Women are often the victim of traumatic experiences but may not…

CaptainPower927Women are often the victim of traumatic experiences but may not…Women are often the victim of traumatic experiences but may not come forward to the necessary authorities regarding what happened. This is especially true when a sexual assault has occurred. Read the case study in Chapter 18, Nidia Vasiliev, in its entirety.  In two hundred to three hundred words explain the purpose of having Nadia be an active participant in the planning of her action plan. Identify 2 skills you would have incorporated differently if Nadia were your client. What is your rationale for the chosen skills? This Discussion Question must have two scholarly references CASE STUDY: Nadia Vasiliev Nadia is a 23—yearold woman. She was born in Russia and raised in a small American city in the Midwest where her family immigrated when she was ?ve. At no, she enlisted in the Army and started a 12—month tour of duty in Iraq as a motor transport operator. She liked how structured the military was, each person’s job made perfectly clear. She liked feeling strong and competent, and part of something larger than herself. In Iraq, Nadia learned you can never he too careful—you have to keep an eye out for explosives or other dangers, and never let your guard down. People can he laughing with you one minute, and torn to pieces the next. Nadia might have stayed in the Army, except for one thing. About four months into her tour of duty, a corporal began to pressure her for sex. At ?rst, it was just the usual teasing that all the women got. Then he cornered Nadia in a supply room and raped her. He told Nadia that no one would believe her if she told, and besides, everyone knew she was a whore. Nadia had dated someone in her ?rst month of deployment, and she knew it had affected her reputation. So she believed the corporal. Nadia said nothing about the rape, to anyone. For the next three weeks, the corporal would force himself on Nadia every chance he got. She began to avoid going to eat, to the movies, or anywhere alone. She volunteered for convoys and longer transport drives, just to stay away from base. After three weeks, the corporal abruptly lost interest in her. Nadia felt relief that the assaults had stopped, but she couldn’t shake the fear that they would start up again at any time. She felt angry at herself for still being scared. She told herself that she should be focused on the real enemy, the one they were sent to Iraq to ?ght. After completing her tour of duty, Nadia returned home. Her parents were proud of her and her brother Sergei, who had also enlisted. Nadia told her parents only funny stories from her tour of duty, she never talked about the horrible things that happened. Nadia found work in the sales department of a regional hardware store chain and a new boyfriend, Chet, and everything was going great. About a year after her return from Iraq, things changed. |[inc day at a social event for veterans, Nadia refused to give her phone number to a drunken man, and he responded by calling her a whore. She began scrutinizing every man she saw, wondering if the corporal who raped her, had told them about her. At work Nadia grew more irritable. The smallest things would send her into a state of panic or anger. ?ne day, Nadia yelled at a client who cancelled a large order, and her boss ?red her. She found a new job at a fast—food restaurant, but lost that job, too. Since then, Nadia has not held down any job for long. She caught her boyfriend Chet cheating on her and broke off the relationship. She can’t fall asleep, and when she does sleep, she can’t stand the nightmares. Dn top of this, Nadia has some uncomfortable itching and burning in her pubic area, and worries that she may have a sexually transmitted infection (STI). She decides to make an appointment at a women’s health clinic. At the clinic, in addition to seeing a doctor for STI tests, Nadia meets with a CHW.. CASE STUDY: Nadia (continued) This is the second meeting between Nadia and the CHW. During the first meeting the CHW reviewed the confidentiality policy in place at the Women’s Clinic. Nadia: So, I don’t know how to say this, but .. . (Nadia pauses) CHW: (Listens and waits patiently) Nadia: I was raped in Iraq by . . . by another soldier. It happened over and over. I was too afraid to tell. (Nadia starts to shake and puts her head down) CHW: Oh, Nadia, I’m so sorry to know that you were raped. Nadia: (Nadia’s head is still down) I just, . . . I don’t know why I’m telling you now. I don’t know why I didn’t tell anyone before . . . (pauses) CHW: I’m here, Nadia, I’m listening Nadia: The man who raped me. . . he told me I was a whore and no one would believe me. I saw what happened to other women who reported so I . . . (starts to cry), I just kept it inside. I couldn’t