Case Scenarios
For your assignment, you can EITHER choose ONE of the four case scenarios below OR produce
your own case scenario based on your practice experience with the agreement of your supervisor.
Case Scenario 1: Tina
Tina was 35 years old when she went to seek for counselling service. Her parents were both office
workers and had retired two years ago. Tina had one elder brother and one younger sister. Her elder
brother was married and had two young children. Her younger sister was around thirty and planned
to get married. Tina’s relationship with her family was quite good. Her parents loved all the children
and doted on them, trying to fulfill all their needs and wishes. Tina lived alone in a rented apartment
near her parents.
Tina was able to get into a Band-1 school in her secondary education. She did well in school and
was among the best students in class. She was also a good basketball player. She played in the
school team, representing her school/university in many inter-school competitions. Tina had got a
master’s degree in business management. She was holding a senior management post in a bank,
earning over 50,000 per month. She was clever and capable, yet she had poor EQ. She would easily
lose her temper and put on a long face when things did not go as she wished. Sometimes, even her
parents dared not approach her when she was in a bad mood. She complained that there were many
office politics in work which made her unhappy and stressful, and she frequently had to work
overtime till late in the evening.
Tina was quite nice-looking. When she was studying in the university and in her first few years of
work, she had many boyfriends who were professionals with high income. They used to send her
flowers and gifts to please her. However, the relationships did not last long, probably due to Tina’s
poor temper. She would scold her boyfriends or cut their calls whenever she was unhappy. She was
also quite demanding, requiring her boyfriends to call her and give her WhatsApp messages every
morning and evening. On the one hand, she expected her boyfriend to be smart and successful; on
the other hand, she thought that her boyfriend must be submissive to her to show his love.
Tina did not have any boyfriends in these recent few years. She felt quite lonely. She liked watching
movies and eating good food but did not have companions. Many of her classmates and friends had
got married. She was eager to find a new boyfriend, but she found it hard to develop new
relationships because there were not many suitable candidates in her social circle. She regretted for
what she did with her previous boyfriends. In fact, she had the fear that she would become an ‘old
maid’ in future. She had once thought of joining some ‘speed-dating’ activities but was afraid that
she would be looked down upon by the males. This year, she sent a bouquet of flowers to herself in
the office on the Valentine Day as she thought that her colleagues would laugh at her if they knew
that she did not receive any flowers. She also tried to avoid going to dinners with her friends and
relatives as she thought they would ask her whether she had a steady boyfriend or not, or when she
would get married. Moreover, she could not sleep well at night and sometimes would weep quietly
at home.
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Case Scenario 2: Mr. Poon
Mr Poon, a 61-year old gentleman, lived in a private housing flat with his wife.
Mr. Poon looked young at his age. He was physically fit. He was brought up in a family of four.
His father died when he was in his teenage. His mother worked in a factory to support the family.
Mr. Poon’s academic performance was quite good when young, but then had to quit schooling and
take up a job to support the family when he was in Form 4. After quitting his studies, Mr. Poon said
that he was very lucky to find a job as a clerk in the civil service when the economy then was not
good. He proudly said that many of his bosses appreciated his work performance because he worked
very hard and had good hand-writing. He also took pride by the fact that he even learned to use
word processing at the later years of his work. However, he sadly and repeatedly said that he could
not get promotion because he could not pass the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination
(HKCEE) despite that he had finished his Form 5 studies in an evening school.
Mr. Poon had four children. All had their own families and were living apart. He sent them all to
university or college hoping that they would have a bright future after graduation. He showed his
appreciation to his wife who took good care of the family. Mr. Poon’s work had been keeping him
busy till late in the evening. He said with his wife’s support, he did not need to take care of the
family chores, and he could have dinner and watch television after he had returned home from work.
Mrs. Poon was a housewife. During the early days, she got some work back from the nearby
factories to work at home so that she could take care of the family and earn some money to suppor
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three months, he wanted to stop this meaningless life. However, he felt that nothing could be done
and no one could help him.
