PSYCHIATRIC CASE STUDY: BETTY
PRIMARY DEFICIT AREAS FOR BETTY
Betty is a 32 year old female with a history of recurrent major depression being precipitated by stressful life situations. Her latest attack was precipitated by being physically and sexually assualted in her apartment. The client is having difficulties in dealing with disturbing memories from the past being a child of abusive parents. The main symptoms observed are agitation and psychomotor retardation. The affective disorder of the client has its main implicatios on the areas of productivity and leisure. From the appearance of the client we assumed that the area of self care is not affected. Due to lack of insight in her current situation, the client may not be cooperative with the therapist. The client also lacks motivation and her only reason for living is her five year old daughter. She also has arthritis and allergy.
POTTERY AS A THERAPUTIC ACTIVITY FOR BETTY
Our main goal in choosing pottery for Betty is to improve her areas of productivity and leisure. Being able to do pottery with her daughter might be the main motivation to get her involved in the activity. First she will work on simple projects that can be finished in a short time. Gradually we will increase the complexity of the task and the length of time required to finish them. This will increase her attention span and her self confidence which are essential for successful employment. At first she can work in quiet places with minimum distraction and gradually move to larger groups. This will train her to ignore any distraction in her work place and remain focused on her job. Pottery can also be used to teach Betty new skills that will help her in finding a job. An example moulding the clay and rolling it to a thin layer by using the roller is similar to rolling the dough as in pie making. Betty may also enjoy teaching and helping her daughter to use pottery to make small animals or any object she might like. In the future pottery may become a hobby that Betty enjoys doing in her spare time. One of the main benefits of this activity to Betty is enabling her to express her feelings and emotions towards her parents in a beneficial way. An example is pounding the clay when she is feeling angry, and moulding any shape to express her emotions. This will reduce her psychomoter agitation and help her to deal with any stressful events in the future. Due to her arthritis Betty can use soft clay at the beginning, to minimize pain and stiffness and gradually move towards harder clay to develop strength. Safety must be emphasized in Betty's situation given her history of a suicidal attempt at age eighteen. Any sharp metal tools should be replaced by plastic ones and supervision may be required at all times at the early stages of her rehabilitation.
By looking at the overall picture we can see that pottery will be very beneficial for Betty. While she will learn how to deal with disturbing memories from the past in a constructive way, she will also learn new skills that will help her become productive and able to enjoy life.
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[Description of Pottery]
[Jane]
[Toby]
[Summary]
[References]
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