Mental Health Assessment: August Osage County

Assessment of Violet Weston

Adult Mental Health

Assessment of Violet Weston

Client Name: Violet Weston, age 69 (from the play/movie August: Osage County by Tracy Letts)

Client information provided by: Client in session, collateral information from intake questionnaire and evaluations, client’s three daughters in session.

Presenting Problems

The client’s husband of forty-five years committed suicide last week. The client has an extensive history of prescription pill abuse beginning in early adulthood. The client’s eldest daughter assessed that her mother was under the influence of prescription pills, as evidenced by the client’s persistent and vicious verbal abuse and occasions of slurred speech, stammering and staggering around. Enormous stashes of pills were found hidden around the client’s house. The client’s daughter confirms that her mother has been abusing pills for years (“she has a doctor in every port”), although the client’s husband’s suicide and the presence of her three daughters have precipitated extreme familial conflict.

The client’s daughters report that unless their mother gets clean they are unwilling to maintain a relationship with her. The client reports she wants to get clean but wants to do so “on her terms.” The client also has mouth cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy and reports a history of emotional, verbal and physical abuse in her family of origin. The client has a live-in housekeeper who takes care of the house and prepares meals. While the housekeeper can take care of the client’s basic needs, her eldest daughter wants to insure her mother gets drug treatment and to see if it’s possible to resolve the conflict within the family.

Social History

The client is a 65-year-old Caucasian female, born and living in Osage County, Oklahoma. She speaks English, does not work and lives in the house she purchased with her Late husband, where she has lived for 45 years. She has one sister who she is close with but no friends. Her...