Alexandra Reeves

CNS: 741
Case Study Paper #2
2015Feb13

Counselors Name: Alexandra Reeves Setting: Counselors office

Clients name: Evelyn Clients age: 23
Estimated # of sessions required: 30 Theoretical Perspective: Gestalt
Client History:
Evelyn is a 23 year old journalist with deep dependency issues. She grew up with a single working

mother after her father left when she was 4 years old. Evelyns writing became political in college

although she submitted her work anonymously to the local papers. She also became anxious when

speaking in public. Today, Evelyn is able to submit her political writing in her name but still is unable to

speak in public. Evelyn also wants a healthy committed relationship with a person who has a strong

personal identity.

Presenting concerns:
Evelyn has come to counseling to help with her dependency issues. She wants to get over her fear of

public speaking, have the courage to further her career, and be able to be open to a romantic relationship.

Evelyn believes the issues in her life all revolve around her memories of her father leaving and how he

snapped at her when she wanted to come with him. Evelyn also blamed her lack of romantic relationships

on the fear of them ending the way her parents marriage did.

Actual or core issues:

Evelyns current feelings revolve around her past experiences with her father. Evelyns core issues are

much deeper than she realizes. This issues might have started in the past but her current self is what is

causing the emotions to linger. These emotions are effecting her present in a way that could affect her

future. Evelyns behavior seems to be motivated by her needs. One of her major issues is that she is

unable to admit her current needs due to her painful memories of the past. Evelyn has conflicting

polarities that she is unaware of that ultimately cause issues in her day to day life (Murdock, 211). Evelyn

seeks companionship on a deeper level but also has a fear of rejection. The client does not seem to have

awareness due to her issues of being stuck in the past.

Course of treatment and interventions utilized:

Evelyn upon entering my office seemed nervous but continued to smile. When I asked her to have a seat

she began to shake her leg. This behavior led me to apply the Perlss version of Gestalt therapy. This type
of therapy would lead to an authentic and transparent relationship with Evelyn (Murdock, 219). While

there is no formal assessment used in this theory, observation was used to determine how the client

functioned in her life (Murdock, 216). When beginning the session, the client was asked, What are you

experiencing in this moment. The client then became emotional and choked back tears as she began to

talk about how her past made her feel. While the past may sometimes be the subject of therapy, the goal

was to get down to examining how these feels are experienced in the here and now (Murdock, 217).

While trust is an important aspect of this theory, trust between both client and counselor, it is important

that the counselor maintains a therapeutic atmosphere (Palmer, 2011). This was accomplished by allowing

our relationship to develop as the session went on. While empathy was never used, it was made clear that

awareness of self and Evelyns emotions where the main goal. Evelyn respected this and responded well

to the idea that we want to discuss her here and now feelings. Evelyn was able to convey her polarities

with ease while unaware that she was doing so. Evelyn mentioned that currently, she fears rejection but

craves an intimate relationship (Murdock, 211). When this issue was explored further, it was clear that

public speaking made her uneasy due to rejection as well. This is when Evelyn began to daydream. Upon

asking Evelyn what she was thinking about, she was able to give me an example of a situation that might

intimidate her. Evelyn told me of this example and then became angry with the current situation. This

anger stemmed from the session we were currently undergoing and it was not dismissed. Evelyn was able

to explain that she was feeling angry in that moment because she felt that she was not in control of her

emotions. Evelyn was told that anger is a natural feeling and one that is welcomed due to her

demonstration self-support (Murdock, 219). It was further explained that self- support is not the same as

self-dependency and that dependency was a natural feeling (Yontef, 2002). Evelyn began to discuss her

feelings of not being in control and explained how these fueled her fear of being rejected as well as

difficulty of speaking in public. We decided that this was a good stopping point and this issue would be

explored in our upcoming sessions which would frequent once a week.

Counseling Goals:
 The short term goals are to get Evelyn to experience the here and now emotions in therapy so we can dig

deeper into the underlining cause of these emotions. Awareness is a short and long term goal. Initial

awareness would involve the sessions where Evelyn would be aware of a moment, process, or aspect

of content (Murdock, 219). The long term goal of awareness would be that she can apply it to other

situation, present or future. Another long term goal for Evelyn would be for her to recover her lost

potential. After exploring Evelyns current emotions, she will no longer have fear of rejection and pursue

more intense relationships as well as advance her career.

Anticipated outcomes of counseling:

The client will develop awareness of self as well as awareness of her potential. Evelyn will no longer

blame her past for her current emotions and be more able to handle the future due to her understanding of

awareness. Evelyn will be able to express self-support with the understanding that everyone has some

dependency. The ultimate outcome is that Evelyn will grow as a person as a result of these counseling

sessions.

References:

Murdock, Nancy L. Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Case Approach. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson,

2013. Print.

Palmer, K. A. (2011). "Gestalt Therapy in Psychological Practice." Student Pulse, 3(11). Retrieved

fromhttp://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=595
Yontef, Gary. "The Relational Attitude in Gestalt Therapy Theory and Practice." International Gestalt

Journal 15-34 25/1 (2002): 1-34. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.