PYC4809 Assignment 3
2024 (635198) - DUE
25 September 2024
[Company address]
,PYC4809 Assignment 3 2024 (635198) - DUE 25 September 2024
Task 1: Case study
READ THE FOLLOWING CASE STUDY AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT
FOLLOW:
Case study Karen: Anxiety over choosing for herself Assume the perspective of a
Gestalt therapist, and show how you would proceed with Karen, 27-year-old women
who is struggling with value conflicts relating to her religion, culture, and sex-role
expectations. Here is what she has related to you during the first session. Throughout
her life Karen has identified herself as a ‘good Catholic’ who has not questioned much
of her upbringing. She has never really seen herself as an independent woman; in many
ways she feels like a child, one who is strongly seeking approval and directions from
those whom she considers authorities. Karen tells you that in her culture she was taught
to respect and honour her parents, teachers, priests, and other elders. Whenever she
tries to assert her own will, if it differs from the expectations of any authority figure, she
experiences guilt and self-doubt. She went to Catholic schools, including college, and
she has followed the morals and teachings of her church very closely. She has not been
married, nor has she even had a long-term relationship with a man. Karen has not had
sexual intercourse, not because she has not wanted to but because she is afraid that
she could not live with herself and her guilt. She feels very restricted by the codes she
lives by, and in many ways, she sees them as rigid and unrealistic. Yet she is frightened
, of breaking away from what she was taught, even though she is seriously questioning
much of its validity and is aware that her views on morality are growing more and more
divergent from those that she at one time accepted. Basically, Karen asks: ‘What if I am
wrong? Who am I to decide what is moral and immoral? I’ve always been taught that
morals are clear-cut and do 2 not allow for individual conveniences. I find it difficult to
accept many of the teachings of my church, but I’m not able to really leave behind those
notions that I don’t accept. What if there is a hell, and I’ll be damned forever if I follow
my own path? What if I discover that I “go wild” and thus lose any measure of self-
respect. Will I be able to live with my guilt if I don’t follow the morality I’ve been taught?’
Karen is also struggling with the impact of cultural restraints on her view of what it
means to be a woman. Generally, she sees herself as being dependent, unassertive,
fearful of those in authority, emotionally reserved, socially inhibited, and unable to make
decisions about her life. Although she thinks that she would like to be more assertive
and would like to feel freer to be herself around people, she is highly selfconscious and
‘hears voices in her head’ that tell her how she should and should not be. She wishes
she could be different in some important respects, but she wonders if she is strong
enough to swim against what she has learned from her culture, her parents, and her
church. Assume that Karen is coming for a series of counselling sessions in a
community clinic. You know the above information about her, and what she wants from
you is help in sorting out what she really believes about living a moral life versus what
she has been told is the moral way to be. She says that she would like to learn how to
trust herself and, in essence, have the courage to know her convictions and live by
2024 (635198) - DUE
25 September 2024
[Company address]
,PYC4809 Assignment 3 2024 (635198) - DUE 25 September 2024
Task 1: Case study
READ THE FOLLOWING CASE STUDY AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT
FOLLOW:
Case study Karen: Anxiety over choosing for herself Assume the perspective of a
Gestalt therapist, and show how you would proceed with Karen, 27-year-old women
who is struggling with value conflicts relating to her religion, culture, and sex-role
expectations. Here is what she has related to you during the first session. Throughout
her life Karen has identified herself as a ‘good Catholic’ who has not questioned much
of her upbringing. She has never really seen herself as an independent woman; in many
ways she feels like a child, one who is strongly seeking approval and directions from
those whom she considers authorities. Karen tells you that in her culture she was taught
to respect and honour her parents, teachers, priests, and other elders. Whenever she
tries to assert her own will, if it differs from the expectations of any authority figure, she
experiences guilt and self-doubt. She went to Catholic schools, including college, and
she has followed the morals and teachings of her church very closely. She has not been
married, nor has she even had a long-term relationship with a man. Karen has not had
sexual intercourse, not because she has not wanted to but because she is afraid that
she could not live with herself and her guilt. She feels very restricted by the codes she
lives by, and in many ways, she sees them as rigid and unrealistic. Yet she is frightened
, of breaking away from what she was taught, even though she is seriously questioning
much of its validity and is aware that her views on morality are growing more and more
divergent from those that she at one time accepted. Basically, Karen asks: ‘What if I am
wrong? Who am I to decide what is moral and immoral? I’ve always been taught that
morals are clear-cut and do 2 not allow for individual conveniences. I find it difficult to
accept many of the teachings of my church, but I’m not able to really leave behind those
notions that I don’t accept. What if there is a hell, and I’ll be damned forever if I follow
my own path? What if I discover that I “go wild” and thus lose any measure of self-
respect. Will I be able to live with my guilt if I don’t follow the morality I’ve been taught?’
Karen is also struggling with the impact of cultural restraints on her view of what it
means to be a woman. Generally, she sees herself as being dependent, unassertive,
fearful of those in authority, emotionally reserved, socially inhibited, and unable to make
decisions about her life. Although she thinks that she would like to be more assertive
and would like to feel freer to be herself around people, she is highly selfconscious and
‘hears voices in her head’ that tell her how she should and should not be. She wishes
she could be different in some important respects, but she wonders if she is strong
enough to swim against what she has learned from her culture, her parents, and her
church. Assume that Karen is coming for a series of counselling sessions in a
community clinic. You know the above information about her, and what she wants from
you is help in sorting out what she really believes about living a moral life versus what
she has been told is the moral way to be. She says that she would like to learn how to
trust herself and, in essence, have the courage to know her convictions and live by
