week 4

week 4 1

PCN-521 Module 4: Vargas Case Study

The Vargas family arrives for the 4th session at separate times. You have been chatting with Elizabeth and Heidi about Frank’s recent school suspension when Bob and Frank enter. They are having an animated conversation, laughing hysterically, and Frank is wearing socks, not the rain boots he left the house in. They proceed to share the story about how Frank’s top scoop of ice cream just fell in to his boot when Elizabeth interrupts. She questions Bob and appears surprised to learn that instead of going to work with Bob who had agreed to “put him to work” as a consequence of his suspension, the two of them had spent the day having fun. Frank talked about his new bike and had begun a story about the movie they saw when he looked at his Dad and instantly stopped talking. You notice Bob’s stern look when Frank apologizes stating, “I forgot I’m not supposed to tell.”

The tense silence is broken by Heidi who begins to tell her parents that she got another gold star on her spelling test, the teacher picked her to be the helper, and she scored two soccer goals at recess and made three new friends. You notice that Frank has squeezed into the same chair next to Bob; Heidi scooted closer to her mother on the couch. You note Elizabeth’s distress and invite Bob to comment. Bob minimizes the incident that resulted in Frank’s suspension and accuses Elizabeth of “over-reacting.” Frank agrees that “mom always gets mad” and begins recounting the “funny” incident that is, according to he and Bob, “no big deal.”