This week we will be putting on our doctor hats (wait, a minute doctor’s don’t wear hats!). Okay, this week we will be putting on our doctor coats! You’ll be given a case study to analyze and your job will be to do so as a doctor from a particular contemporary perspective. You will be expected to play the role of ONE of the following doctors, each of whom represent a different contemporary perspective on mental illness:

• Dr. Freud (Psycho-dynamic/Psychoanalytic perspective);
• Dr. Skinner or Dr. Bandura (Behaviorism including operant conditioning or observational learning);
• Dr. Beck or Dr. Ellis (Cognitive);
• Dr. Rogers or Dr. Perls (Humanist);
  or
• Dr. Pill or Dr. Gene (Biological).

You will role-play that doctor (changing the gender if you wish!), using that perspective and only that perspective to analyze Mrs. T’s case described below. More specifically, in your posts you will be asked to:

1. introduce your character in such a way that the introduction provides the reader with a brief summary of your perspective and
2. identify the causes for Mrs. T’s problem based upon your perspective—the later part is very important because the perspective you choose will only allow you to identify particular causes, those that are consistent with your perspective. Example, a behaviorist would never mention cognitions or mental activity as a cause of a person’s behavior because s/he doesn’t believe in looking into the “black box” of the mind. There are always multiple causes for any problem, however, disregard any causes that are not consistent with your perspective. And
3. describe how your perspective would treat Mrs. T and resolve her problem.

In this discussion board, you will be working in smaller, assigned groups, each with about 5 members. You will see your group automatically when you click on your discussion board. As was the case last week, you will only be able to see your discussion and respond to your discussion group members.

Please create only one threaded discussion (posts and replies) for each doc!

You will be expected to make at least two original postings and two response postings to your classmates. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT EVERY ONE IN YOUR GROUP HAS AT LEAST 2 RESPONSES TO THEIR POSTINGS. This means that you will not get credit for your additional response if you responded to a post that has more than 2 prior responses so please make sure to select a posting that doesn’t have 2 responses for credit.

The Case Study of Mrs. T

Mrs. T is a 53-year-old woman with three children in their mid-20s who comes in at their insistence. A year ago, her husband of 30 years left her for a younger woman. Since then, she has been unable to mobilize herself. She has felt very sad every day since the separation and has become incapable of making decisions about what she should do about any aspect of her life (e.g., whether to continue living in her house, whether to seek a job, how to handle her finances, and even what clothes to buy). She is constantly begging her children for the advice and emotional support that her husband had previously provided. Her children love her and understand her plight but are becoming increasingly annoyed by her inability to stand on her own two feet. Friends who had previously been very fond of Mrs. T have also been put off by her constant demands for assistance and have begun to avoid her.

Most of Mrs. T’s friends and acquaintances cannot understand why she is so devastated by her husband’s desertion. He had been chronically unfaithful, impossible to please, and was always very tight with money. He did, however, make all the important decisions for Mrs. T. He decided how they would spend and invest their money, where they would live, when and where they would go on vacation, when they would eat out and where, what movies they would see, whom they would entertain, and where their children would go to school. Mr. T always shopped with her and even helped her choose all her clothes. She never spoke out against his decisions because she felt that he would make her feel foolish and even possibly leave her.

After he left, Mrs. T collapsed, felt unable to do any thing and lapsed into a helpless funk. Mrs. T has expressed extreme sadness since her husband left her. She no longer goes to the movies or out to dinner the way she used to because every thing reminds her of the years she spend with her husband. She has been under such stress, that she has lost 20 pounds. On occasion, she is able to get a full night’s sleep but she often finds herself waking up and crying uncontrollably. Lately, she has found help in taking sleeping pills to help her get to at least a few hours of sleep. There have been many occasions in which she has felt so lonely and upset that she believes that the world would be better off without her.

Mrs. T has had to visit the doctor on several occasions this year due to erratic behavior and her sleep disturbances. She has recently been prescribed Valium to calm her down when she becomes anxious about the events of her life. Mrs. T has decided that it is time to see a psychiatrist to finally begin to accept that her life as she has known it is no longer in existence.

1. POSTING ONE: Let’s Get This Party Started!

For this exercise you will be posing as one of the above doctors.

Select the doctor you want to be and imagine that you have just walked into a dinner party and you have to introduce yourself to the party host. What would your doctor say as a way of introducing him/her self? How would s/he be dressed?

Your opening comments should reflect the perspective you are representing. It should communicate at least five important beliefs or assumptions about your perspectives; beliefs that are the essence or main idea of your perspective. Feel free to be creative, clever and funny.

DO NOT SELECT A DOCTOR THAT SOMEONE ELSE IN YOUR GROUP HAS SELECTED.

If you want to ensure that you get a particular doctor & perspective, you are free to simply post the doctor early and follow up, by the deadline, with the introduction. If all 5 docs are already chosen, you should select a different theorist from the listed perspectives (e.g., Ellis instead of Beck; Jung instead of Freud).

• Make sure to name the doctor & perspective in the subject line of your posting.
• Make sure to start a new discussion thread for every new doctor that joins the dinner party.

This should be done by 11:59pm WEDNESDAY. 10 points possible.

EXAMPLE OF POST ONE (2 parts):

Subject: Dr. Freud & Psychoanalysis

Part 1:

Dr. Freud is a tall, lanky hipster with dark, gelled hair. He walks into the party wearing a red velvet smoking jacket, a silky, shiny black button down shirt, open suggestively at the chest, and black skin tight pants with black snake skin leather healed boots.

Part 2:

“Hi! Dawling! What a wonderful party! Sigy here! You remember me from Mesmer’s party, don’t you! What a sleeper that was! You don’t mind it if I help myself to your wine and, what is that, a crab cake! Thanks! I’m so orally fixated today (IDEA 1). I just can’t take it!!!! My ID is just out of control (IDEA 2), must be that time of the month! Just kidding there! But just don’t get me started on my Super Ego (IDEA 3)! Ooh we! She’s such a little b—h, but she gets the job done. I mean, look at me! Don’t I look wonderful! Yes, I’ve lost 10 pounds since November, although I’ve started smoking again. You haven’t seen my date, have you? He looks just like my Dad! A little Oedipus action going on (IDEA 4), if you know what I mean! What, so shocked! Well, honey, you need to get a life or I should say give your little ID a little break! You are suppressing it to death (IDEA 5)! You know that all Super Ego and no ID makes Jane a dull gal (IDEA 6)! Ha ha! Oh, I get it. You must be one of those anal types, can’t let go of any thing, huh (IDEA 7)? Your parents must have been sooo strict with the potty training (IDEA 8). On second thought, you’d better keep your drink. I think you need it more than me. Drink up, Dawling! Ciao!” (Note: For full credit, make sure to designate the 5 ideas as demonstrated.)