Case Conceptualization and Treatment Plan for Tracy Julie Faltyn DePaul University School Counselors Can Change the World!! ☺ Introduction Tracy, a seventh grade girl in the movie Thirteen, provides a glimpse into the dangers of negative adolescent development. She was an honor student who was content playing with Barbies, but she was also desperate for acceptance and affection. Tracy meets Evie, a popular girl who engages in destructive behavior. Tracy’s only goal becomes emulating Evie, and she embarks on a path of self-destruction. Tracy, who is in early adolescence, is at the peak of her most critical developmental stage (Capuzzi & Gross, 2014), and is willing to do whatever it takes to belong. Throughout the movie, we see her struggle with low self-esteem, anger, dysfunctional relationships, self-harm, and substance abuse. Vernon (2009), discusses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which can be utilized with Tracy. Vernon (2009) notes that when needs of safety, belonging, love, and respect are not met, children respond emotionally, cognitively, physically, and socially, depending on their developmental level. The degree of development also impacts how children react to common developmental difficulties and situational problems. Vernon (2009) adds, “…how children interpret and respond to basic needs, as well as typical and situational problems, can result in various self-defeating behaviors” (p.3). Applying this to Tracy, we see that her basic needs of
This paper will jump into the psychologically significant findings in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. All research for this paper was conducted using the text required for the fall semester of Developmental Psychology (offline) and using the internet. While some see the movie as just a depiction of normal teenage life with an overbearing parent, there are many notable psychological stages, and even disorders present throughout. Without having done research to discover these, it would be easy to look over them, but once pointed out, they are more than obvious. It is interesting to see how they were put into the movie without making it the main theme of the movie itself. This paper will define those psychological findings, explain them, and locate them within the actual movie.
The adolescence stage in one’s life is often portrayed as a time of ‘storm and stress’ (Lipsitz, 1980). However, there are
The age of adolescence has become universally known as an awkward period of growth and socialization. The article “Saplings in the Storm,” by Mary Pipher, was published in 1995 and gives an interesting look into some of the issues faced by adolescent girls, but gives little evidence to support her claims or ways in which to encourage the self-confidence in adolescent girls. More recently, there has been further research looking into the reasons as to why girls become more depressed, endure a decrease in self-esteem, and lose their curiosity after puberty.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls, is author, Mary Pipher’s attempt to understand her experiences in therapy with adolescent girls (Pipher, p. 11). In the text adolescence is described as a border between childhood and adulthood (Pipher, p. 292). In her quest to understand adolescent girls, Pipher attempts to answer these questions: Why are so many girls in therapy in the 1990s? Why are there more self-mutilators? What is the meaning of lip, nose and eyebrow piercings? How do I help thirteen-year-olds deal with herpes or genital warts? Why are drugs and alcohol so common in the stories of seventh-graders? Why do so many girls hate their parents? (Pipher, p. 11-12). These questions are answered through self-reflection, stories from clients, and interviews with adolescent girls at different levels of maturation.
Hymowitz discusses the image and substance issues that tweens, children from the ages eight to twelve, experience due to vulnerableness and lack of self-esteem and individuality using Nickelodeon, toy manufacturers, and teachers as sources. In the beginning, she
Adolescence is defined as the transition between childhood and adulthood. Many changes happen at this stage. Adolescence involves things such as puberty, greater independence, and a time when someone begins to construct their identity. Identity means their life value and goals including a secure sense of who they are in terms of sexual, vocational, and moral ethics. In the next few paragraphs I will be discussing my Virtual Child, Maeve as she went through adolescence (ages 11- 16). I am going to delve into the different changes I saw in her and how they relate to theories proposed by Piaget, Erikson, Marcia, and Gardner. Each
The movie thirteen touched many important factors of adolescent’s development. Some of the ones I want to concentrate in this paper are: family system, developmental tasks, and peer pressure.
