I chose to write my paper on the award-winning movie Antwone Fisher, directed by Denzel Washington. As this movie unfolds, the majority of it shows the therapy sessions between Antwone and his psychiatrist; Dr. Davenport. The movie starts out by showing a young Navy man who has issues with cooperating and living with his fellow shipmates. It is very evident in the beginning of the movie that he has anger issues and that it is hard for him to control them, because of underlining issues that have happened to him as a child. After getting in a physical fight on the ship, his commander orders that he goes to see a psychiatrist to evaluate him and his possible issues. At first, Antwone refused to speak to the psychiatrist but as time went on, he …show more content…
Most psychodynamic approaches are centered that something has happened early in life that eventually causes difficulties in day to day life. It is very evident in the movie that his psychiatrist, Dr. Davenport, uses this approach that there is underlining cause of his personality, feelings, and emotions, that relate to early experiences in his life. I categorized this type of therapy as Psychodynamic because the sessions are focused around questions and stories about times in his childhood that were troubling. The psychiatrist; Dr. Davenport starts by asking Antwone questions like, “where are you from?” and “where are your parents?” in hopes to lure Antwone into talking more about his personal life that could get down to the root of where all of his built-up anger has come from. As the questions continue, Antwone slowly begins to open up about how he was born in a correctional facility moved into an orphanage where his mother never came to claim him. He then was moved into a mentally, physically, and emotionally abusive foster home with two other foster brothers. With this foster home, also brought along molestation by the foster moms older daughter, and abandonment issues when later being kicked …show more content…
Out of the two, I believe that the Psychodynamic Approach was the most successful out of the two because Dr. Davenport credits a lot of his childhood experiences to his behavior and feelings in his adult life. Dr. Davenport links him being molested as a young child, to the reason that at the age of 25 he still has not been with a woman sexually, and never been that open to relationships until he meets a girl on the ship that he falls in love with during the sessions. As well as his abandonment issues to his mother never coming back for him, his foster care family finally kicking him out when he stood up for himself, and finally his best friend Jesse who was the only one always there for him, putting himself in a position to get shot and killed in front of him. At the end of the movie, the viewer can clearly see a huge difference in Antwone’s personality and the way that he copes with certain difficult situations, as well as just being an overall happier person; showing that the therapy was effective for Antwone
Antwone serves as a Petty Officer in the United States Navy. He is single and heterosexual, with no children. Antwone was referred to the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation, after pleading guilty to assault on a superior, non-commissioned officer. As a result of his physical aggression, he was demoted from ships serviceman Petty Officer, third class, to ships serviceman Seaman. Antwone has a history of physical aggression and poor impulse control. Antwone was referred for three sessions of psychiatry service for assessment of physical aggression, anger management, and supportive treatment. At the end of treatment, a recommendation by Dr. Davenport will be submitted to Antwone’s commanding officer, for the purpose of determining reinstatement to active duty. Antwone sees no need for evaluation and states that the cause of physical assault was a result of racial remarks by the victim. Antwone’s attitude towards fighting is stated in his words, “It’s the only way some people learn.”
Julie Holland, MD portrays a very interesting perspective working at a psychiatric hospital. I can see how many people perceive this book as controversial due to some of the disclosure, judgments or biases she placed on her clients and colleagues. Many different defense mechanisms can be seen throughout the book such as displacement, humor, denial, intellectualization, and isolation of affect, repression, and eventually suppression. Many of these defense mechanisms are not identified within her own pattern of behavior when dealing with stressful
The two texts emphasized in this essay include Elyn R. Saks’ The Center Cannot Hold : My Journey Through Madness and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces. “There were many days when I believed I was nothing more than the Lady of Charts - a crazy woman who’d faked her way into a teaching job and would soon be discovered for what she really was and put where she really belonged - in a mental hospital” (Saks 263). Saks entire life was a struggle because of the mental illness she had since a young age, schizophrenia. Most of her younger years were lived being misunderstood by her parents and peers alike. She turned to options like substance abuse and self harm to cope with her deteriorating situation in life. There came a point where she realized that she was better than her illness and was able to overcome it with the help and guidance of a few mentors. Now, Saks is a very successful assistant dean, as well as a professor of law, psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School. Saks also went on to receive the award for MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and write her book. Joseph Campbell was also very successful in the same way because he wrote a book that is very complex and still relevant in this day and age. Campbell made the mold and Saks’ life fits it
“Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is… Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified.” Determining sanity wasn't always prominent; the studies of mental health and psychology have improved greatly since the late 1960’s, but some could argue that there are still many disorders we do not understand. This movie envelopes the problems and treatment of patients during this era. Not only in a time of economic and racial disturbance, but the stereotypes and inequality for women are exemplified during this motion picture.
