Author: Ushna Nawaz
The
client is 47 years old man who is seeking therapy because of increasing tension
in his marriage life and despondency over his career. The case formulation is
based on the psychodynamic model. According to this model, the client’s past
experiences, feelings, and hidden desires negatively influenced the client. As
a kid, the client was scrawny and shy, therefore he was unable to help out his
parents in their grocery store, due to this reason the client’s father was
always angry with him which made the client believe that his father was
sneering and contemptuous of his weakness. The client had a good time with his
mother and aunts but not with his father. Consequently, the client felt
detached from his father and more attached to his mother and referred her as a
warm-hearted woman. He felt safer with his mother hence the client experienced
the Oedipus complex. The detachment from his father increased with his budding
interest in theatre. Although the client was shy and awkward he was very
comfortable being on the stage, therefore, he selected to be a theatre artist
but his parents especially the father did not support him and contempt his
decision, this contradiction triggered emotional instability in the client. On
one occasion his parents came to see him star in a college production, he felt
that his father was unimpressed that serves as a subtle factor for his
insubstantial self-esteem.
According
to the attachment theory (Rholes, Simpson, & Friedman, 2006), the client
experienced avoidant attachment with his parents, he went away from his parents
to college to fulfill his dream of becoming a theater artist. As his parents
were not supportive, so to avoid this situation he detached him from them. John
was emotionally detached from his father during infancy and adolescence that
also had a negative influence on his later life and relationships. More on, the
death of his parents was traumatic for the client, the death of parents or
continuously living with both parents’ dead disturbs the psychological well-being
of an individual (Marks, Jun, & Song, 2007).
All
these events that happened in his early life had a significant impact on his
adulthood. As the client had been swayed by the Oedipus complex, during his
childhood he was more vulnerable to social interaction defects and the problem
with intimate relationships. The client was anxious about his intimate
relationship due to the effect of the Oedipus complex, hence faced elevated
tension in his marriage (Oros, Encenzo, Takling, Apugan, Lingatong, & Pon,
2019). Another factor of increasing
tension in marriage was being nagged by his wife about being a theater artist.
Though he understands his wife’s worries when his wife asked him to find
another job and undermined his confidence he had those negative flashbacks that
made him angry for his wife. The client had difficulties not only with romantic
relationships but also with other relationships. He was working in an industry
where contacts were important, but he was not capable to maintain his social
relationships. Due to attachment issues with his father he became
short-tempered with his son.
Although
the client was not on good terms with others in the industry, he was sincere
with his profession and struggling to be approved as a great theater artist. He
was experiencing frequent slights, dismissals, and apparent lack of interest in
the industry towards him which increased his frustration created a self-complex
and disruption that’s why he might be showing aggressive behavior (Leiscester,
2017). The negligence from the industry evoked his repressed memories and
feelings of not being approved as a theater artist by his father- elevating
emotional instability and low self-esteem. Consequently, when the client with
affected self-esteem faces any problem such as a financial problem and the
marital issue, he would be unable to manage them. More on, due to low
self-esteem, he was not capable of making effective decisions. And because of
emotional instability, he could not handle his emotions and feelings- causing frustration,
irritability, and anger.
According
to Freud’s model of personality (Bonifacio, 2013), the client was driven by Id
as he was persisted to be a theatre artist instead of using other ways of
earning, even when he was having financial problems. The client was using his
self-deprecating humor so he can release his tensions and failures. Such
clients constantly seek reassurance from their therapist and act like a child
who after getting scold or hurt comes to their parents to get comfort. Therefore,
the client tends to seek confirmation and validation and is emotionally
attached to the therapist. There is also a possibility that he came late for
therapy most of the time, not paid his bills on time, and never pays full
amount because he has developed transference with the therapist (Phillips,
1980). The client’s problem could be decoded by working on his ego and by
solving his unresolved conflicts.
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