Morgan Hembree University of Southern California Assignment # 1 SOWK 605 June 11, 2015 An Application of Modern Attachment Theory and Self Psychology: A Case Application Client Description The client's identity has been changed in order to keep her safe and maintain confidentiality. The client, who will be be referred to as Regina Smith, is a 64 year-old Caucasian woman who currently resides in a domestic violence shelter for women, Penelope House, in Mobile, Alabama. Regina is homeless after leaving her abusive husband of 25 years. The only source of income for the client is her social security check she receives each month. The client is attempting to save money to secure independent housing at Cathedral Place, a senior living center in Downtown Mobile. She has been doing this by saving her checks and pawning her wedding ring. The client is in good health and has not reported any serious medical condition or diagnosis. …show more content…
The client's mother was emotionally unavailable and never stepped in to intervene during the father's violent rage. The client witnessed domestic violence as a child and also personally experienced years of abuse from her husband. The client had two children with her soon to be ex husband, a son and a daughter, as well as two grandkids. She reports a having frequent contact with her children, however, she describes their relationship as distant. Both of her parents struggled with alcoholism but the client denies any alcohol abuse. The client's experiences made her develop low self-esteem and low confidence as well as difficulties trusting others. Regina cannot maintain healthy relationships and has problems interacting with others
The challenges that the social worker identified and the impact the abuse could have on Brandon include the trauma and abuse, illness and struggle may be injurious, but they may also be sources of challenge and opportunity. Every environment is full of resources. Resources can provide great strengths. One of social workers’ major roles is to link clients with the resources they need to empower them to improve their lives (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman,
Question 1: a) Donna Gamble is an Aboriginal woman who lives in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She is a former ward of the state and has spent a significant part of her youth inside juvenile correction centres. At a young age she started using drugs and alcohol as a form of escape and resorted to prostitution as a means of sustaining her habits. Donna has six children, all with the exception of the youngest two who were placed in the custody of child services. Donna has quit working as a prostitute and is currently on the road to recovery from years of addiction and abuse.
In Regina Calcaterra’s memoir, Etched in Sand, the speaker is Regina as a ten-year-old female, who was being abused, and forced to grow up much faster than most, other children her age. She wrote this book to reach her siblings, and show her love for them; but she also was looking to reach out to children who were/are being abused, are in foster care, and who are homeless. The book was set in The Hamptons of Long Island, during the 1970s and 1980s. Regina and her four other sibling were being abused by their mother, who was hooked on drugs and alcohol, and was all around a very irresponsible person. This group of siblings, were moving quite often because their mother either did not remember to pay the bill, or they were sleeping in the back
Alameda has had a hard life as a young girl growing up, both of her parents were alcoholics. Alameda was a 16 year old minor who had a baby and dropped out of school, and then was unable to care for the infant. A case manager by the name of Barbara LaRosa was assigned to Alameda case. Barbara took on Alameda as her client and made a visit to her parents’ home, while making the visit she found Alameda dad incompetent, and could not get any information from him to help with his daughter well-being.
Sandra has a life-long list of accomplishments however; her regrets greatly outweigh her past achievements. Sandra has been in a long-term abusive relationship, she has lost a connection with her children and she is unable to enjoy her retirement; she cannot travel or volunteer, which is all credited to her marriage to Benedito. Sandra has been abused both physically and emotionally and continues to accept abuse because she feels that it is the ethical thing to do. This transition crisis may be resolved by a HSP conducting a life review of Sandra by counseling her and going over different options that are available to her, supplying her with resources that are tailored to her situation and possibly assist her in finding a good lawyer so that she doesn’t have to relinquish some of her hard-earned money to Benedito. They can help her to build up the courage, strength and willpower to leave her abuser, one and for
They were enjoying a New Year’s Eve party when she and her husband received a call from a house they are watching while the owners were away. The owners f the house son also through a New Years Eve party and her husband and a friend went to go check on him. While they were there the husband died from multiple kicks to the head which was stated in the autopsy. No information was given that night from the people who attended that party which made it difficult for police to prosecute. Five years later a young man named Ryan Aldridge was arrested for the murder of Katy's husband. When she found out she wanted answers as to why and what happened in his life for him to make the life decision for both of them. She didn’t want revenge but wanted to hug him when they first met. She worried about him while he was in jail and taught herself about the justice system regarding his case. Ryan served here three out of five years in jail and that prices Katys visited him and did a process called victim-offender mediation this took an entire day. During this time, they both found humanity and the both began to understand each other and realized they had things in common. They worked together after he got out of jail sharing each other’s story. She states the fact that Ryan is in capable of inflicting harm is what she wanted. From this story, I learned to show one empathy and kindness. If Katy was able to forgive the