Recently, he did not sleep well and was losing weight. He went to a family service unit and
approached the social worker there to seek for assistance. Mr. Poon talked to the social worker
about his situation and hoped that he could change his retirement life.
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Case Scenario 3: Tim
Tim was born in a well-off family. He was 13 years’ old studying in Form 2 while his elder sister
Sue was 16. His father Mr. Hui was a successful businessman and had to go on business trips very
frequently. His mother worked as a designer in a jewelry firm. Both of them were very busy. Mr.
Hui loved his children very much and was kind to them. He wanted to earn more money so that the
family could enjoy a more comfortable life. Mrs. Hui was a dominating woman. She had high
expectation towards her children and was very concerned with their academic performance.
Therefore, ever since the children were young, she sent them for tuition classes after school. She
also arranged other classes such as violin class, computer class, swimming class, etc. for them so
that they could have a good portfolio to compete for a place in Band 1 secondary schools. At the
end, both children were admitted to a good secondary school.
Tim’s relationship with his parents is not too close. He seldom shared his thoughts and feelings with
them. He liked his father but the latter was not always at home. He was quite fearful of his mother
because of her quick temper and dominating style. He thought what she concerned most was about
his academic performance rather than about his well-being. His relationship with his sister Sue was
quite good. They played together and had some good chats from time to time.
When Tim was a primary student, his academic performance was very outstanding. He did
particularly well in mathematics and had won several awards in some public competitions. Tim was
proud of this achievement. He also liked playing football and enjoyed watching football matches
on TV. He dreamed that he could become a famous football player one day.
His academic result in Form 1 was above average. Things however changed when Tim was
introduced to computer games by his classmates in Form 2. He had his own computer in his room.
He indulged in the games very much, playing all day long. He even did not sleep at night. He
played well in the games and said that he could ‘beat’ his classmates for most of the attempts. He
became a hero among his peer group. But then he became sleepy in class and did not care about
doing his homework anymore. He tended to borrow his classmates’ works and copied from them.
He even did not study for examinations. He was confident that he could manage his study because
he thought that he was a smart student. However, his academic performance fell rapidly. He failed
in two subjects in the previous examination. Mrs. Hui was very disappointed and upset about this.
She repeatedly scolded Tim. However, Tim did not listen to her and sometimes would even shut his
room door to keep his mother out. Henceforth, there were frequent quarrels and conflicts between
Tim and his parents. Once, his parents tried to take away the electric plug of Tim’s computer. Tim
was so mad about this that he fought them back and hurt her father’s hand. He stayed in his room
and did not go to school for two days. In addition, he refused to talk to his parents. Mrs. Hui cried
and did not know what to do. Thus, she turned to Tim’s school social worker for help.
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Case Scenario 4: The Wong Family
Father - Mr. Wong aged 36
Mother - Mrs. Wong aged 32
Son - Wong Yu aged 14
Daughter - Wong Siu Kuen aged 3
The family lived in a public housing estate in Tuen Mun. Mr. Wong was a truck driver and worked
long hours. Sometimes he stayed in China for once or twice a week. Mrs. Wong stayed at home
taking care of the two children, though she enjoyed her part-time job as a salesgirl before marriage.
Mr. Wong and Mrs. Wong married in the mainland and gave birth to Wong Yu. Mrs. Wong and
Wong Yu came to Hong Kong to join Mr. Wong when Wong Yu was ten years’ old. Mrs. Wong
did not settle well in Hong Kong and had only a few friends. She had a volatile relationship with
her husband. Mr. Wong was reported to ‘like having a drink’ and had been aggressive towards her
at times. The couple had frequent arguments and fights, and the two children occasionally witnessed
these. Mr. Wong offered no help to the care of the children or household chores, though he was
financially supporting his wife and their children.
Mrs. Wong
Mrs. Wong was currently five months pregnant. She liked to gamble by playing mah-jong with her
friends in Hong Kong, and she even travelled to Macau’s casinos during weekends by herself.
