Question

Choice two personality theories from the list below and explain the distress of the person described in the case study. Feel free to indicate whether you feel that need more information and what questions would you ask the person described in the case study to flesh out his description. (this assignment should be at least 400 words)

Freudian

Jungian

Adlerian

Horney’s Theory

“Big Five” Trait Theory

Jerry is a 30-year-old male and is the youngest of three sons. He grew up in a suburb of

Chicago and lives 10 miles from his childhood home. He recalls his early family life as unhappy.

He perceived his parents’ marriage as miserable and unfulfilling. He recalls that his father

(who died two years ago) never approved of his interests and that his mother was unhappy

and would frequently complain about the fact that she had no female children.

Jerry has just been laid off from his job working for an innovative software company. Recently,

he has been doing some freelance work in programming, but he is barely making ends meet.

He has been in a serious and exclusive relationship for the past six months with a female coworker,

who has not yet been laid off from the software firm. Lately he has been avoiding

spending time with her, as she has been complaining about his irritability and negativism

about his future job prospects.

Jerry notices that he is having some trouble controlling his drinking, especially when he is

alone at the end of the day. This problem has been of such magnitude that he is considering

seeking counseling related to his substance use.

Answer 1

Karen Horney developed a theory to understand how individuals indulge in self-protective mechanisms to be able to deal with basic anxiety, which stems from their childhood experiences. Horney classified them under three groups;

Moving towards people: Jane is constantly is looking for a dominant personality in her life. She always had friends who took control of her life and eventually married a man who took charge of her life. However, she was manipulative and got her way every single time. This never bothered her husband because she was a 'compliant personality'. She would to anything to please her husband. She would repress her thoughts and feelings. She was never assertive or demanding. Her center of need was to be accepted by everyone. This works on the principle that 'Look, I am so weak and helpless, so love me'.

Moving against people: Sarah is a tough woman. She did not show any regard towards others. She is very dominating and has absolutely no concerns about appeasing others. She would instead argue, criticize and belittle others. Her actions stemmed from the same insecurity and fear as Jane's, however, she never displayed fear or rejection instead claimed to be very tough and not bothered by whatever anybody says about her. In reality it did bother her. It ate up majority part of her mind. But, pretending to be strong was her self-protective mechanism.

Moving away from people: Chris liked to physically keep away from people. He is a 'detached' personality. He likes spending time with himself. He avoids meeting anybody at all. He likes his space. Since he does not exercise his emotions much, he focuses on logical reasoning and intelligence. According to Horney, basic anxiety develops from childhood experiences. It majorly stems from the relationship that a child shares with his/her parent. Love and affection from a mother or father is of utmost importance. Not having received the wanted love from parents makes a child insecure and anxious.

Considering the above examples, Jerry is the "moving away from people" kinds. His estranged relationship with his parents reflect in his adult personality.

Sigmund Freud in his theory of psychoanalysis proposed the topographical model of the mind. Freud suggested that the human mind functions at three levels of awareness. The conscious mind, subconscious and the unconscious. Every individual goes through stressful situations in life. However, Freud suggested that every individual exercises different defense mechanisms which suit them the best to cope up with those stressful events. One of the defense mechanisms executed by most people is repression. Repression includes repressing or pushing down the feelings and thoughts that you make feel miserable. The repressed thoughts, feelings and memories are said to be embedded in the unconscious. Those thoughts or traumatic experiences are not forgotten whereas they are repressed in unconscious. The material repressed in the unconscious is the major cause behind individuals developing anxiety disorders. The reason to their anxiety is unknown to them. The material from the unconscious mind cannot be recollected or remembered. It does not surface to the conscious mind on it's own. Various techniques and ways are used to reveal the material from the unconscious mind. It includes, psychotherapy, dream analysis, free association, hypnosis and projective techniques. All of these techniques help reveal the thoughts and feelings that perhaps even an individual himself would be unaware of holding within.