Criticisms of attachment theory have come mainly from the feminist schools of thought since the theory has been used to argue that no woman with a young child should work outside the home or spend time away from her baby (Goodsell and Meldrum, 2010). Children’s experience and development also depend on what happens after early years, whether bad or good later in life may change a child’s emotional development, e.g. lack of basic needs, diet, education, stimulation such as play might affect a child’s development (Rutter, 1981) Difference in cultures have to be taken into consideration as well. A study by Schaffer and Emmerson (1964) provided contradictory evidence from Bowlby’s attachment theory. They noted attachment was more prominent at eight months, and afterwards children became attached to more than one person. By one year six months only 13%of infants had one attachment. This study by Schafer and Emmerson (1964) concluded care giver can be male or female and mothering can be a shared responsibility. Social workers should therefore understand that parents are not totally responsible for the way the children develop. They did give them their genes and therefore do have some influence. Attachment theory also fails to consider the fact that the father and siblings, and other close relatives can also
In understanding others, one must first understand our own family background and how it affects our understanding of the world. Conversely, family systems draw on the view of the family as an emotional unit. Under system thinking, one evaluates the parts of the systems in relation to the whole meaning behavior becomes informed by and inseparable from the functioning of one’s family of origin. These ideas show that individuals have a hard time separating from the family and the network of relationships. With a deeper comprehension of the family of origin helps with the challenges and awareness of normalized human behaviors. When interviewing and analyzing the family of origin, allow one to look at their own family of origin
The therapeutic process is an opportunity for both healing and restoration as well as discovering new ways of being. Although exposed to a variety of psychological theories, I narrowed my theoretical orientation to a relational psychodynamic approach, drawing on attachment theory and Intersubjective Systems Theory (IST). IST describes how the subjective experiences, both embodied and affective, of an individual becomes the manner of organization, or way of being, in which the person operates in the world relationally. It is through this process of transference and countertransference, the unconscious ways of being can become explicit and through the collaborative effort of therapist and client, new ways of organizing the relational world can
From the individual perspective, the client was a victim of child abuse, which led to feelings of fear and sadness and a desire to avoid these emotions. Socially, she came from a family of alcoholics giving her easy availability. There was also the pressure of keeping up appearances due to her mother’s status in society. The initial individual consequences of the client’s alcohol use were reinforcing. She felt invincible, warm, and it helped her avoid the thoughts in her head. Everything was right with the world as long as she was intoxicated.
Attachment is described as the close emotional bond between two people and Attachment Theory (AT) generally concentrates on the early bonds in a person’s development as well as the effects that these bonds have on later socio-emotional development. While emphasis on attachment as an antecedent for future behavior and personality has decreased somewhat in recent years, it is interesting to note that the DSM IV-TR includes a “reactive attachment disorder” which it states is caused when extreme circumstances prevent proper attachment development.
The attachment style questionnaire is a series of questions to decide your attachment in your relationships.
For example, Magai & Passman (1997) discovered a strong relationship between secure attachments and emotional well-being of middle aged adults, which extends to individuals later in life. Understanding the role of attachment and its psychosocial impact during later life is an important area that needs further research. In regards to TMT, close relationships offer security, protection, and give meaning to life (Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003).
Attachment is an emotional bond that is from one person to another. The attachment theory is a psychological, an evolutionary and an ethological theory that is concerned with relationships between humans, specifically between mother and infant. A young infant has to develop a relationship with at least one of their primary caregivers for them to develop socially and emotionally. Social competence is the condition that possesses the social, emotional and intellectual skills and behaviours, the infant needs these to success as a member of society. Many studies have been focused on the Western society, but there are many arguments to whether or not this can be applicable to other cultures, such as the poorer countries.
In this case study, Laura and Danny have had significant changes in their lives. Laura has now left with the children and planning on moving with them to El Paso, Texas in a month. She has also filed for divorce from Danny. While Laura is making positive improvements to her life she is still concerned for Danny. She goes to collect what’s left of her belongings when she finds Danny in a state of panic. Danny has let himself go at this point. He started consuming alcohol, has not found a job, and is living with no electricity. Kid decides to pay Danny and Laura a visit and he quickly realizes Danny is in trouble. Danny begs for Kid’s assistance in order to help him start a new life. Danny is worried that he will end up alone and homeless