Summary: The Case Of Amanda Berry

The Case of Amanda Berry
Amanda Berry was born April 22, 1986. She was one day short of turning seventeen when she was abducted from her Cleveland home town and was held as a captive for ten years before breaking free. While in captivity she endured intense trauma along with two other girls. She also gave birth to a baby girl that was fathered by her captor. She finally escaped the hands of Ariel Castro and now lives back home with her father, after finding her mother grieved herself to death while Amanda was gone. The client is seeking to move past her trauma but feels like she has no choice in the matter (Biography, 2014).
Theoretical Model The theory being used is the gestalt therapy. As the therapist, I would function as a guide and a
catalyst that introduces experiments and conducts observational techniques which is shared with the client. As a gestalt therapist it’s important to pay attention to body language and help Amanda focus on using personalization which provides her the openness to experience responsibility for her own actions. Showing Amanda how to change a question into a statement which also enhances acceptance of her circumstances. Eliminating statements that would take away her personal power would be eliminated in a way as to promote awareness. Listening both to her metaphors as well as using this information to uncover the story will be employed by the therapist.
Client Characteristic Amanda presents as a twenty-seven-year-old, petite blonde who looks a little older than her age.
She complains of having difficulty wanting to get out of bed, be in social settings or even get a job. She states it’s her past that haunts her and she feels paralyzed most days. She says it feels like her life is over and that everyone is judging her.
Maladaptive Behavior Before Amanda was taken, she was outgoing, personable, popular and full of life. She enjoyed things like most sixteen-year-old girls (fashion, music and boys). She also worked at a local burger joint and had dreams of going to college (Jordan & Sullivan, 2015). Now she finds herself frozen at the thought of being in a public setting like the burger place. She finds herself having panic attacks when she doesn’t hear people around but rejects them being there all the same. She doesn’t look at fashion the same or enjoy any of the things she used to.
Presenting Problems Amanda’s first problem is being able to accept what has happened to her. She is stuck in processing and hasn’t been moving forward. Her second problem is her coping skills which haven’t been in play since she was found. Her third problem is her ability to feel at
peace.
Goals
The first goal for my client would be to collaboratively work with her on an exercise that is aimed at acceptance of ones being.
This is found in the internal dialogue exercise. The second goal will be for the client to be able to cope with what has happened using an experiment that allows her to stay with the feeling until it passes. The third goal would be for her to have peace regardless of the situation which will be done using a technique called the empty chair technique (Corey, 2017).
Questions
Since it’s important to have a trusting relationship with Amanda, I would focus on building that trust through asking for her resistance up front so we can move through it together. Once trust is gained I would discuss the importance of exercises and experiments and let her know we are both going to gain clarity through this process. Questions will not be used as much as non-directive observations. I will pay close attention to her verbal and non-verbal cues. I will focus on the here and now with the purpose of guiding Amanda through her fears, ultimately coping and gaining peace.
Techniques Having Amanda focus on her internal dialogue, I will ask her what she thinks she’s supposed to be like after enduring such a trauma. Then I will ask what she actually feels like and how the struggle between the two rages each day. This will be used to move her into acceptance although she is unaware at the time that it’s what we are working on. She is just as much a part of the process and will explain how this works for her daily. The next technique, with her permission, will involve Amanda trusting me enough to explain the panic she feels when thinking about what has happened. I encourage her to stay with the feeling and gain strength enough to let it pass, all the while becoming stronger. The third technique and the most important at helping her gain the ability to move forward and express herself, I ask if she would like to do an experiment called the empty chair technique where she sits in one and her captor sits in the other. She is encouraged to let out her despair and anger toward him in an effort to re-gain control of her life and ultimately feel peace once again.