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COU 680 Week Seven Case Study: Will

Will is a 34-year-old biracial (Caucasian and Hispanic) male who you have been seeing for about a
month. Will first came to see you to address the problems in his relationship with his husband, James—
most specifically his feelings of jealousy and anger, which he believed were creating a wedge between
them. Today, Will has booked an emergency session with you after discovering that James is actually
having an affair with his boss.

Will is presenting as highly agitated and is unable to sit still, popping up frequently and pacing the room.
He vacillates between anger at James, anger at himself, and severe sadness at the thought of losing
James—becoming tearful and curling into a ball on the floor. He states that he is “losing [his] mind with
anger” and wants to go to the address he found to confront James and his boss.

History
Will and James have had a tumultuous history. They dated off and on for roughly three years before
ultimately deciding to get married. Almost every breakup stemmed from Will’s jealousy and fear that
James was being unfaithful to him. During this time, James always denied cheating and cheating could
never be verified. After several months apart, the two would ultimately reconcile with the promise that
Will would seek help for his jealousy and past relational experiences that were creating the mistrust.
After the last breakup, Will agreed to get into counseling to work on these issues and did for a short
period of time. Things smoothed out with him and James, and after nine months of a healthy
relationship, they decided to get married.

According to Will, the marriage has been largely healthy and happy. However, he noticed this was
starting to change a couple of months ago: James was having to work more and more, which left little
time for them together and had been triggering Will’s fears. In an attempt to be proactive about his
jealousy, he decided to come back to counseling and has been working on healthy communication
strategies up to this point. He denies any physical violence with James in the past, although he
acknowledges that they are both emotionally and verbally abusive in fights. He also states that he feels
“out of control” at the idea of losing James.

Today, Will discovered the affair by accident. He was unable to locate his phone and used his iPad’s
“Find my Phone” feature to track it down. What he found, instead, was the location of James’s phone,
which was linked to the iPad feature and showed an address that was not James’s office. After
researching the address, Will discovered it was the address of James’s new boss. Will immediately began
searching through social media and discovered the affair.

Developmental Considerations
Will was raised by a single mother who showed him inconsistent attention as a child and who was
regularly in and out of the home. As a result, Will was frequently left in the care of his maternal
grandmother. They had a close relationship, and Will reports seeing her as the “real mother figure” in
his life. However, she passed away suddenly when Will was 20 years old. This impacted him greatly and
is a loss he reports he has never really gotten over.

Relational Considerations
Will describes being cheated on in all of his past relationships and feeling “abandoned” as a result. He
states that he grew angry over time and came to see cheating as an expectation of any relationship. As a
result, he often pushed his partners away through angry and jealous outbursts or by cheating first. He
claims that it was not until he met James that he believed someone could truly love him and accept him.

Multicultural Considerations
Will came out as gay when he was 12 years old. He reports that his mother often ridiculed him for this,
but he felt safety and comfort in his grandmother’s acceptance of him. Will notes that he did not have
any intimate relationships until the end of high school, as he felt too afraid to put himself out there and
was fearful that he would not be accepted.

Will further acknowledges some identity issues related to his biracial heritage. He was raised by his
Hispanic mother and grandmother, but never knew his Caucasian father. He states that he
predominantly identifies as Hispanic and was raised in this culture, but he “looks white.” He reports that
he hasn’t been sure of who he is as a “Hispanic, white, gay man,” which has caused him a great deal of
insecurity.

Diagnosis
Will is coming in during a state of crisis where he is driven by his emotional reactions rather than reason.
While his symptoms may dissipate and be reflective of a typical grief or bereavement process, his
current presentation is consistent with symptom of adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and
depressed mood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).

Reference

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

Washington, DC: Author.