Discussion

Your initial post should be at least 300 words in length and your two substantive responses to other students per weekly discussion should be between 50 and 75 words each. Refer to your Discussion Board Rubric in your Syllabus for specific grading explanation.

In order for us to have a meaningful and productive discussion, it is important that you visit the discussion frequently and make your first post or response to another early in each unit. 

Psychodynamic Case Study	
Mallory is a 25-year-old woman seeking therapy from Dr. Santos, a clinical psychologist. When Mallory initially called Dr. Santos, she described mild depressive symptoms. At the first interview, Dr. Santos began with some open-ended questions intended to allow Mallory to explain the issues for which she sought treatment. Mallory began by describing her dissatisfaction with numerous aspects of her life. She had hoped to be married or seriously involved with a romantic partner, but she was not. Although her job paid her bills, she found it boring and somewhat unfulfilling. About 10 minutes into the interview, Mallory interrupted herself and said to Dr. Santos, "I'm sorry, I know I'm boring you. You're probably thinking, ‘I have more important things to do, and other clients who need my help more than her—this is a waste of my time.' I feel bad that I'm making you spend time listening to my stupid complaints. I'm just gonna leave." Mallory stood up to go, but Dr. Santos urged her to stay and assured her that she was indeed very interested in what she was saying. Mallory stayed and continued, but again after about 10 minutes, she interrupted herself and insisted that Dr. Santos must be bored and frustrated with her. In all, the interview included four such self-interruptions by Mallory. 
Dr. Santos was paying an appropriate amount of attention to Mallory, she was careful not to display any behavior (verbal or nonverbal) that would communicate that she was disinterested at all. She listened to Mallory with as much eye contact and interaction as she did any of her clients. Dr. Santos had never conducted an interview in which a client interrupted himself or herself "knowing" that Dr. Santos was bored. 
Transference can be bad 	
Edward Jackson 	
6/1/2013 3:42:44 PM	

	
To what extent does Mallory's behavior in this interview exemplify transference (see Chapter 12)?
Mallory exhibits transference by transferring her emotions of being bored on to the therapist (Pomerantz, 2008, p. 254).  Mallory is feeling bored at her job (and bored with herself for that matter) and she is transferring her own feelings of boredom onto the therapist by suggesting that the therapist is bored with the session four times!  Dr. Santos reassures Mallory each time that she was not bored.
To what extent does Dr. Santos' behavior during the session influence your judgment regarding Mallory's behavior as transference?
Dr. Santos asked open ended questions and never made me believe that she wasn’t interested in the session.  This led me to believe that there was an issue with Mallory, which was transference.
If it is transference, what, exactly, is Mallory transferring? From whom, might you speculate, is she transferring it?
She is transferring her own lack of self-esteem.  From our text, it states that common transference can come from past relationships (Pomerantz, 2008, p. 254).  If I had to guess where the transference is coming from, I would say a past, failed relationship.  My reasoning is because Mallory had hoped to be married by now, or to be in a serious relationship.  Perhaps her last partner found her boring and left.
If it is transference, and Dr. Santos is a psychodynamic psychotherapist, what is an ideal way for Dr. Santos to handle it? 
The first thing Dr. Santos should do is bring the behavior to Mallory’s attention.  And then Dr. Santos should question her about past relationships to gain better understanding of where this transference is originating from.
Describe several of the defense mechanisms. (Please select several that have not all been described already by other students if possible.) Do any of those you described seem to be applicable to Mallory? How so?
Several defense mechanisms are repression, projection, reaction formation, displacement, and sublimation (Pomerantz, 2008, p. 267).
Repression is just when someone represses conscious awareness (Pomerantz, 2008, p. 251).  And, projection is just when someone projects or attributes their negative emotions or traits onto other people.  For example, Mallory is projecting her boredom onto Dr. Santos.  There could also be a form of repression happening with Mallory; maybe she just refuses to admit to herself some of the bad things of her past; she needs to admit them and move on.
Relate these concepts of transference and defense mechanisms to situations in your own life. Where do you see them operating?
I have personally been the victim of a poor manager’s transference.  This manager, Manager X, wasn’t doing all that well at work, so he came down hard on his subordinates; he would say things like we weren’t doing a good enough job, or that we could do better, and piled tons of work on us.  Because of Manager X, I ended up leaving that company.  It wasn’t all that long (maybe 3 months), and I had heard that Manager X got fired.
 
Pomerantz, Andrew M. (2008). Clinical psychology: Science, practice and culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Eddie Jackson
GOK - Philosophy Major/Liberal Studies
http://eddiejackson.net/   university page 	

RE: Mallory 	
Edward Jackson 	
6/2/2013 5:30:06 PM	

	
You bring up several good points about Mallory's transference.  I also thought a defense mechanism she was employing was deflecting.  Rather than engaging the actual session, should was changing the subject, and basically transferring her own emotions onto Dr. Santos.  I actually thought the doctor was doing a good job.  She reassured Mallory every time she tried to divert the session.  The doctor also asked open ended questions, trying to get Mallory to talk about her problems.  Do you think the doctor could have done other things to stop Mallory's transference?

-----------------------------------------------------------
Eddie Jackson
GOK - Philosophy Major/Liberal Studies
http://eddiejackson.net/   university page 	

RE: Unit 7 Discussion 	
Edward Jackson 	
6/2/2013 5:42:50 PM	

	
Very informative post.  I thought Dr. Santos was doing a good job with directing the session in the right direction.  Mallory's transference was really a deflecting measure to stop the session, and to divert attention away from her actual problems.  You're right; she most likely has suffered some type of abuse or failed relationship in the past.  And, this is why she is blaming her co-workers, she thinks her job is boring, and why she keeps saying that Dr. Santos is bored, and they should stop the session.  I wonder if Mallory ever resolved her issues?  And what exactly did Dr. Santos do to help Mallory sort out her problems?

-----------------------------------------------------------
Eddie Jackson
GOK - Philosophy Major/Liberal Studies
http://eddiejackson.net/   university page 	

Cite your textbook and online source(s) according to APA format. Be sure to include both an in-text citation for each scholarly source and also a complete reference citation at the end of your post or paper. You will find a review of how to cite your scholarly sources using APA format in "APA Quick Reference" in Course Home.

Be sure to write a response to at least two others students' postings. Your response should be a full paragraph in length and substantive. In your response to others, be sure to tell what you find interesting about this diagnosis. You may also post other briefer responses in addition.