Precious Movie

Case Presentation: Precious

The movie, Precious (Daniels, et al., 2009), named after its protagonist, tells a story of injustice, abuse, and ultimately resilience. Precious was sexually abused by her father, physically and emotionally abused by her mother, and suffered neglect by both parents (Daniels, et al, 2009). She had two children by her father, one of whom was diagnosed with Down Syndrome (Daniels, et al., 2009). She wasn’t encouraged to be successful in school, but Precious found a way to motivate herself despite this.

Personal Comparison with Precious

Personally, I cannot imagine growing up in such a hostile environment. My parents did not abuse me, nor did they discourage me from attempting to succeed. I hated high school, and

probably would not have finished if my parents were not adamant that I do so. Because of debilitating environmental issues, Precious struggled in school, and was eventually expelled due to her second pregnancy (Daniels, et al., 2009). If my adolescence was characterized by the abuse that Precious was forced to face, along with the stress of two pregnancies, I do not believe I would have kept school on my list of priorities (Daniels, et al., 2009). I grew up in a healthy environment and did not need to fight for basic rights, therefore I know that I took my privilege for granted. Precious learned to develop a fighting spirit, which is is what gave her the motivation and resilience to overcome even the worst obstacles.
Intake
Precious sought treatment at an outpatient mental health agency in New York, with this social worker, Kimberlee Frisosky. Precious and this social worker discussed the goals of treatment, risks and benefits of counseling, billing information, and privacy laws according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and according to the state of New York. The discussion regarding privacy law took quite some time, as this social worker wanted to ensure that client understood what was entailed under HIPAA. Precious was informed that whatever she disclosed to this social worker would remain confidential with the following exceptions: she signed a consent form to release information, information regarding her treatment was subpoenaed by a court, she reported that she wanted to hurt herself or someone else, or if she reported that she, another minor, disabled person, or elder was being abused or was in immediate danger (Office for Civil Rights, n.d.).
Precious was informed that she would need her legal guardian’s consent for mental health treatment because she was still a minor (Office for Civil Rights, n.d.). Precious reported that she refused to have any contact with her mother and never wanted to see or hear from her again. Because Precious would not get her mother’s consent for treatment, this social worker attempted to find another way to get Precious these services.
According to HIPAA’s guidelines for practitioners, the laws regarding treatment of a minor differ from state to state (Office for Civil Rights, n.d.).

In New York, a minor can obtain mental health services, including counseling and medication management, without the legal guardian’s permission if the parent is deemed detrimental to the minor’s treatment (Feierman, Lieberman, Schissel, Diller, Kim & Chu, 2002). While this agency does prefer to obtain a guardian’s permission for mental health services, this social worker believes in taking a “person first” approach to treatment. Precious reported that she suffered a great deal at the hand of her mother and she did not want her involved in her life. It is not this social worker’s mission to cause Precious more harm, or to allow treatment to be impeded, even if this is an unpopular choice. This social work stands by this decision, because Precious is in desperate need of a safe space to process her trauma.

Finally, Precious and this social worker read through the “Informed Consent” document together. This was to ensure that Precious understood her rights and knew what to expect regarding her treatment. Precious reported that she understood what was stated in the document, at which point both she and this social work signed and dated the last

page.