June Woo Case Study
Purpose for Evaluation:
Patient is June Woo, a 36-year-old Chinese American girl from San Francisco. She was admitted due to feeling distressed and confused about her relationship with her mother.
Assessment Procedures:
This patient has participated in one diagnostic session and will undergo a review of Prior Psychological Assessment and Prior Medical Records. The patient also requested for a Clinical interview as well.
Background Information:
June Woo’s mother has recently passed away. Patient mentioned that she began feeling stress after her father asked her to replace her mother’s role in a weekly gathering called the “Joy Luck Club”. During her most recent gathering, June’s aunties has told her that her mother has started searching for her …show more content…
half-sisters in china before she passed away. They told her she must now finish what her mother started and fulfill her mother’s greatest wish: to meet her twin half-sisters and tell them about their mother’s life. Patient informs us that she fears that she does not know her mother well enough to tell her story to her half-sisters.
Psychological Assessment (Diagnostic session):
The patient was attentive and cooperative with the interview. Eye contact wasn't there at times, however the patient expressed her feelings clearly. Patient was well dressed and carried an upright stance. I had asked June to start off by discussing about her relationship with her mother and bringing up any significant events in the pass that me and her could analyze and see where things went wrong.
June mentioned that when she was little, her mother Suyuan desperately wanted June to become a child prodigy pianist. The patient said that it seems that her mother was motivated by a more abstract sense of socially-approved success than she is by love for her child as an individual. so June rebels by deliberately playing the piano badly. In retrospect, June comes to realize that she could have been a successful piano player, but because she wanted to rebel against her mother, so she devoted her energy to playing poorly. From this I could see a divide growing between June and her mother at a very common period during a mother and daughter relationship. June wanted to assert her individuality and live her life as is and grow into her own person. Meanwhile, Suyuan pushes her daughter too hard to succeed, but at the same time she only wants the best for her child, and undertook great sacrifices on her own part to provide June with resources. So, as I told her, they both had good intentions but just couldn’t see eye to eye. The patient then mentioned that one time during an outburst, she said things that she now
deeply regrets. “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be… I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,” “I wish I’d never been born!” “I wish I were dead! Like them.” (142) June told me that after that day her mother had never mentioned the piano again. It is obvious that June had taken things too far by claiming that she wishes she'd never been born--she wishes she'd died, like the two daughters Suyuan has "lost" in China. During this part of the session, I could see the genuine guilt in the patients face as she started tearing up. After a short break for the patient to recollect her thoughts, she mentioned that she dropped out of college and now works as a copy writer. She tells me that her mother sometimes would bring it to her attention that maybe she should go back and finish her education. The patient also told me that she would dismiss her mother by telling her “I’ll look into it”, knowing that she’s really not considering going back to college. What I could see from this is that the damage that has been done to this relationship has not made much progress from when she mentioned she was a kid. It’s obvious to me that the patient is uncomfortable with telling her mother how she really feels about going back to school, instead June continues to push her away. At this point of the session it seems to me that the patient is mentally worn-out, so I decided it was time to wrap up things up.
Results of Examination: The results of the diagnostic session had gone seemingly well, and I have ordered June to come in every two weeks for a couple more sessions. Her medical records are normal as expected and prior psychological assessments revealed that she has no medical conditions, and her health and mental state is at a normal state. Aside from the stress state June admitted she was in earlier, no other mental illnesses have been noted.
Summary/Recommendations: After her mother’s passing, June is now expected to meet her twin half-sisters and tell them about their mother’s life, growing up June has never met her mother’s high expectations and feels that she has repeatedly disappointed her mother which disconnected the two of them. She admitted herself in hopes of uncovering her knowledge about her mother and to help her see what went wrong in their relationship to prepare her for her trip to China. It is for sure that check in calls will be made every week to fully treat her emotional distress, as well of stay clear of any alcoholic substances, as emotional frustration, it is certain that the patient should clear out her mind to someone instead of holding it in, or she is could to start keeping a journal where she can express her feelings by writing it down.
