| Course | HW420 Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Client support memo |
| Length | About 780 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HW420 Unit 9
Angry at God and Still Praying the Rosary: A Unit 9 Client Support Memo for a Caregiver Spouse
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HW420: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Wellness
Unit 9 Client Support Memo
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The client, her husband, her parish and the wellness center are composite; the research on religious coping, anger toward God and caregiver strain cited is real.
Memo Heading
To: Program Director, Lakeview Senior Wellness Center. From: Wellness coach. Date: October 9. Subject: Support plan and referrals for Mrs. Ann Mahoney.
Purpose
This memo summarizes my work with Mrs. Mahoney, sets out the supports I am providing within my role and records two referrals I offered, one accepted and one declined.
Summary in Her Words
Mrs. Mahoney, a composite 69-year-old who spent thirty years in a parish school office, has looked after her husband, Jim, since his Parkinson's disease diagnosis three years ago. His mobility has declined, and she now helps him dress, bathe and get in and out of bed. She attended Mass weekly for most of her life but stopped after Easter. "I'm angry at God," she told me. "I've been faithful for sixty years and this is what we get." She still prays the rosary most nights, which she calls "habit, nothing more." She says she has not had two hours to herself since summer.
What Research Suggests
Anger toward God is more common than many people assume, and studies have found it is linked to holding God responsible for suffering and to difficulty finding meaning; in those studies, it was also associated with poorer adjustment (Exline et al., 2011). Researchers on religious coping distinguish positive forms, such as seeking spiritual support, from negative forms, such as feeling punished or abandoned by God, and negative religious coping has been associated with greater distress (Pargament et al., 1998). Caregiving strain itself is a significant health risk for spouses (Schulz & Beach, 1999).
Within My Scope
I am supporting three things, each built from her own resources:
1. The rosary. She continues to pray it, and I have not commented on whether it is habit or faith. It is hers, and she can decide what it means.
2. A caregiver support group. Her friend Margaret from the parish has offered to drive her to the Tuesday caregiver group at the community hospital, which meets while an aide sits with Jim. She has attended twice.
3. Garden time. Mrs. Mahoney says forty minutes in her garden is the only time she feels like herself. I have helped her arrange a weekly respite visit through the county's aging services program so that time is protected on Thursday mornings.
My role is to protect the resources Mrs. Mahoney already has, the rosary, a friend, a support group and her garden, without telling her what her anger or her prayer should mean.
Outside My Scope
Two concerns are outside my role.
Her anger at God and her distance from the Church. These are spiritual concerns. I offered to connect her with the hospital's chaplain or with a priest of her choosing. She declined, saying she is "not ready to talk to a priest about it." I respected that and told her the offer stands. I will not raise it again unless she does.
Possible depression. She reports poor sleep, fatigue and little pleasure in activities that once mattered to her. Caregiver strain can include depression, which needs professional assessment. I offered a referral to her primary care physician for a check-up that includes her mood. She accepted, and her appointment is on October 22.
Why I Did Not Address the Anger Directly
It would have been easy to reassure Mrs. Mahoney that God had not abandoned her, or to suggest that her anger was a stage that would pass. Either response would have stepped into a spiritual conversation I am not trained to lead and that she has not invited. My role was to hear the anger without correcting it, and to make sure she knew where to take it if she chose to.
Accepted and Declined
1. Physician check-up including mood: accepted, scheduled.
2. Chaplain or priest: declined for now, offer left open.
Recommendations for the Center
I recommend that the center continue to fund respite visits for caregivers like Mrs. Mahoney, since the respite is what makes her garden time possible. I also recommend that staff be prepared to offer spiritual care referrals without pressing them, as her case shows that a declined offer can still be left open respectfully.
Next Steps
I will meet with Mrs. Mahoney again in two weeks, after her physician visit, and will report any change to you.
