Final Project Case Study (PSY 210)

Final Project Case Study

1.      What are the causes of stress in Michael’s or Jennifer’s life? How is stress affecting Michael’s or Jennifer’s health?

The causes of stress in Jenifer’s life are a cluster of things. Not only is she feeling the

stress from not being able to see her boyfriend as often as she would like, she also has a one hour

commute to work every day. She is pressured to have a child that she wants but every day

stresses on a body can make it really hard to conceive or carry a child. Even though she is

organized at work, it can be a stressful thing to be so depended on. Her mother died only two

years ago, and her father needs 24-hour assistance that she cannot provide, so it has to be her

decision to have to put her father in the nursing home. With all the factors added in, she could be

having her headaches, backaches, and indigestion because of all her stress. Even though she tells

the doctor she is happy and not feeling stressed.

2.      How are these stressors impacting Michael’s or Jennifer’s self-concept and self-esteem?

The stressors can cause an impact on Jennifer’s self-esteem because after awhile of trying

to conceive a child, with getting no results, it can make a woman think that she is not able to

conceive. Tie in the fact that she has already been pregnant once and lost the baby would be even

more of a stressor. She would start having self doubts, and would question all the things

involving the conception of the child, like is he sterile, or is she. She would also worry about

things like if she does not conceive soon, will her husband still love her, and stay with her, or

does he want a child so bad that he would leave her for another woman that may be able to give

him the child he wants. The issue with having to put her father in a nursing home would also be a

stressor that would make her wonder about her self-concept. She might wonder if she is making

the right choice, or if she is a bad child for not being able to take care of her father the way he

took care of her when she was young.

3.      How might Michael’s or Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment? How might this situation become an opportunity for personal growth?

Well, Jennifer could use the time she would have from not having to take care of her

father to grow and adjust to the situations that have come about. She is adjusting to the death of

her mother without having to stop and take the time to allow herself to go through the

adjustments. She is able to understand at least that she is incapable of taking complete care of her

father and she is willing to get him to where he needs to be. The first thing I would recommend

to Jennifer would be that she needs to admit she is stressed and life is not as happy go lucky as

she makes it out to be. Adjustment for this situation would probably be a good idea if she was to

take a small vacation, not just alone time for herself, but she would need Antonio to be with her.

My recommendation would be that they spend time together and talk through some things.

4.      What defensive coping methods, is Michael or Jennifer using? What active coping methods might be healthier for Michael or Jennifer to use? Explain why you would recommend these methods.

Right now the only active coping method Jennifer is using is by telling everyone around

her that she is okay and everything is fine. Lying to the doctor is not going to help her situation

any because if the doctor does not know what is going on, he is unable to look at the whole

picture, and get a better diagnosis. It would be healthier if she were to actually deal with the

situations at hand and admit that she is stressed. Once she passes that stage, then she can move

onto the most pressing topic. Instead of trying to conceive a child right now, she should take

some time to herself and reflect on what has gone on in the last two years. She would do great to

meet a friend whom she would be able to talk about all this with. If having a job that has a one

hour commute one way gives her such problems, either her or her husband should think about

moving to where it would be easiest on the both of them, or find another job that would be closer

to home. It would make things a lot better on the whole situation.

5.      Select one theory of personality and use this theory to tell Michael or Jennifer how this theory explains his or her situation.

I think that Jennifer probably learned from her mother at an early age not to complain,

and keep pushing for tomorrow. I think the personality theory that fits here is classical

conditioning. Her mother is no longer around so the stresses that she is going through may be

hard to talk out with her husband because in her mind, she has no one who knows what she is

going through that she can relate with. Talking out her problems would be a great thing because

when a person talks their problems out, she would be able to move past the first bump and get on

to her life! She has been bottling up her emotions and with-out being able to talk then through

she is causing her body more damages than she is doing good because with her silence is causing

all the little things like stress headaches, indigestion, and backaches. Your stress can cause you to

become sick if it is a constant thing.

6.      In what stage of development is Michael or Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be impacting his or her perspective of this situation?

Without first admitting to the problem even exists then she is un-capable of moving on

from there. Once she admits she has problems, or stressors, then she would be able to at least get

the attention she needs towards her physical health. With her physical health being medicated,

she would be able to go to a doctor and work out her mental issues.  She could go to a

psychiatrist one on one, or maybe ask her husband to go to support her with a marriage doctor.

The possibilities are endless in the lines of helping her if she were to talk the issues through. She

might really think that she is fine and not understand that there is stress with everything she does.

Even the smallest thing like picking out what to wear to work can add stress to her. She is not

able to see that the stress is affecting her physically. If she could be an outsider to herself and see

all the issues that she deals with daily, that could help her to understand that she does have an

issue then she would be able to cope with the issue a little better.

7.      What relationship factors or considerations might be influencing Michael’s or Jennifer’s problems?

The relationship factor that would be influencing Jennifer’s problem the most is the time that

they do not get to spend together. It is harder to work things out if you are unable to at least see

each other. Like I said before a great way for them to re-connect would be some sort of small

vacation that they could spend time together on. With the problem of not being able to conceive

and carry, being a pressing one, her relationship is not going to get any better. The pressure to

have a baby, which her family is issuing and with her own self doubts, it is probably greatly

affecting her relationship. Having a baby can be stressful enough, not adding in the family

putting pressure on her, and being hard on herself, leave off that she is having a hard time

conceiving. Losing a child is hard, but to try and jump back into the same situation without, first,

having time to get over the first one, could cause more issues then she is prepared to take on at

the moment. The decision to put her father in a nursing home could make or break the

relationship. It really just depends on how Antonio also feels on the situation and what he would

like to do. If getting the father when he is more comfortable would help out their relationship,

then I would say it is a good idea. The first thing she needs to do is talk out her problems first.