Irish Pauline L.

Ereo PS4A

Behavioural Observation April 14, 2013

Snow White
Snow White is a 15-year-old Caucasian female with pale skin and very dark hair who appears younger than her stated age. She presented for an hour-long intake interview following her stepmother's alleged attempts to murder her one week earlier. Her father, who referred her for treatment, accompanied her to the interview and was interviewed alone after she was seen. At the time of the interview she was well-dressed in simple but well-made clothes consistent with her role as princess of this kingdom. She was also well-groomed, with her hair pulled back in a ribbon, her clothes newly pressed, and light make-up. A good relationship with the interviewer was established easily and she responded in a nondefensive way to questions with minimal hesitation and good eye contact throughout. The one exception to the latter was when she was asked about her relationship with her parents. At this point in the interview eye contact was broken. She stammered, then attempted to change the subject. Snow White appeared to be of average intelligence. She reported having completed eight years of home schooling and described her housekeeping skills and her ability to "communicate with animals" as real strengths. Notable is that she reports having kept house for seven men following running away from home. While abstract thinking skills seemed poor and she was only able to respond to the simplest proverbs, her social judgment was strong and she was able to give appropriate responses to each social question given. Snow White reported some confusion as to why she was being interviewed and denied any negative impact following the attempted murder. Her denial of symptoms was consistent with superficial behavioral observations. No indication of increased startle response, hypervigilance, fidgeting, or shaking were present. She denied both suicidal and homicidal ideation. Her father, probably a poor reporter as he indicated that he had little contact with his daughter since the death of his first wife, leaving her care to his new wife and the servants, stated that he had not noticed any problems since the incident in question. No nightmares and social withdrawal were reported. Snow White's mood was calm during the interview, her affect restricted. Even when playing checkers in the course of the interview she was restrained and quiet. She was objective in describing the attempts on her life. At no point did her voice crack or did

she begin to cry. In fact, her voice was light and she responded in a "sing-song" fashion throughout the interview. While this might be seen as some avoidance symptoms associated with the trauma, both she and her father reported that she has "always been that way." In fact, her father described her as "passive" and "lighthearted" as a child. While no problems are being observed or reported at this point in time, the events of the last several days would be expected to produce some post-traumatic symptoms in the vast majority of people. It may be that she is currently denying symptoms. We will discuss these concerns in our follow-up meeting and I will encourage her to request services if she experiences problems in the future.