even tell my mother. She was so proud of me for serving our country, and my brother was still in the army, and I just couldn’t tell her. I just . . . I mean, what am I supposed to do now? CHW: Nadia, the Women’s Clinic is a place to find support for what you’ve gone though, and for figuring out how to move forward in your life. Nadia: (Looks up and nods her agreement. She reaches for a tissue and blows her nose.) Okay. CHW: I imagine it might have taken a lot for you to decide to tell me about the rape today. Nadia: I tried so many times to say something to somebody, but . . . I just couldn’t. I didn’t know how to begin. (Nadia bows her head, thinking . . .) CHW: Well, I think you did a great job of beginning today. (Nadia smiles) What motivated you to talk about it today? Nadia: I wasn’t planning on it, but . . . I just can’t get past what happened. I’ve been having these horrible dreams, sometimes over and over, and (pauses), I think maybe this is why I broke up with my boyfriend, and well, then I messed up at work and they fired me and . . . I guess I just tried to put everything that happened behind me but, um, it just keeps . . . I just can’t get over it, and . . . I guess I need help because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. (Nadia looks up) CHW: (nods and establishes eye contact with Nadia). You’ve been going through a lot, Nadia. And you have time to figure out what you want to do. We have a team of wonderful social workers here who have a lot of experience helping women who have been raped and who have survived other kinds of trauma. Would you consider meeting with one of the social workers to talk more about what you want to get done and how you can heal from what was done to you? Nadia: Yes (nods and cries and reaches for more tissues). Yes, I think it would be good to do that. I don’t usually cry so much. CHW: Well, that is why we have the tissues here (Nadia smiles). This is a good place to cry. (waits patiently) Nadia: Thank you for listening to me . . . . CHW: I am so glad Nina that you took a risk to reach out to me today. Nadia (cries and nods) Thank you. I know I have some big decisions to make but I just feel like . . . I did it, you know? Finally, I said it out loud.. CASE STUDY: Nadia (continued) It may take time for Nadia to build a foundation of safety because of her history of broken trust with the military. Talk directly with Nadia about safety and stability. Explain that it is often important for survivors to address basic issues of physical safety and stability before they begin to talk about their trauma experiences. Help Nadia to consider whether or not she is in a place in her life to begin addressing in a direct way what happened to her in Iraq. In this case study, while Nadia continues to experience common trauma symptoms including nightmares and recently lost her job, she does have a stable place to live and a growing interest in talking about what happened to her in Iraq. The next phase is to support clients like Nadia to make informed decisions about which aspects of their trauma story they will decide to talk about, with whom, when, and how. CHW: So Nadia, you’re thinking about scheduling a time to meet with the social worker, Ms. Olivera? Nadia: Yes, I called her and she said that we could have a first meeting, and that she could tell me about how she works with people, you know, how she does her counseling. Then I can decide if I want to work with her or not. CHW: So, how does that sound to you? Nadia: She seems really nice, and I like that I don’t have to start out by telling her all about what happened. I feel kind of nervous because I just don’t know what she is going to ask me, or what I am ready to . . . to talk about. CHW: You aren’t sure what you want to share with her . . . Nadia: (nods) I don’t know how I feel about talking about everything, and if I’m ready to talk about everything that happened. CHW: Nadia, one thing I’ve learned about trauma is that it is really important for survivors to be in charge of their own healing, and to be the one who makes the decisions about what you talk about and when, as well as who you decide to talk with. Sometimes, it is a good idea to back up and to consider what it would be like to start talking about trauma before you actually start to talk about the trauma. Does this make sense to you’r Nadia: Yes, it is helpful because, um, I was worried that someone might expect me to talk about certain things that he did to me and . . . maybe I just don’t’ want to talk about them. CHW: So I think it’s a great idea to consider what parts of your experience you would feel ready to talk about with Ms. Olivera, and what parts you don’t want to talk about right then or ever. (Nadia nods) It might also be a good idea to figure out how you would tell her that you don’t want to talk