LaCoille/Sanz Family
Jeremiah (59) and Teresa (54) LaCoille have been married for 29 years. They have two children, Stephan
(27) and Dylan (24). Jeremiah and Teresa have been lead ministers of the children’s ministry at Radical
Church for the past 10 years. Stephan is the lead guitarist of the church’s worship team and works as
music teacher. Dylan is the CT representative for YWAM (Youth with a mission) and is currently in
Tampere, Finland serving as a missionary. Over the years the LaCoille’s have been known to host
exchange students and in October 2016 shortly after their son Stephan purchased and moved to his own
house they provided home for Camila Sanz an exchange student from Seville, Spain.
Camila (23) is a graduate student of the Yale University Divinity Program and is an intern in the
children’s ministry at Radical Church working under the mentorship of Jeremiah and Teresa. Camila’s
primary language is Spanish and she is an asset within the Spanish speaking members of the Church.
Those who know Camila describe her as warmhearted, caring and sweet.
After a couple months of being in CT Camila foresaw difficulty adjusting to everyday life here and
proactively visited a therapist in December 2016. Camila was subsequently diagnosed with Unspecified
Adjustment Disorder and continued treatment until symptoms receded and was discharged from
treatment.
In June 2017 Stephan—Jeramiah and Teresa’s oldest son— and Camila started dating, and in March
2018 Stephan proposed; they are currently engaged.
Camila seemed to be adjusting well to life in Connecticut after treatment ended, however, for about two
months now, there have been some reports by some the children’s parents of the church that Camila
has yelled at their children or has not allowed them into Kids Church stating they were “loud and
obnoxious,” in class. The most recent reported incident was this past Sunday during the Easter service in
which Camila removed the candy from a child’s Easter eggs as he had reportedly, “misbehaved during
the egg hunt.” Camila sent the child back to sit with his parents, sobbing and candy-less. When Teresa
approached Camila to inquire about the reports, Camila snapped at Teresa stating, “the other children in
class ate the candy.” Teresa being concerned for Camila’s attitude, asked her son Stephan if everything
was ok between them, and/or if he had noticed anything different. Stephan reported he had noticed
Camila being irritable some days and it had created minor conflicts between them, however denied any
preceding events or lasting effects. Stephan also reported Camila had complained to him about waking
up in the middle of the night, being tired and not being able to haul through three services on Sundays.
Jeremiah also noticed Camila had been waking up at early hours of the morning; he reported hearing
her shout one morning around 3am and when he asked if she was ok, she stated, “I am fine, I am just
going to pray for a little while.” Jeremiah reported Camila seemed agitated, and looked like she had
seen, “the devil himself,” however was back to herself within minutes.
Stephan also reported often times Camila calls him around 3-4 o’clock in the morning slightly agitated
asking him to talk to her or pray with her over the phone until she falls asleep. Stephan also reports
Camila calms down after a few minutes of talking to him on the phone.
Case Conceptualization:
IP: Camila Sanz is a 23 year old, born in Spain, engaged, childless, heterosexual, Christian female.
DSM5 Dx: (F51.5) Nightmare Disorder, Subacute, Moderate: Client meets all criteria of the diagnosis, no hx of
trauma, signs of psychotic behavior, or mood disturbances are either observed, or reported. Other psychotic
and mood disorders have been ruled out.
Background info:
 Camila’s parents Mario and Salomé, and her brothers Marco (32) and Ulises (27) live in Spain.
 Her father (52) is a business man, and her mother (54) is an art conservator in a museum in Spain.
 She talks to her family consistently through facetime.
 She works as a Spanish tutor part-time, as the internship at Radical Church is paid. Her parents
support her financially.
 Camila lives with Jeremiah and Teresa, while Stephan her fiancé lives in his own house.
 They are planning to marry in 2019.
Timeline:
Moved to CT the end of October 2016 with the LaCoille’s
Visited therapist in December 2016 – Diagnosed with Unspecified Adjustment Disorder
Started School in January 2017
Ceased therapy in April 2017 as symptoms receded.
Started dating Stephan in June 2017
Ulises came to visit her in December 2017 for the holidays
Nightmares and complaints from church parents started beginning of February 2018.
Engaged to Stephan in March 2018
Symptoms: Irritable, few days a week. Slightly tired. Wakes up around 3am-4am. Agitation including
sweating and accelerated heartbeat (only lasts a couple minutes).
Nightmares: 1-3 times a week
Examples:
Finds herself in Spain trying to contact Stephan and his family and can’t make it back to
Connecticut, misses her flight, loses her luggage and never makes it back to him.
Being on a trip and losing the children, and as she finds one she loses another, then running
and running until she collapses and wakes up.
Hallucinations/Psychosis/SI/HI/Mania/Hypomania: No
Depressed mood: No
Medical History or Medications: No health issues/No Medications
Family History: No medical issues or mental health illness
Trauma: none
Substance use: None
Pregnant: No
Sexually active: No
Onset: 2 months ago. No previous reports of Nightmares. Has had dreams before, but does not remember
them well, or remember them being scary or losing sleep over them.
Frequency: 1-3 times a week
Impact on IP: Irritability due to restlessness when nightmares occur. Tiredness. Mild conflict with fiancé and
family, and church community.
Impact on family: mild impact, some conflict.
Impact on community: mild impact, some conflict with children’s parents at church.