1
Running head: ST. PATRICK
Case Summary of James St. Patrick
Kai Porter
Liberty University
2
ST. PATRICK
Introduction
James St. Patrick aka “Ghost” is currently a 35-year-old African American man, born and
raised in Queens, New York by this father who owned his own club. When Mr. St. Patrick was a
young boy, his father was murdered by the same drug dealers that he attempted to report for
harassment. There was no speak of any other family member beside Tommy, a childhood friend
that James once protected from getting jumped by a group of guys. Tommy and James became
more like brothers as James moved in with him following his fathers killing. The two friends
struggle to survive on the streets and started selling drugs on the corner for Kanan. While both
James and Tommy were I high school, James encountered a girl name Angela and they fell in
love, but Angie’s parent was never fond of James and they moved their family to another state in
order to get away from all the mess. Angie broke the news to James and the next day she was
gone; the two lovers did not keep in touch and no longer spoke to one another.
Later when James became a young adult, he met Tasha, they married and had three
children together. Tasha was aware of James’ endeavors and she did not mind being the wife of a
major drug dealer; she enjoyed the benefits that came with that title and for a while “Ghost” did
too. Ghost desired to grow and expanded with Tommy but his higher up Kanan did not want the
same for them. Since Kanan was a threat to Ghost end goal; him and Tasha set up a trap for
Kanan to be arrested. Although they considered Kanan a friend, Ghost wanted to be at the top of
the drug game by any means necessary.
A few years later, James was at the position that he sought out to be and wanted to get out
of the game. His biggest goal was to get out of the hood and assure that his children did not have
to grow up as hard as he did. He began expressing to his wife that he no longer wanted to be a
drug dealer and instead wanted to go legit and focus on being a businessman, but Tasha felt other
3
ST. PATRICK
wise and pushed him to continue. This caused James to resent Tasha. Soon after he stumbled
across his first love Angela and they reconnected almost immediately. He fell in love all over
again and it was a bonus that Angie supported his non-criminal aspirations.
Mr. St. Patrick tried extremely hard to his children out of the line of fire. Despite his
efforts his son Tariq found out what he truly did and began wanting to follow in his footsteps.
Out of all things in life, James did not want that life for his children. Tariq got wrapped up in a
bad situation and Raina his twin sister tried to help him out of it; instead this got Raina shot and
killed and the entire family took it extremely hard.
My client, James “Ghost” St. Patrick is a character from the hit television show “Power”,
aired on STARZ network, written and produced by the famous rapper 50 cent. I immediately
took interest in James St. Patrick as a client because he showed me a willingness to change and
grow from the current self into more of an honorable man. He presented to me an eagerness to be
a better person. Mr. St. Patrick speaks about being unhappy and unsatisfied with his current life
standings although his decisions made him a very wealthy man; he no longer wants to continue
down the destructive, dangerous and high risked path he found himself on.
I believe it would tough getting St. Patrick to open up to counseling. I do not feel he will
be comfortable disclosing accurate information about his life to me. James finds it difficult to
truly trust others due to is background and line of work, so it is possible that he will not trust me
with certain information about himself in fear that it will incriminate him and others he is in the
drug business. In order to build rapport with Mr. St Patrick I think it is important ask him about
his life and business, but I would allow him to disclose the information he chooses without
digging too deep. Hopefully this will show him that he is in control of the direction of the
sessions and I am there to listen to whatever it is that he wants to share. In the long run this will
4
ST. PATRICK
make him feel comfortable and free to speak without feeling as if I am trying to discover his
deepest and darkest secrets. Digging deep too quickly could make him question my intentions of
counseling him and force him to close off completely.
Presenting Problems
Based on St. Patrick background and current life, he does not strike me as a person that
would willingly made the choice to come to counseling. Following the death of his daughter
Raina, a judge made it mandatory that the St. Patrick family participate in individual counseling
sessions. During our session James mentioned many problem areas in his life and it was limited
to Raina and her death. He is dealing with personal functioning, relationship and occupational
issues.
Personal Problems
James speaks on his emotions of regret, guilt, and shame. James had deep regrets for
many decisions he made in life. Initially he felt it was a good idea to double cross his friend
Kanan by setting him up to go to prison, but as time went on that decision haunted him. St.
Patrick would often have dreams of Kanan finding out that him and Tasha turned on him and
return to kill him and his wife. He also carried around guilt because Kanan had a son of his own
and now because of a decision he made, that boy was left fatherless.
James St. Patrick’s tells me that his biggest regret was not getting out of the drug business
when he first mentioned it to his wife. He carries around guilt that exiting then would have
ultimately saved his little girl’s life. Guilt follows him as the very things he did to provide for his
family also took away Raina. He was also ashamed that he failed to keep his children safe and
away from the drug life, despite all his efforts; he now had one deceased child and one that was
out on the streets just as he was.
5
ST. PATRICK
Relationship Problems
Tasha’s and James relationship began going downhill when he started expressing his
desires to exit the drug game. She wanted him to continue striving to be the biggest drug dealer
in New York whereas he had different plans for himself and the family. When Mr. St. Patrick saw
Angela at Truth sparks immediately went off for him. When talking with Angela about his true
desires in life he felt a great deal of support that he did not get from Tasha. Tasha began
representing a lifestyle he no longer wanted, and Angela represented the good successful
businessman he wanted to be. Amongst him never completely getting over Angela, her seeing
him as this good, respectful and noble man made him fall back in love with her and he started
having an affair. He wanted to leave Tasha for Angela, but he ran into two problems, one he did
not want that to negatively impact his children by leaving Tasha and two, Angela had no clue
who he really was.
Occupational Problems
Mr. St. Patrick has a strong desire to get out of the drug business and become a legal
businessman by focusing on his club Truth and become the Governor for New York City. James
wanted to follow in his father’s steps by owning a club and make him proud of the man he had
become. James knew if his father was still alive, he would be disappointed in the man he current
was. Unfortunately, James struggle with getting out of that life, every time he saw the
opportunity to step away, he was always dragged back into it by something, or someone.
Treatment Goals
Goal One
There are many goals that Mr. St. Patrick can set in order to move forward to treating his
problems. The first set of goal align with his regret of turning in his friend, the guilt of losing his
6
ST. PATRICK
daughter and come to terms with the loss of his daughter and the shame he feels for letting down
his family. The list of goals includes; learning how to deal with these strong negative feelings,
coming to term with things that happen in the past, coming to terms with the loss of his daughter
and lastly discuss plans and ideas to get Tariq off the streets.
Goal Two
The second set of goal correspond with his relationship problem with Tasha and revealing
this truth to his children and Angela. Goals for St. Patrick to begin treating his relationship
problems consist of, clarifying his needs and desires and learning how to express them to his
loved ones more effectively, clarifying his relationship with Tasha, focusing on the positives and
give attention to that instead of the negative outcomes of wanting to move on from Tasha, taking
responsibility for his action and being honest with Angie and then be free of affairs.
Goal Three
This last set of goal match his desires to leave his criminal life behind and becoming a
legit businessman. In order for James to move towards a legal occupation he must learn how to
pursue his goals and plan them more effectively and at all time continue working and comply
with all aspect of going legit.
References
