Janet Trauma Case Study

Janet is a thirty-year-old mother of three young children. She is currently struggling with multiple stressors (divorce, social support, financial problems). At this point in time Janet’s suffering results from a combination of these life stressors and her maladaptive thought processes. Janet reported feeling sad, discouraged and overwhelmed since her divorce a year prior. She felt burdened by her three children while also withdrawn from friends. She ruminated over her divorce, which led to worsening concentration issues ultimately causing her to drop out of college. Janet’s presenting symptoms are in line with the Major Depressive Disorder diagnosis. Janet’s issues-divorce, dropping out of school, financial struggles, and social isolation –are all related in some way. All of these issues have spun out of control due to erroneous thought patterns that have been informing her emotional responses and decisions ever since she was a young person. These perpetuating factors have Janet caught in a vicious cycle.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what she could have done to prevent this outcome. More often, she started to blame herself. She came up with ridiculous claims to justify her guilt. Her low- self-esteem affected other areas of her life, especially her social relationships. After two unsuccessful dates she doubted her ability to hold future romantic relationships. In terms of her friendships, she had one trusted confidant who supported her. When the friend started to ‘act aloof’, Janet assumed she was pushing her only friend away. She blamed herself for this pause in the relationship rather than considering other possibilities. The friend may have been busy or she could have been struggling with her own