Week 5 Assignment
II. Tracey Tracey is a 25-year-old single working mother. Her daughter, Alicia, is 3 years old and in day care during the work week. Tracey was recently divorced from Alicia’s father and has sole custody of their child because her ex-husband was physically abusive. In the past few years, when the marital problems began, Tracey became overwhelmed with anxiety but was so busy that she stated she just didn’t have time to deal with it. She starts her day at 5:30 a.m. to get Alicia dressed, packed, and ready for day care so that she can get to work by 7:00 a.m. Tracey usually has breakfast on the road, and she frequents the drive-through on her way to work for convenience. At work it’s “go, go, go,” and Tracey doesn’t usually have time to break for lunch. By the time she picks up Alicia from day care and gets home, it’s about 6:00 p.m. Tracey cooks dinner by 7:00 p.m., which usually consists of a healthy, balanced meal. Once she gives Alicia a bath and puts her to bed, Tracey finally gets a breather to relax on the couch and watch TV. Now that she is alone, she feels an uncontrollable urge to snack and often goes through a large bag of potato chips followed by a quart of ice cream before she realizes it. Sometimes, she finishes eating that amount before her favorite half-hour sitcom is over. “I just can’t stop. It’s like I zone out, and I don’t even realize how much I’ve eaten. I feel like I can’t control myself. Usually, I feel physically sick by the end of it and just pass out, like a food coma.” Tracey doesn’t like to eat junk food in front of others because she’s ashamed that she has gained so much weight since the divorce and feels self-conscious. She’s been eating in secret like this for the past year since the divorce, and it happens almost every night. It’s gotten to the point where she has begun isolating herself, preferring to go home and snack all night in front of the TV instead of spending time with family and friends.
Neukrug, Edward S.. Essentials of Testing and Assessment: A Practical Guide for Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists, Enhanced (p. 55). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.