Adolescent girls growing up in today’s society endure many more hardships than in previous years. Adolescence is no longer a time of endless sunny days spent on the back porch with a glass of country time lemonade and a smile extending ear to ear. Adolescence for girls is now generalized as a dark and depressing period of life that often seems hopeless and never ending. Mary Pipher PH.D tries to illustrate just how drastically life has changed over the years for teenage girls through her best selling book “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls”. Although Mary Pipher was once a clinical psychologist, she articulates very well for everyone to clearly understand her ideas and perspectives. One way
A Child Called “It” is a powerful book written by Dave Pelzer about his childhood and the hardships he encountered with his family, peers, and community. Middle childhood can be a life altering point in a young child’s life, which many theorist have studied over the years. This paper will review a few of those theorist thoughts, and how their theories apply to young David’s childhood. The theorist work that will be covered will be Bronfenbrenner and his ecological systems model, Piaget’s theory of development, and lastly Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning. It is important to understand what was going through David’s mind as he dealt with this trauma and how he was able to survive it.
Compared to concrete thinking in childhood, adolescents’ thinking becomes much more abstract. This enables them to partake in self-conception; differentiating between who they are and who they may become in the future (Arnett, 2013). This developmental milestone is presented in The Breakfast Club when the five teens are sitting on the floor, discussing their insecurities. Andrew asks the group, with a horrified expression, if they are going to be like their parents. Claire answers with certainty that she will not (Hughes, et al., 1985). As they imagine their future selves like their parents, they are conceptualizing their feared selves (Arnett, 2013). Andrew also speaks of the false self he presents to make his father proud. This is shown as he admits that the physical pain and humiliation he caused a peer was not something he wanted to do, though he knew it was an action for which his father would praise him (Hughes et al., 1985). According to Arnett (2013), it is during the period of adolescence that teenagers recognize the false selves they present and that their false selves are contrary to their actual feelings and thoughts.
First of all, with the use of plot and character as dramatic elements, MacLeod is able to depict the main characteristics of the nature of adolescence, mainly the search for identity and the quest for independence. Among the scientific community, adolescence is believed to be the most crucial period in human development. It is a period of “rapid biological, social and psychological change” (Soto, et al. 330). There are the transformations that define puberty, there are changes in the relationships and attitudes towards adults and peers, and many teenagers struggle to form a coherent identity (331). In the process of discovering their identities, most adolescents become self-centered. Having not yet
The movie “Mean Girls”, featuring Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey, is a comedic film about a girl in high school who has to deal with all the problems, pressures, and choices of growing up in American society in comparison to that of being homeschooled in Africa. This motion picture was the perfect platform for showcasing various types of behavioral psychology. When Cady first moves from Africa to attend a public school she is a nice, innocent, respectful teenage girl. Her behavior quickly changes and these alterations can be explained through both the Freudian and Behaviorist perspectives.
Cindy (pseudonym) is an eight-year-old African-American female. She is in third grade and has attended the after-school program at HG. She was referred to art therapy by the after-school program teacher, due to her self-harm ideation and self-harm attempts. It is reported that she verbalized a desire to “disappear” and wished she did not “exist.” She scratched her arm to harm herself and threatened to smash her fingers in the door. The teacher also indicated that Cindy demands individual attention. Cindy’s mother mentioned that Cindy has a hard time opening up to anyone. She has no close friends and often expresses feelings that no one cares about her. She does not interact with strangers and wants to fight with her friends. When I observed Cindy in the classroom at HG, Cindy seemed to build a positive relationship with her peers; however, did not appear to have any close relationship with any one child.
Objective A: After 5/2/17, the consumer has missed two appointments with outpatient therapy. The consumer has stated that he wanted to hang out with his friends at the barber shop in lieu of going to his outpatient appointment with the MHSS. The MHSS has discussed the importance of outpatient therapy with the consumer and the consumer acknowledges that he needs outpatient therapy but he refuses to go or makes excuses not to go. Objective B: The consumer and the MHSS reviewed the consumer’s appointments with outpatient therapy and a PCP check up. The consumer was able to review the paper work for the PCP (Dr. Chinnery of Divine Health Group) however he declined help from the MHSS in reviewing the intake packet. The consumer stated that
Amy is a ten-year-old Caucasian female who lives with her parents and seventeen-year-old college student sister, Jen. No previous physical or mental health problems were noted. Her mother is a homeworker and father is an industrial flooring contractor who often works away from home. She has not been going to the school for two years and could be extremely resistant to anything relevant to school. Even though she is homeschooled, she does not study without displaying tantrum. Her mother has a difficulty in managing Amy’s resistant behavior and tantrums; therefore, they often engage in home chores instead of studying