understands she is able to choose what she wants. History of Presenting Problems (when symptoms started, course of symptoms over the client’s life) The need to engage in repetitive behavior to calm the client was evident when she described how she