Talk About Kevin

“We need to talk about Kevin”- is based on the reflection of a mom (Eva) who is trying to come to terms with the aftermath of a columbine-style shooting by her son, after he killed his dad and little sister. She was in no way surprised by her son’s actions as he had shown signs of being psychopath at a very early age, with his mom being the primary witness. He portrayed a normal behavioral pattern around his dad but reserved the worse for his mom. After observing Kevin’s character, I believe that he may have suffered from an anti- social personality disorder. In Perkinson (2012), Anti- Social disorder is explained as “This personality disorder has at its biological base the tendency to act aggressively and impulsively. These clients have a diminished capacity to delay or inhibit action, particularly aggressive action” (Siever & Davis, 1991; Siever, Llar, & Coccaro,1985). The book also states that “These clients act too quickly on their feelings, they do not feel the same arousal levels that normal people feel, and so they can push limits further” (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1976). This personality disorder resonates perfectly with Kevin. Throughout the movie, there were many scenes that continuously made it difficult to empathize with this character. Kevin had been a very difficult child from birth and has
always made it difficult for his mom to adjust to motherhood with ease. As a baby he cried ceaselessly and refused to behave accordingly when he became a toddler. He developed a passion for watching his mom suffer. As a young child, around the age of 6-7, Kevin continued to wear pampers, perhaps to share the moment while changing diapers or to see her face when she cleaned up the messy ones. I believe this was some type of manipulation or control on his part. He knew how to use the toilet but chose not to.
Empathizing with Kevin would be difficult as he appeared to have no soul. He continued to show no remorse for his actions. Kevin seemed to be a smart child who used it to get to his mom and was entertained by her anger and frustration. By the end of the movie Kevin had destroyed his mother’s world maps, killed his sister’s pet, caused her to get a glass eye, and murdered multiple students, his father and little sister. This would be a lot to attempt to empathize with. Knowing that he did all this to get under his mother’s skin.
If I were to become the therapist for this client, I would first need to understand how his mom contributed to his early years. Kevin’s mom Eva never seemed to have connected with him in the womb and it may have been because she simply wasn’t ready for her pregnancy. She felt like she lost her freedom when Kevin came in the picture and he may have sensed the disconnection then and even after he was born. She once said to him that she could have been elsewhere in the world instead of being there with him, which his dad overheard. Whenever he had those crying fits, his mom never attempted to soothe him or show any kind of nurturing. His relationship with her grew into a love/hate situation. Kevin was happy to hurt her and those she loved. Eva may have not always handled Kevin’s behavior as a proper parent, but instead, she always responded with anger whenever he misbehaved. Kevin also appeared to be a reflection of his mother, as she had some harsh ways about her. When his mom broke his arm, over the messy pants, Kevin lied to his dad to cover up for his mom, only to later use it to blackmail her to have his way.
A good resource for this client would be a Truthought corrective thinking, this process is founded upon the understanding that an individual develops behavior patterns, both positive and negative, to explain, support and validate the individual’s world view. The parent support group may help later on in this case, where his mom would need to attend two groups per week. This support group encourages parents, supports them emotionally, and teaches them the tools to recovery. Another good resource is psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, is sometimes used to treat antisocial disorder. This can be provided in individual sessions or in family/friends session. For the therapy session empathic attunement would be a good resource to effort fully engage in empathic resonance (Dekeyer, Elliot, Leijssen, 2009). As the therapist, to show good empathic care, I would need to dismiss any views or preconceptions of the client in order to be more open to what the client is saying or revealing in the present moment. In addition I would need to let go of any personal issues, for these will prevent a total opening up to the frame of reference of the client ( Nagels & Leijssen, 2004). In order to empathize with Kevin I would need to relate to him, I may try to think of a time when there was a disconnection between my mom and I, which there was and because of that I wasn’t raised with her but with my aunt and her husband. Saying to the client that I know what he feels, would definitely help the therapeutic alliance and further advising that hurting his mom by getting rid of the rest of his family certainly doesn’t help.
My ability to empathize will show the client that someone truly cares for him and truly wants him to recover.
Highlighting his potential may remind the client that he is special and can have a normal life after this treatment. Processing this from a biblical worldview may help the client find hope in God and also help him empathize and forgive his mother for her wrongs. I think this can only accept care in a positive way. The client needs something to have faith in and someone to hold onto to keep him going. At the end of the movie on his 2 year anniversary of the shooting, his mom asked why? And he said “I thought I used to know, but I am not sure if I know
anymore”.