The Case of Kelsey

Case Conceptualization

Kelsey is a single heterosexual female aged 18 years. She identifies as a Caucasian American of European descent. The client is currently a senior in high school, and she is part of the volleyball team. Kelseys school guidance counselor referred to her for assistance with her emotions connected to her romantic relationship. Kelsey has average weight, tall stature, good hygiene, well-groomed, casually dressed, and has no visual marks. During the initial exam, she was well-mannered in behavior and maintained an upright posture throughout. She seems attentive, cooperative, and friendly. When speaking, Kelsey has a rapid speech rate that is clear and is audible. She has a good memory of the past and immediate memory. She seems reliable though she sometimes has poor judgment.

Her major presenting complaint was that she feels like her boyfriend does not love her anymore. Anytime Kelsey calls her boyfriend and fails to answer or respond to her texts, she gets stressed. She wants her boyfriends life to revolve around her, which increases her stress as she prefers he spends all his time with her. Kelsey indicates her current problem began about a month ago. Kelsey does not have any past personal and family history of treatment for mental health problems, and she is not taking any medications apart from her birth control. There is no history of physical, emotional, sexual, or substance abuse.

Her mother primarily raised up the client since the parents divorced when she was in second grade. She spent time with her father every other weekend when she would go over to his house. However, she finds it difficult to visit her father over the weekends as she would in the past due to her other weekend commitments. Kelsey prefers to spend time with her friends, boyfriend, or sports over spending time with the father. Kelsey indicates she currently lives with her first cousin, whose parents are also divorced. She states the two have become close, and they both started dating cousins last year. Kelsey is searching and applying for colleges close by because she wants to be close to her boyfriend, who is a year younger than her.

Kelseys typical day revolves around school, friends, and her boyfriend. With the volleyball season over, she goes to school, eats lunch with her boyfriend and friends. After school, her boyfriend comes over to her house, where they hang out. He leaves to go home for dinner, which allows Kelsey to do her homework before watching TV. Kelsey texts and calls her boyfriend until she goes to bed. The client feels she is a good girlfriend, fun to be around, and intelligent. Her nervousness when she has to speak in public is her greatest weakness. Kelsey was obsessive about her boyfriend, and her thought process revolved around her romantic relationship.

The theoretical orientation used for this client is Gestalts empty chair method. The empty chair method will place the client across an empty chair where the client is asked to imagine that her boyfriend is...

…trauma Kelsey is experiencing from the divorce of her parents, and if this trauma is not dealt with, it will not be possible for her to overcome her separation anxiety. Her current relationship is being affected by her parents divorce trauma, which causes her to fear losing her boyfriend as she lost one of her parents. The divorce of her cousins parents will also be discussed since there is a divorce pattern to those close to her. She might have registered in her mind that people separate, and she does not know how to handle separation in relationships. She might be working too hard to ensure she does not suffer the same fate as her parents and her cousins parents.

To assist in bringing up most of the emotions, we will use Gestalts empty chair method. Gestalts empty chair method effectively uncovers underlying emotions that the client has not displayed (Seen et al., 2021). Kelsey needs to see how her underlying emotions are impacting her current relationship with her boyfriend. Gestalts empty chair will allow Kelsey to imagine she is talking to her boyfriend, mother, or father, allowing her to interact with them and express how she feels regarding the divorce or when he does not answer her calls. The roles will be reversed, and Kelsey will now play the person she imagines sitting in the empty chair and have a dialogue with Kelsey from the other persons perspective. Using Gestalts empty chair method, Kelsey will receive the assistance she needs to become aware of…