The Case of Jessica
Jessica is a married, mother of one son. Throughout her adult life, she has suffered from mood swings, physiological issues, such as depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Currently, she is struggling in her marriage, describing her relationship as “business-like” and facing conflict related to a potential decision to return to work after staying at home with her son for the past five years. Living on the opposite coast from her parents and younger sister, she also feels a disconnect in her relationship with her sister, though they do talk regularly. Jessica has experienced several significant traumas in her life, including surviving a near-fatal car accident as a senior in high school and losing her younger brother in a car accident just a couple of years later. She has attempted therapy in the past and is currently on anti-anxiety medication. The following presents possible theoretical orientations through which Jessica’s case and intervention strategies can be explored, specially Adlerian and Existential therapies.
Adlerian Theory: An Individual Psychology Approach
With a nod to a psychodynamic approach that recognizes the influence of past events—and more importantly, how those events are interpreted—Adlerian theory postulates that most problems are social in nature, with the dynamic among the family being one of the
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For example, Jessica reports feeling as though her parents favored and love her sister more, though she is unable to provide support or specific proof of that claim. Another example is the guilt she feels from the loss of her brother, personalizing the tragedy as her responsibility by “allowing” him to leave. This trauma is extremely significant in Jessica’s life, especially considering that she herself survived a near-fatal car accident just two years
According to smith and Hamon (2012), Families are considered as a whole in society. However, they believed that couples have many components in which makes up the family, if one component is missing, the family as a whole can get unbalance (Smith & Hamon, 2012). In the Brice’s family, communication was the component that was missing. The couple was not able to communicate their differences, which was what caused Carolyn and David to verbally insult each other. Smith and Hamon (2012), also explain that a person who expresses his or her feeling is considered as someone who is breaking the functions of their family system; especially if the person is focusing on the individual who is causing the problem, rather than the problem itself. In the Brice family, Carolyn could be considered the one that cause the dysfunction in the family structure because she was focusing on David as the problem of their marriage, rather than focusing of the elements that are causing their problems. Smith and Hamon (2012) explain that individuals should focus on how to solve a problem, rather than trying to find who is causing the
She needs to be strong for the whole family while dealing with this tough situation, and most importantly, she has to be encouraging for her daughter. Jessica’s mom murmurs to her, “Things will get better. I promise you, they will” (Van Draanen 58). Her mom knows that her life is grim and it feels like the end of the world to her daughter. She can only make her feel better by continuing to encourage her and give her love and support. Jessica thinks to herself, “She waves back, but even from the curb I can feel her worry, and I suddenly realize that it has nothing to do with the wheelchair or with me falling. The last time Fiona drove me away in her Subaru, it took me more than a week to come home” (Van Draanen 77). Her mom has to decide whether she is going to live in fear of her daughter getting hurt every time she leaves home. This accident was a trying time for everybody in their family and it affected all of
Jessica exhibits this trait by reacting in an odd way as she faces the shocking news about her leg. The day after the accident, she wakes up in the hospital not knowing why she is there or what day it even is. As she opens her eyes, she sees her mother with red puffy eyes and the doctors tell her the horrific news. As she learns that she has no right foot, ankle or shin, Jessica sits on the hospital bed and is in complete and utter shock. Her mother breaks down, letting out a rallying cry while her teenage daughter does not react in the slightest way possible. The main character is simply at a loss of words and has no time to process what has just been told to her. Consequently, Jessica lacks major emotional response while she is told the news about her loss and all of the barriers she must conquer. In another section of the novel, Jessica returns back to school and is trying her hardest to obtain her original routine. As she walks into the school, she is bombarded with numerous questions and condolences. Jessica feels as if she is in both the spotlight and invisible nevertheless she also feels as if people do not know how to react to her. Jessica's depression is
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with their grief differently, there is one common denominator: the reaction of one affects all.
Psychoanalysis is a unique form of psychological treatment founded by Sigmund Freud and later modified by his followers including Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Harry Stack-Sullivan (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Although there is no one psychoanalytic theory Wedding and Corsini (2013) tell us that there are basic principles that tend to be found throughout different psychoanalytic perspectives. They note that psychodynamic perspectives emphasize ideas of the unconscious and the ability to increase choice by facilitating an awareness of unconscious motivations. Psychodynamic perspectives tend to focus on the client’s use of defense mechanisms like projection, reaction formation, splitting, intellectualization, repression, transference, and resistance as a way of avoiding painful fantasies, feelings, and thoughts (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Such perspectives embrace the assumption that people are ambivalent about change and emphasize the importance of exploring that ambivalence (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). In addition, the therapeutic relationship is viewed as a vehicle of change; one that can be used for exploring both unconscious (primary) and conscious (secondary) self-defeating processes and actions (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Transference and countertransference are viewed as essential therapeutic tools (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Psyc...
