Mitch, a fiftyish writer and political activist in his fourth marriage had come to
psychotherapy in response to his wife’s complaints about his `insensitivity and
dark emotions’. Although he acknowledged that his father abandoned him
before birth and his mother was mercilessly depressed, he had considerable
difficulty identifying with his wife’s complaints and with any conception of
himself as an unhappy person. A year into therapy he found himself quite
unexpectedly talking about his mother, the constant heaviness of her depression,
and the pervasive absence of human warmth and care in his childhood.
He ended the session, rather typically for him, by claiming `but that’s the past
and I’ve moved on’. However, the following week he reported a puzzling
dream: he found himself in a home he shared with a woman who was just
leaving as the dream began. As he looked around the house he realized there
were places he knew nothing about. Opening one door, he found the furnace
room but could not enter it because swirling dust and mist throughout the
room made vision and movement impossible. He shut that door and opened
another: there, in an atticlike room, he found dozens of tortoises crawling
about the floor. Out of the ensuing detailed conversation, a rather plainspoken
account came forward: `I hadn’t realized the degree to which I had
shut out the impact of having the mother I did. I could find no warmth in my
childhood and lived as if among creatures who could barely move and existed
within an impenetrable shell.’
Case study from: Barnett, L., & Madison, G. (2012). Existential Therapy: Legacy, vibrancy and
dialogue. New York: Routledge.
Task:
You are to choose an approach out of the approaches presented in the unit. You are to consider and
present the key/foundational points of theory relevant to working with this case which identifies your
particular approach (as opposed to other approaches). In other words, you are to consider, from a
therapists’ perspective, how the approach you have chosen would inform your work with this client.
This case study has a 500 word limit. As previously done, in this consideration of the case you may
have 5 references maximum. Please write in APA format and style, i.e. doublespaced and 12pt font.
References must be APA format. The goal is to write as succinctly as possible whilst presenting the
foundational points of your chosen approach. Do not exceed but maintain the word count as this is
part of the assessment criteria.
Please do not write in summary form but in complete sentences demonstrating correct grammar
usage.
All work must be academically supported and are not based solely on your opinions.
Note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further
moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant
Board of Examiners.
