Clients With Severe Persistent Mental
Illness: The Case of Emily
Working With Clients With Severe Persistent Mental Illness: The
Case of Emily / Page 1 of 3 © 2016 Laureate Education, Inc.
Working With Clients With Severe Persistent Mental Illness: The
Case of Emily
Emily is a 62-year-old, single, heterosexual, African American
female who seeks
treatment for anxiety. She says she often hears a female voice
directing her to punish herself by
tweezing the hair from her head or by scrubbing her home clean.
She reported that tweezing her
hair eases her anxiety. She has arthritis in her spine and knee and
uses a walker to help her
manage mobility safely. She receives Social Security income and
is not employed. Emily lives
alone in a subsidized apartment in the same building as her 72-
year-old, unmarried sister. She is
reliant upon her sister for transportation and for a sense of social
and emotional connection.