Sometimes, she would forget her two children at home and leave them unattended. She had not
attended her antenatal appointments to save money. She smoked approximately ten cigarettes a day,
was rather lonely, and admitted to being depressed. Though she was looking forward to having the
new baby, it was not planned and she had wanted to go back to work. Recently, she complained
that she felt rather weak physically and worried about her baby’s development.
Mr. Wong
Mr. Wong thought that the children were alright but that his wife was too soft with them, especially
Wong Yu, whom he thought was ‘just trouble’. He worried about his wife’s gambling habit and
doubted whether she had taken enough time to take care of the children at home. He admitted that
the couple argued a lot, but he thought that it was quite normal. He alleged that he had given
everything to his wife and she should be satisfied with him. He thought that being the head of the
family, he had already fulfilled his duty, and his wife and children should respect and obey him. He
was looking forward to having another son.
Wong Yu
Wong Yu was 14 years old. He had not settled very well since moving to Hong Kong. He did not
like the place he lived in because he had to sleep in the living room. That was why he used to stay
away from home. He had made very few friends and hated school. He had recently been warned
that he might be expelled if he continued to be absent from school. He considered his peers in school
as unfriendly, as they teased him about his mainland Cantonese accent and untidy clothes. Wong
Yu liked to hang out with a few classmates who had already been expelled from school. Sometimes
they lingered in the parks. The school social worker had interviewed him for a few times as he was
referred to her by the class mistress for exhibiting some disturbing behaviours, like plucking his
eyebrows in class, biting finger-nails and sleeping in class. Wong Yu smoked, drank alcohol, and
occasionally took drugs. He had been involved in petty crimes and had been referred to a social
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worker from a Youth Outreaching Team. Wong Yu missed his life in the mainland. He used to be
close to his mother but resented her for separating him from his peers in the mainland. He loved his
little sister and took care of her when their parents quarrelled. He did not like his father because the
latter sometimes would scold or even hit his mother. Wong Yu knew that he had been giving his
mother pressure and stress but he was just finding it all too much for him to handle at the moment.
Wong Siu Kuen
Wong Siu Kuen was 3 years old and was born prematurely. She had settled well into a nursery
which she attended every afternoon. She seemed to get along well with her playmates at the nursery.
She liked to cling around her teacher Mrs. Kwan. Siu Kuen liked to dress up and play being nurse.
She also liked to go to a nearby park because she could then play with many other young children
who usually gathered there before lunch. If her mother stayed at home, Siu Kuen would be very
excited to run around the house and follow her mother. Recently, her mother had been sleeping a
lot and Siu Kuen was just left to watch television on her own. Sometimes, when her mother was
sleeping, Siu Kuen liked to sleep together with her mother. The two could sleep for long hours, and
Siu Kuen had even missed nursery class because they might had slept throughout the whole morning.
Wong Yu was particularly protective of Siu Kuen, especially when his parents quarrelled and fought.
Siu Kuen was toilet-trained during the day and had a doll to take to bed and comfort her when she
got upset. There had been some concerns about Siu Kuen’s health like refusing to wake up in the
morning, refusing to drink milk which she once liked very much and bedwetting.
Once, Siu Kuen tried to pick up a stuffed doll which had fallen on the ground, thus hurting her knee.
She screamed and cried while her mother comforted her and bandaged her knee. After that incident,
Siu Kuen became afraid of the stuffed doll and cried every time she saw it. Eventually, Mrs. Wong
threw the doll away, but Siu Kuen still reacted with screaming and crying to other toys. Mr. and
Mrs. Wong had argued over this incident and they were worried about how to shut Siu Kuen up
whenever she cried. They once brought Siu Kuen to a private doctor for treatment and Siu Kuen
was then referred to the government hospital for clinical psychological service.
The tasks in this case were to develop and deliver a package of services with a focus on ONE of the
family members.