Patient is June Woo, a 36-year-old Chinese American girl from San Francisco. She was admitted due to feeling distressed and confused about her relationship with her mother.
Assessment Procedures:
This patient has participated in one diagnostic session and will undergo a review of Prior Psychological Assessment and Prior Medical Records. The patient also requested for a Clinical interview as well.
Background Information:
June Woo’s mother has recently passed away. Patient mentioned that she began feeling stress after her father asked her to replace her mother’s role in a weekly gathering called the “Joy Luck Club”. During her most recent gathering, June’s aunties has told her that her mother has started searching for her …show more content…
half-sisters in china before she passed away. They told her she must now finish what her mother started and fulfill her mother’s greatest wish: to meet her twin half-sisters and tell them about their mother’s life. Patient informs us that she fears that she does not know her mother well enough to tell her story to her half-sisters.
Psychological Assessment (Diagnostic session):
The patient was attentive and cooperative with the interview. Eye contact wasn't there at times, however the patient expressed her feelings clearly. Patient was well dressed and carried an upright stance. I had asked June to start off by discussing about her relationship with her mother and bringing up any significant events in the pass that me and her could analyze and see where things went wrong.
June mentioned that when she was little, her mother Suyuan desperately wanted June to become a child prodigy pianist. The patient said that it seems that her mother was motivated by a more abstract sense of socially-approved success than she is by love for her child as an individual. so June rebels by deliberately playing the piano badly. In retrospect, June comes to realize that she could have been a successful piano player, but because she wanted to rebel against her mother, so she devoted her energy to playing poorly. From this I could see a divide growing between June and her mother at a very common period during a mother and daughter relationship. June wanted to assert her individuality and live her life as is and grow into her own person. Meanwhile, Suyuan pushes her daughter too hard to succeed, but at the same time she only wants the best for her child, and undertook great sacrifices on her own part to provide June with resources. So, as I told her, they both had good intentions but just couldn’t see eye to eye. The patient then mentioned that one time during an outburst, she said things that she now
deeply regrets. “I’ll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be… I wish I wasn’t your daughter. I wish you weren’t my mother,” “I wish I’d never been born!” “I wish I were dead! Like them.” (142) June told me that after that day her mother had never mentioned the piano again. It is obvious that June had taken things too far by claiming that she wishes she'd never been born--she wishes she'd died, like the two daughters Suyuan has "lost" in China. During this part of the session, I could see the genuine guilt in the patients face as she started tearing up. After a short break for the patient to recollect her thoughts, she mentioned that she dropped out of college and now works as a copy writer. She tells me that her mother sometimes would bring it to her attention that maybe she should go back and finish her education. The patient also told me that she would dismiss her mother by telling her “I’ll look into it”, knowing that she’s really not considering going back to college. What I could see from this is that the damage that has been done to this relationship has not made much progress from when she mentioned she was a kid. It’s obvious to me that the patient is uncomfortable with telling her mother how she really feels about going back to school, instead June continues to push her away. At this point of the session it seems to me that the patient is mentally worn-out, so I decided it was time to wrap up things up.
Results of Examination: The results of the diagnostic session had gone seemingly well, and I have ordered June to come in every two weeks for a couple more sessions. Her medical records are normal as expected and prior psychological assessments revealed that she has no medical conditions, and her health and mental state is at a normal state. Aside from the stress state June admitted she was in earlier, no other mental illnesses have been noted.
Summary/Recommendations: After her mother’s passing, June is now expected to meet her twin half-sisters and tell them about their mother’s life, growing up June has never met her mother’s high expectations and feels that she has repeatedly disappointed her mother which disconnected the two of them. She admitted herself in hopes of uncovering her knowledge about her mother and to help her see what went wrong in their relationship to prepare her for her trip to China. It is for sure that check in calls will be made every week to fully treat her emotional distress, as well of stay clear of any alcoholic substances, as emotional frustration, it is certain that the patient should clear out her mind to someone instead of holding it in, or she is could to start keeping a journal where she can express her feelings by writing it down.