ORIGINAL PAPER Becoming Visible: The Case of Colette Carol Ganzer 1 Published online: 15 July 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract The case describes a 1-year treatment, by an early career professional, of Colette, a homeless woman with significant childhood trauma and a history of sub- stance use. As the treatment unfolds, Colette begins to participate in activities at the residence where she lives, becomes visible, and relates her story to others. The case illustrates work with complex issues through a psychoan- alytic lens. Keywords Homelessness Á Residential treatment Á Vulnerable populations Working in residential services for homeless individuals comes with its own set of challenges and complications. There are never enough resources. And such obstacles as lack of education, substance use, and involvement with the legal system make entry into an independent, self-sufficient life difficult. Over the period of time when I worked for an agency with residential programs for homeless men and women, a few dozen residents came to my office for psy- chotherapy. The clinical program that I directed was vol- untary; residents could choose to meet with one of the therapists or interns for the duration of their stay and, occasionally, for after care when they transitioned to the community. This is the story of one woman I worked with and her struggle for self-validation. I first met Colette, a 34-year-old biracial woman, when I was co-facilitating a group in the women’s residence. Ini- tially, I noticed that she was reticent and rarely spoke in the meetings. She sat against the wall, gazing downward, her hands folded in her lap. When her turn to speak came, she passed to the next person in the circle. Most of the women in the residence were very verbal, often complaining of the services and demanding attention from the staff. Colette seemed almost invisible. I spoke to her caseworker about my observations. She thought Colette would benefit from some individual therapy, particularly due to anger out- bursts, which I had never observed. Shortly thereafter, Colette was referred to me for individual treatment. During the initial interview, she requested help to work on issues that impeded her development and affected her ability to gain custody of her two sons. At the time of treatment, Colette had been in recovery for substance use for 18 months, and she indicated that she had problems socializing since she stopped using sub- stances. Drugs enabled her to have fun, to be outgoing, and to want to be with men. I learned that Colette was the older of two daughters born to an African American mother and an Italian American father, deceased for 20 years. Colette recalled that her father was the primary caregiver for the children. She felt loved by him and remembered that he would provide money for the family at Christmas time and tell her mother to ‘‘buy a big tree and lots of presents.’’ Her mother had been addicted to heroin but had maintained on methadone for close to 20 years. Both her mother and younger sister resided in the low-rise public housing pro- jects built along the river on the north side of the city. Colette remembered occasions when she would get high with her mother during the times they lived together. She also had a half-sister, age 50, and a half-brother, age 36, both of whom were born to her mother and a previous mate. Colette’s two sons, age 14 and 12, were in the cus- tody of child protective services and placed with her younger sister. She was in the process of attempting to have them returned to her custody. & Carol Ganzer CAGanzer@aol.com 1 2824 North Richmond Street, Chicago, IL 60618, USA 123 Clin Soc Work J (2016) 44:334–337 DOI 10.1007/s10615-016-0591-4