FINAL EXAMINATION

EDRC 531 INTRODUCTION TO REHABILITATION COUNSELING

Joan is a 38 year old African American woman who underwent carpal tunnel surgery six weeks ago and has just been released to return to work this week. You are a Rehabilitation Counselor/Case Manager/Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist that works for a nationally known private-for-profit case management/rehabilitation insurance company. Your company has been contacted by Joan's current employer, Marcus Machinery, to assist in facilitating Joan's rehabilitation plan and her return to work.

Joan has a high school education with one year vocational technical training as a medical secretary. Before she came to work for Marcus Machinery, she worked as a waitress at Shoney's for one year. She quit this job complaining of the pay, hours, and having to walk/stand all day. After working as a waitress, she worked at Wal-mart for almost three years as a stock clerk. She quit this job reporting that she was lifting/carrying too much weight, standing/walking too frequently, and did not like the odd hours she had to work.

Joan also indicated that the physical demands of this job was "too painful" on her shoulders, arms, and back". After these two jobs, she attended vocational technical training as a medical secretary then worked in this occupation for about five years. She quit this occupation stating that "working the key board and looking at the computer screen was too much of a stress on her finger/wrist joints and eyes. She also stated that she hated working for medical doctors because they were very demanding.

Joan's parents are deceased and she has no other relatives. She was a foster child that was in the system for 10 years. She was raised by several families and does not communicate with any of the families that helped to raise her over the years. Joan reports being married and divorced twice within the last ten years. She indicates that she divorced her past husbands because they drank heavily and physically abused her. Joan is a single parent with one 13 year old son from her second marriage.

Her son Ian was diagnosed with Mental Retardation, a severe learning disability, and Attention Deficit Disorder. She states that her relationship with her son is fair, but she experiences feelings of guilt regarding his disability. She reports feeling very depressed and isolated with her current situation. She has very little social or family support. Joan also expresses a lot of anxiety because of her back surgery, the pain associated with it, and the fact that she still must work so she can financially support her son along with her other debts (e.g., mortgage, car payment).

Joan has worked the last nine years for Marcus Machinery as a coating machine operator. Her job is to coat sheets of thin metal and then visually inspect each piece as it comes off the coating machine. Approximately two times per hour, she pulls a lever that drops the stack of coated metal on a pallet. Using a hydraulic hand dolly, Joan moves this stack of metal sheets to an area 25 feet away from her machine so that another employee can take this material to the warehouse. Joan then returns the empty pallet to her coating machine and begins this process again.

After Joan's surgery and her return to work, she expresses concerns to her supervisor about using the hand dolly. Basically, she tells her supervisor that her doctor recommended that she avoid this particular task for the next two weeks. The supervisor agrees to assign this task to another employee for the next two weeks.

Near the end of this time, Joan states that she refuses to use the hand dolly because she is afraid that she might re-injure her hand and may even cause injury to her other hand. Her physician states that he believes there is no physical reason why she cannot return to using the hand dolly again. It is apparent to you, the Rehabilitation Counselor, that Joan has a strong emotional reaction and increased anxiety about using the hand dolly.

Please read the scenario CAREFULLY. Make sure that you identify all components of the question. Answer what is being asked of you only. Do not read anymore into the scenario than what is printed.

1. Based on the case provided, choose one counseling theory AND one career counseling theory that you would use to help Joan. Provide a detailed explanation for each theory of why the two theories would assist/benefit Joan.

Explain your role as the counselor based on the theory and what techniques you would use and possible outcomes based on the conceptual framework yielded by both theories.

2. Provide a minimum of one paragraph summary of what you have learned in the course.

3. List six disability triggered reactions (defense mechanisms) that a person may experience after the onset of a disability. Briefly explain what stage you think Joan is in and why?

4. List two workplace accommodations with a brief explanation of both on how Joan could possibly benefit from to increase the adjustment to her disability.

5. Using the Ecological model of vocational development, discuss how Jane will fit into each area of the model and describe her outcome. Use only the information given in the scenario and do not add your own scenario.