References
Exline, J. J., Park, C. L., Smyth, J. M., & Carey, M. P. (2011). Anger toward God: Social-cognitive predictors, prevalence, and links with adjustment to bereavement and cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(1), 129-148. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021716
Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(4), 710-724. https://doi.org/10.2307/1388152
Schulz, R., & Beach, S. R. (1999). Caregiving as a risk factor for mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA, 282(23), 2215-2219. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.282.23.2215
What the HW420 Unit 9 assignment asks for
The support memo unit asks students to write a professional memo about a client, setting out the support provided and its limits. Prompts commonly require a heading, purpose, a summary in the client's words, supports within the wellness role, concerns outside it, referrals and recommendations. Build supports from resources the client already has. Treat spiritual practices the client values as hers to interpret. Identify spiritual and mental health concerns that belong to chaplains, clergy or clinicians, and offer referrals without pressure. Record accepted and declined referrals plainly. Use research to explain why concerns matter, not to diagnose. Address recommendations to the reader's role. Keep to about two pages.
How the HW 420 Unit 9 example is put together
The heading block and purpose come first. Her situation is summarized in her own words about sixty years of faithfulness and the rosary as habit. A research section reports findings on anger toward God, negative religious coping and caregiver strain. Three supports follow: the rosary left uninterpreted, a friend's lifts to a caregiver group and respite-protected garden time, and the highlighted sentence defines the coach's role. Two outside-scope concerns are set out with the referral offered for each. A section explains why the coach did not answer her anger directly. A two-line list records one referral accepted and one declined, and recommendations and next steps close the memo.
Reading the HW420 Unit 9 grading rubric
HW420 memo rubrics tend to weight scope most: clear identification of what belongs to the wellness role and what to chaplains, clergy or clinicians. Respect for the client's spiritual practices and autonomy is a second major criterion, including how declined referrals are handled. Supports earn points when built from the client's own resources. Use of research to explain concerns, without diagnosing, counts under evidence. Professional format, plain language and recommendations suited to the reader complete the rubric with APA citations. Memos that offer spiritual reassurance, press a declined referral or diagnose depression usually lose points on scope. Graders also notice whether recommendations to the director concern program resources rather than the client's private choices.
HW420 Unit 9 help: mistakes that cost points
Support memos often blur the line between wellness coaching and spiritual counseling, offering reassurance about faith that the coach is not trained to give. Another weakness is treating a declined referral as a failure rather than recording it as the client's choice. Students frequently suggest new resources instead of protecting ones the client already uses. Mental health concerns are sometimes named as diagnoses. Memos may be addressed to the client when the prompt names a supervisor. If you are writing about a client whose faith and distress overlap, list what she already does and what she has said she will not do, and our team can help you set out the boundary clearly.
Get an HW420 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Who receives the memo in your Unit 9 prompt: a client, a supervisor or a referral partner? Say so, forward the case and the rubric, and mention any agency form your section uses. The draft separates support from referral in the body itself and records each decision as the client's. The first memo is free and comes back in 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HW420 Unit 9 questions, answered
How do I word the scope limit without sounding cold?
Describe what you will do before what you will not, and explain each limit by the kind of help the person deserves rather than by rules. Saying that a concern deserves someone trained for it reads as care. Keep the language plain and specific; vague phrases about referring as appropriate sound more distant than a clear name and reason.
Is a spiritual concern always outside a wellness role?
No. Prayer a client values, a congregation they belong to or a ritual that steadies them can all belong in a wellness plan, supported as the client describes them. What falls outside is addressing spiritual distress directly, interpreting beliefs or counseling someone through a crisis of faith. Chaplains, clergy and spiritual care professionals are trained for that work, which is why the memo names them.
What if the client refuses a referral?
Record the refusal as the client's choice, note that the information was offered, and continue the support that remains in scope. Many memos also note when the referral will be raised again, gently, at follow-up. Where there is any risk of harm, agency policy usually governs, and the memo should say which policy applies.
Where can I find a free HW420 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page holds a complete Unit 9 client support memo for a caregiver angry at God, with supports, referrals accepted and declined, margin notes and APA references.
Is anger at God common?
Research suggests it is more common than many people assume, often arising after severe harm or loss. In studies it has been linked with difficulty finding meaning and poorer adjustment.