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Rick says that his mom made him come today. She brought him into the room, expressed her concern for his anxiety about getting a job and her concern for the smell of marijuana in the basement, and then left the room.

Rick states that he has trouble getting up in the morning and can’t go to sleep at night because his thoughts are racing about all the social interactions of the day. He says that he came to therapy because he just starts shaking when he’s filling out job applications and he feels overwhelmed. He reports having a persistent fear of taking his driving test, filling out job applications, and talking to new people because he is worried he will behave in an embarrassing manner. Rick states that his stomach is upset, he has a flight of ideas, and feels an unbearable amount of anxiety before having social contact. He says that he smokes marijuana sometimes, and that his mom bugs him about it all the time. Sometimes he says he keeps smoking to make himself feel less anxious and that he stays up too late to make his shift the next day. He’s received several warnings about coming into work late so he’s worried they will fire him and then he won’t even have a part-time job. He admits to being embarrassed about his situation and that he feels worthless. He does feel sad, but not all the time and nowhere near like he did before when he was in junior high.

Rick states that he thinks his parents are “making a mountain out of a mole hill”; he does get anxious when filling out job applications, but “doesn’t everyone?” He says that he doesn’t like feeling anxious and he wishes his family had lots of money so he didn’t have to find a job. Sometimes he plays the lottery hoping that he’ll win millions and the whole problem will go away.

Rick’s mother reports that he saw a therapist when he was in junior high and she reports that he was depressed and took Zoloft but “it didn’t help, he was still depressed”. He refused to sign a release of information to talk to the previous provider.

Rick reported that he doesn’t remember when he walked and talked and can’t remember his mother talking about it. He reports that he had trouble learning how to drive because the thought of taking the test with someone he didn’t know watching him drive has kept him from getting his license. He only started dating in the past year. He’s never asked a girl out. He’s thankful that his current girlfriend pursued him.

Rick denies anything “really bad” ever happening to him. Rick denies that anyone in his family ever beat him or hit him. He does think that the kids in his school were really mean to him and made changing in the locker room and trying out for basketball impossible.

Rick reports that he doesn’t drink but he has smoked pot. He says that he smokes a few times a week because it helps calm his nerves when he thinks about applying for jobs. His mother reports that she smells weed daily and is worried about his use. He does admit to being late for work sometimes after heavy use. He says it is no big deal and that his girlfriend is okay with it.

Rick reports that his mom and dad both have high blood pressure and take medication. He says that his uncle has PTSD from the Gulf War and that he thinks two of his paternal aunts have been through chemical dependency treatment for alcohol.

Rick is a European American male who has lived most of his life in a first ring suburb outside of St. Paul. He considers himself to be from the working class and says that his parents always boasted that he would be the first one to go to college. He admitted that he feels shame that he couldn’t take the ACT last year and couldn’t fill out the applications because he was so worried he would fail. He identifies with having an internal locus of control which he says contributes to feeling embarrassed about not being able to get a full-time job or go to college. He says that he doesn’t really have any friends who aren’t white and most of his friends are loners and are on-line gamers like him. Rick, as he often feels nervous in front of people, tends to look at the ground when people are talking and doesn’t speak very loudly. He says that he feels much more confident when typing/talking than speaking—especially in public. Rick feels like a lot of what is going on for him is out of his control. He can’t find a job because the job market is horrible. He can’t take his driver’s license test because the evaluator seems judgmental and scary. It all seems out of his hands.