about something. Nadia: I guess I could just say I’m not ready to talk about that part yet .. . CHW: Good, that is really clear and helpful to the counselor too, to set your boundaries about what you do and don’t talk about together. And, of course, you know that the same thing goes for me too, right? You decide what we talk about too! Nadia: (smiles) Yes, I feel comfortable talking with you, and you haven’t pressured me to talk about anything I don’t want to . . . CHW: So do you have a good idea about what you feel ready to talk about with Ms. Olivera? Nadia: You are the only person I’ve told so far . . . that I was raped. I almost told the doctor when she examined me for STIs, but I didn’t. And I haven’t really told you a lot about what happened, right? (CHW nods) I think I need to think about this some more. CHW: Nadia, are you someone who likes to write things down? (Nadia nods) Would writing about this be helpful to you at all in terms of figuring out some of your next steps?. Nadia: It’s funny because, I wrote a letter to my mom, but I never sent it. I just kind of keep rewriting it. It is about . . . [Nadia cries} It is about what happened and I was trying to ?gure out how to tell her but now . . . I don’t think it is really a letter anymore, it is, it is just something for me. CH’W: Do you think this letter could be helpful in ?guring out what you want to say when you are meeting with Ms. Dlivera? Nadia: Well, I’m not sure. I’m going to read through the letter again. It might be different with the counselor than with my mother, but I think that writing things down, just even a little bit, could help . . . CH’W: You can also have this same kind of talk with Ms. llClllivera. If it seems like a good idea, you could always start out by telling her that you are still ?guring out what you want to talk about—and what you don’t want to talk about—in counseling. Nadia: That makes me feel so much less nervous. This . . . this helps me feel more ready to meet with her. I think that if I like the counselor, than I will be able to ?gure this out and, like you said, kind of go at my own pace.. CASE STUDY: Nadia Nadia has been thinking about telling her parents that she was raped. She talked about this decision with Ms. Olivera, the social worker, and agreed to talk about it with the CHW as well. Ms. Olivera asked the CHW to support Nadia in thinking through her goals for talking with her parents, and the possible consequences. . CHW: Nadia, can you tell me more about the decision to tell your parents about the rape? What are you hoping will happen? . Nadia: Well, I guess I just want them to believe me, and to understand that I didn’t do anything wrong. And I just don’t want to hide this from them any more. . CHW: How do you think they will respond? . Nadia: Well . . . (Nadia pauses). I don’t want to upset them, especially because my brother Sergei is still in Afghanistan and . . . I guess I don’t think they will respond very well right away. They tend to kind of, um, get dramatic, you know? But I know that they love me, and . . . I guess I’m more worried about my dad. I think it will take him longer to accept. . CHW: So are you thinking about talking to both of your parents at the same time? . Nadia: Maybe I should start with my mom. She will probably tell my father, but she . . . she knows how to talk to him better than me, so maybe …. I don’t have to be there when she tells him. . CHW: So your mom may be helpful in talking with your dad. . Nadia: I think so. She does this all the time, like when I decided to go into the military. He didn’t want me to do it at first. . CHW: What might it be like if you don’t get the response you are hoping for-right away or from both of your parents? How do you think this could impact your healing? . Nadia: Oh (cries) It would be a big disappointment, and I think . . . I would be so angry with them too-I need their support! But, I know that I would be okay, eventually, because, um, I’ve managed a lot of . . . disappointment, right? But maybe I don’t need to tell them right away. . CHW: So how they respond is important to you, and you might not tell them right away. . Nadia: Yes, it is important, and I really want . . . I just want them to know that I didn’t do anything wrong to make this happen. And I want them to know that I’m trying now, you know, to get better. But . . . I think maybe I need some more time to think about this and to figure out what to say to my mom. . CHW: If it would be helpful to you, you could practice with Ms. Olivera what you want to say to your mom . . . It might help you to figure out how you want to express yourself, and to anticipate a bit more what it might be like. . Nadia: Okay, . . . I think that could be good to figure out what I am going to say, and it will help to make it more . . . real.Social SciencePsychology