Analysis and Trying to See the Functioning Level of Lucy

Strengths 

Strengths in this discussion implies signs of healthier development that Lucy portrays. First, she is not exclusively unable to relate well with everybody. According to her case study, Lucy’s ability to correlate with people who are more like her or those whose situations are way worse than hers is incontestable. The case study discloses that she can be warm and caring to others when they seem to be “have nots”. Her relationship with her paternal grandparents is also undisputable. She derives a lot of pleasure from visiting them even though they are nothing close to her family and her maternal grandparents in terms of riches. Additionally, her excellence in high school, driven by her dream to pursue anthropology and also her ability to stand up for herself when she rightfully feels taken advantage of are other indicators of Lucy’s strengths. Her self-esteem level is not that wanting after all if she is able to pull this out.

Weaknesses 

It is undeniable that this one specific area that Lucy performs poorly at. She has a lot of weaknesses compared to her current strengths. Her current functioning level is marred by several cryptograms of less positive development and also psychological symptoms. First among the long list of her weaknesses is her selfish character. The case study reveals that she is more focused on achieving only what she yearns for, and in the process, completely disregards those around her. She feels victimized when others within her circle realize their targets well before her as in the case of colleagues at work, her sister who owns a residential home in Long Island, and as in the case of her high school girlfriends who found themselves boyfriends and seemed happy thereafter. This aspect of Lucy’s disposition has not gone unnoticed. She is eventually branded ‘complainer’ by her colleagues, thanks to her demeanor and her grouchy exploits. She is also seemingly blinded by her own oddities and consequently thinks that people who not care about her are egotistical. Such is the case with her roommate at work. She impetuously labels her selfish, entirely discounting the fact that she is hard to relate with. In addition, Lucy’s psychological status exhibits a lot of weaknesses that she lives with. She has a low self-esteem. The case study prints the picture of an individual who is not only unfairly too hard on herself, but one who also harangues herself and considers herself a failure for not being able to achieve the same level of success as those around her. She does not quite seem to appreciate the strides she has made in life so far, and this is one of her biggest downfalls. Moreover, Lucy is easily hurt, cries easily and often regards herself as disdained and not adored by as many people she wishes to. While this could be true, she is entirely to blame for how she feels. She does nothing to make herself any appealing. When you begin to think that she is finally going to change, thanks to her dates with a psychoanalytic therapists, she begins questioning the professionalism of the practitioner, and eventually stops seeing him.

Ability to Work and Love 

Lucy’s ability to love and work are questionable. She is less capable of being in a relationship perhaps because many find her personality to be repulsive. Another reason as to why she is hard to love and why she has also failed to love is down to her perception of relationships. Whenever she finds herself in a relationship, she seeks to utilize the setup for her own personal gains instead of being driven by mutual desire. This is the same case with her few girlfriends. Even though they seem to care about her, she does not treat them back with the same respect. She admits to not really care about them, she thinks that they are a bunch of losers, and only needs them for companionship, people she can go out with in the hope of meeting men. On the other hand, Lucy’s capabilities to work as part of a team are also refutable. She is not liked by colleagues, thanks to her ill personality. Overall, her job performance is also wanting. She has not been rehired during two past internship opportunities, and even at her current workstation, her professionalism has been brought to question on a number of occasions.

Theories Applicable to Lucy’s Case Study 

Ego Psychology Theory 

Turner (1996) described this theory as a biopsychosocial theory of human comportment that highlights ego-slanting treatment. This theory comprises of several concepts regarding human development and that solely focus on ego, its connection to other personality aspects as well as the external environment, otherwise known as ego functions (Goldstein, 2008). First, it is important to set apart the ego functions that are impaired and those that are functional according to the case study. One of the impaired ego functions in the narrative is reality testing. The other impaired ego functions include object relations and synthesis. Lucy is not able to effectively differentiate between what her mind tells her is right and what is conventionally right. She does not seem to realize that people find it hard to befriend her due to her character. Regarding object relations, she lacks the character to be involved in a mutually satisfying relationship. Finally, about synthesis, her ego is deficient of the capacity to assemble unite the other functions within her personality (Goldstein, 2018). On the other hand, the functioning ego functions in the case study include affect regulation, impulse control, and defensive functioning. Lucy is able to keep her feelings in check, contains her thoughts fairly well, and is able to come to her own protection when she feels provoked or taken advantage of (Goldstein, 2018).

Other concepts of the ego psychology theory relevant to this case study include ego defenses, psychosexual stage, and status of moral development. Some of the ego defenses used in the narrative include isolation, turning against the self, repression and introjection. Concerning Lucy’s psychosexual stage, it is permissible to allude that her current stage is the genital stage. Finally focusing on the status of moral development, Lucy’s status of moral development as pinpointed in the case study can be best described as a superego. Lucy has the idea of the ideal self and her ego has been influenced by both her upbringing and experience (Goldstein, 2008).

Mahler: Separation-Individuation 

Mahler’s separation-individuation theory stipulates that child development occurs in stages (phases) and each phase is comprised of several sub-phases. This theory is applicable to the narrative since it relates the psychological birth of an infant to self-development (Koepke & Denissen, 2012). The first question regarding the narrative’s relation to this theory is whether Lucy traversed Mahler’s stages to psychological birth. The answer to this question is yes. It is evident from the case study that Lucy’s mom spent the first year of her babies’ births at home taking care of each and every of them before resuming work full time. This way, Lucy had the privilege to navigate through the normal autistic, normal symbiotic, as well as part of the separation-individuation phase (Koepke & Denissen, 2012).

Offering the definition of object constancy helps further the discussion above. According to Koepke and Denissen (2012), object constancy denotes a stage within a child’s development when the infant gets to appreciate the fact that the mother possesses a distinct identity and that she is truly a separate individual. Lucy does have an object constancy according to the case study but lacks a stable awareness of her identity. As an adult, Lucy is deficient of a sense of cohesive self.

Conclusion 

Analysis of the functioning level of 34 year old Lucy has revealed a lot of facts about her. She has more weaknesses than strengths and there are also question marks over her ability to work and love. The two theories (Ego Psychology and Separation-Individuation) also sought to explore Lucy's ego as well as development of personality.

References

Goldstein, E. (2008). Comprehensive handbook of social work and social welfare, human behavior in the social environment. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Koepke, S., & Denissen, J.A. (2012). Dynamics of identity development and separation–individuation in parent–child relationships during adolescence and emerging adulthood – A conceptual integration. Developmental Review, 32 (1), 67-88. doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2012.01.001 

Turner, F.J. (1996). Social work treatment 4 th edition. New York: Simon & Schuster.