Now that I have discussed the major events that took place throughout my life until where I am now, I would have to say that the two theorists along with their theories that relate most to my life are Alfred Adler and Karen Horney. I am going to start with Adler; his theory is called individual psychology. “This stresses the wholeness and uniqueness of each person as he or she struggles to overcome feelings or inferiority by aspiring toward some future goal” (Hergenhahn, Olson & Cramer, 2014 p. 123). For Adler’s theory on individual personality the first point I am going to discuss is his view on inferiority. In class I learned that Adler grew up with an older brother, thus leaving him to develop feelings of inferiority and causing him to always
Family systems have been studied since psychologists began studying people and their behaviors. The family is a dynamic system—a self-organizing system that adapts itself to changes in its members and to changes in its environment (as cited in Sigelman & Rider, 2009). Allowing the focus of a family system to grow beyond the mother and child relationship did not happen overnight. For many years, there was no connection made between other members of the family and the developmental issues of the children involved.
In this third and final reaction paper this writer will be discussing the following therapies; Feminist therapy, Postmodern approaches including Narrative therapy and Solution-focused therapy, as well as Family systems therapy. Throughout this class we have extensively researched, analyzed and studied many different psychotherapies. In doing so this writer has been able to gain a better understanding of the therapies that work with the age group this writer has chosen to work with, and which ones are not as beneficial. Trying to figure out this writer’s own individual style has been quite the task, in writing this final paper this writer hopes to find a combination of therapies that best represents my own personal beliefs and values.
Mahrer, A. R. (2007). Introduction to a mythical family: How to do experiential psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychotherapy; 61, 231-239. Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com
In consequence, humanists and existentialists argue that people who mostly receive judgment and criticism for their behaviors are more vulnerable to developing a psychological disorder because they fail to recognize their worth (Comer, 2016, pg. 110). Overall, the humanistic-existential treatment model objective is to change clients’ harsh self-standards as they gain self-awareness and self-acceptance by valuing and giving meaning to their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Comer, 2016, pg. 110). The main types of therapy for this model are client-centered therapy, gestalt therapy, and existential therapy. In these type of treatments, practitioners avoid giving personal remarks and their opinions, because they allow the client to control the session by creating a supportive and warm atmosphere in which clients are able to accept their weaknesses as well as their strengths while critiquing themselves honestly in an attempt to find their own solutions (Comer, 2016,
The client stated that she came to therapy because she has been feeling really lonely and feeling as though that she is not enough since the death of her father. After the death of her father, her mother did not pay her any attention; she understood that her mother was grieving, especially when her grandfather passed a year later. I stated that the frequent death that surrounded her mother, seem to have caused her mother to distance herself from her. She responded “yes, and it even gotten worse when my mom started to date and eventually marry my stepfather”. She mentioned that once her little sister was born, she became jealous and envious. I emphasized with her by stating that she must have felt as though her little sister was going to take the attention that she sought from her mother. After confirming that her mother paid more attention to her sister and stepfather, she mentioned that during this time she began to cut herself in places that no one would notice. The pain did not take the feeling away, but she wanted to know that if she could still feel pain after the thought of losing everything. However, the only person who paid her any attention during this time, was her grandmother. Her grandmother showed her the love that her mother nor “father figure” never showed her. I stated, “the love that your grandmother showed was not the love you were
Here the therapist would help X review her emotions, thoughts, early life experiences, and beliefs to acquire the necessary insight into their emotional life about their current emotional situation. The therapist can then draw an emotional pattern of X over time. Taking, for instance, her reaction to her failed marriage, her parents' deaths and lastly, her relationship breakdown with her half-siblings. Pin-pointing recurrent behavioral patterns establish a persons' way of responding to situations, these can be ways of avoiding distress or development of defense mechanisms. Strategies are then drawn to cope with these
Existential Therapy (ET) will be utilized in this case study to assist M’Lynn through the counseling process to acknowledge that she is the one making the choices in her life, and deciding what course her life takes. In Existential Therapy (ET), there are numerous incarnations and techniques because the emphasis is on individuality, recognizing that each therapeutic relationship is unique (Jones & Butman, 2011). In Existential Therapy (ET) the focus is on what the client is experiencing in the present, not what has occurred in their past. The focal point of Existential Therapy (ET) is self-awareness and self-understanding. The relationship between the counselor
Adler’s theory holds that conscious aspects of behavior are central to the development of personality. A major tenet of the theory is that individuals strive to become successful, the best that they can be. This theory places a lot of emphasis on the birth order. It is believed that birth order is not just the simple biological ordinal position; born first, second, third. To the contrary it is a second system of birth order of youngest child, oldest child, middle child, determining an individual’s psychological position. He believed
The concept of Adlerian family therapy was theorized by Alfred Adler and is one of the first psychiatrists to embark on family therapy. The principle of Adlerian family therapy is an individual and social system is holistic and inseparable in nature, behavior is interactive and with a purpose and the individual seeks meaning by acceptance in a social system. A family is generally the social system which an individual seeks acceptance. A principle of Adlerian family therapy is subjective, each person generates their own meaning from their experiences. The life roles and life meaning is greatly influenced by family environment, which individuals form their own private logic or their view of the world. The family problems can be related to faulty private logic and discouragement within the family. Adlerian family therapy incorporates the additional concept, parents and children tend to get locked into negative interactions which are repetitive and grounded on mistaken goals, resulting in motivation for family members. The key theories of Adlerian family therapy is family atmosphere, family constellation, and mistaken goals.