17 Aug Michaela is a 40-year-old single woman who worked as a nurse. Michaela describes herself as a bi-racial, Latina and White bisexual woman.

Assignment Description –

Read the vignette below and answer questions 1 through 3 following the vignette in essay format only. Please do not list the questions as headings and/or titles of essay paragraphs. The essay is a minimum of 2 pages. Use class clinical literature for references and/or other clinical research literature relevant to the discourse. I will also attach a pdf containing my colleague’s answers, however, no plagiarism can be done as this assignment will be submitted through a plagiarism report. APA format.

Vignette –

Michaela is a 40-year-old single woman who worked as a nurse. Michaela describes herself as a bi-racial, Latina and White bisexual woman. She sought treatment from you because of her deteriorating relationship with Laura, an unemployed alcoholic woman who was prone to abusive outbursts. Michaela knew she had to end her relationship with Laura but felt guilty about leaving her. Michaela was filled with feelings of “hopelessness about my future.” Michaela wanted to marry and have children but she worried that she was losing “precious time.” She often felt that it was her fate to be “alone but I don’t know why!”. Michaela stated, “I often pick the wrong women and ruin my chances with those who care about me.”

Prior to meeting Laura, Michaela had many romantic relationships that did not work out. Either she was attracted to women who were exciting, energetic, and successful but unreliable and unavailable for commitment or she broke it off with women who were stable and wanted to marry her because she found them “boring.” More recently she wondered if she was being too “hard on them. “There was one woman in particular whom she thought she loved, but she “pushed her away.” She recently learned that this woman married one of her old friends and felt a tremendous sense of loss and regret. When she met Laura, she seemed fun-loving and adventurous. Michaela soon realized, however, that Laura had a problem with drinking. Although Laura was verbally abusive to her at times, she was always apologetic and filled with remorse. Michaela felt that Laura “needed her” and she had trouble ending the relationship.

You learn that Michaela was unhappy as a child. There was a great deal of marital

discord in her household. Michaela’s mother was needed and depressed and drank excessively. Michaela describes her father as “a dynamic and successful businessman” who traveled frequently and engaged in several extramarital affairs. Michaela admired her father and sought his approval despite his unavailability and what seems to be frequent rejection of her. She experienced her mother as a “burden” and felt that she had to “really be the parent instead of her.”

Michaela’s behavior in treatment seems to change and was confusing. At times she calls you a “fantastic find” whom she is eager to please and is often overly apologetic when she is late or cancels a session. On other occasions, she accuses you of being “weak, incompetent, and insensitive.” A third perception is that Michaela seems to think that you “need her” because you “seem quite lonely.” Please reflect on the following aspects of Michaela’s case. You will be graded on your ability to do the following:

1. Provide an example of an ego function or ego defense that Michaela is using or overusing.

2. Provide a discussion of object relations theory as it applies to Michaela’s case. You must use
references to support your explanation.

3. Discuss at least one way of addressing these needs and improving your work with Michaela using the literature discussed in class.