... The most appropriate form of therapy is person-centered therapy (Schultz & Schultz, 2013). Dr. Davenport would also make sure that Antwone accepts himself as he is.
Since the birth of movies, Hollywood has strived to delve into the human experience and present certain aspects of life to the general population. Mental disorders are just one of many topics that are often explored for use in the media. The film A Beautiful Mind focuses specifically on paranoid schizophrenia, and follows protagonist John Nash’s life as he lives with the disorder. The film details Nash’s presymptomatic life at Princeton University, follows him through the early stages of the disorder, and continues as the symptoms begin to overrun his life. Luckily for Nash, his disorder is eventually clinically diagnosed and he is treated. The movie not only shares the tale of Nash’s life, but also shares with audiences a lesson about the
In psychoanalysis the therapist takes on the role of the expert, listening and interpreting Ana’s free associations from her unconscious process. The therapist role is to discover what is real and what is not real. The therapist is not to have an agenda and to remain passive and only engage when interpreting something Ana has stated (Murdock,
1. The psychodynamic approach is the interrelation of the unconscious and conscious, where the mental and emotional determine ones personality and motivation. In our modern day society knowing ones own self is an important, but difficult task to ask yourself, and many has tried. Sigmund Freud was no exception. Freud’s psychodynamic approach was a new way to perceive human mentality (Harré 2006:44-45) and with the keyword unconscious and his tripartite theory of self – ego, super-ego and id, Freud created an insight to what the self is. The conscious I, conveys a quite minimal part of our true self – which means that our true self lies hidden underneath. This means that we have unconscious animal instincts that should be repressed or channelled
Initially, Ellis decided to become a psychoanalyst but most psychoanalytic institutes rejected novices who were not medical doctors (Corey, 2013). He located an analyst with the Karen Horney group who decided to train with him. Ellis completed a full analysis and practiced psychoanalytic therapy with a focus on the areas of personality assessment and marriage and family therapy. In the lat...
For my final essay, I have chosen the movie “Fatal Attraction”, and I will focus on Alex Forrest and her mental disorder. Borderline Personality was displayed in the movie and Alex had almost every symptom of this disorder. Throughout this essay, I will be discussing Alex’s characteristics, intelligence, motivation, stress, social influences and/ or personality theories, treatment, and if the depiction of the disorder and treatment is consistent with what was discussed and read in the course.
1. What type of emotional disturbance does John Nash, the main character in the film,
...ot simply a social analogy portraying modern society's dislike and ultimate destruction of anyone who consistently upsets the status quo. It is this, but it also is exactly what the story line indicates. It is a graphic story clearly showing the lack of humanity, oppression, coercion, brute force and destructiveness of the modern "mental health" field. Without the firm denial of Man and his mind, they're largely the same thing in the end, none of these things could ever occur. The movie contains many situations where the status quo attempts to control those who choose to walk outside the system and force them back into line. Modern psychiatry and psychology primarily serve that function of control seemingly required by society and civilization. It is not about help and betterment. It has never been about help or betterment.
In the film Antwone Fisher (2002), we witness the evolving therapeutic relationship of a psychiatrist, Dr. Jerome Davenport, and his client, Antwone Fisher. As a member of the military, Antwone is mandated to report to therapy sessions with Dr. Davenport after an altercation with a fellow serviceman. The relationship between Antwone and Dr. Davenport evolves beyond their mandated sessions and allows for the exploration of personal issues for both individuals. As a result of this, many ethical dilemmas occur that force Dr. Davenport to make decisions both in line with and against various principle ethics.
The core of the therapy session was focused on the dispute, where Ellis challenged Gloria’s tendency to “catastrophize.” More specifically, he challenged Gloria’s irrational emotions (“If this is so, that would be awful,”), asking her, “Would that really be so awful?” In another attempt to point out her tendency to catastrophize, he had Gloria act “as if” she were an average woman like Jane Doe. Through this process of disputing the irrational emotions and thoughts, Gloria was able to move towards a new effect, or new thought/emotion about the same activating event. Ellis’ approach to therapy shares several similar techniques with Adler’s Individual Psychology. Both approaches encourage their clients to act as if in order to challenge their maladaptive thoughts. Both therapists also include the importance of creating images (Individual Psychology) or rational emotive imagery (REBT). While Ellis plays a more active role in therapy sessions by disputing his client's thoughts and emotions, his approach is similar to the less
In this book, Dr. Ernest Lash discovers he has a love for psychoanalysis after several years working as a psychopharmacologist. Justin, who has been a patient of Ernest for several years, tells him he left his wife, Carol, for another woman. While Ernest sees this as a good thing since the marriage between Justin and Carol as unhealthy, he is still slightly upset that Justin gives him no credit for his help in the situation. Justin then decided he no longer needs Ernest’s help.