[Date]
PYC4809 Assignment 3
2024 (635198) - DUE 25
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE ANSWERS
,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 them. At the same time, she feels
unable to act on her values, for fear that she will be wrong.
Questions
PYC4809 Assignment 3
2024 (635198) - DUE 25
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE ANSWERS
,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 them. At the same time, she feels
unable to act on her values, for fear that she will be wrong.
Questions
