Yesterday and today in class we watched another episode of Intervention, this time about an alcoholic woman named Laney. She suffered traumatic experiences when she was younger, like having an abusive step father and her ex boyfriend coming into her house forcibly and then raping her. She refused to deal with the emotions that came with these traumatic events, and only buried them to try and get rid of them. Unfortunately, they didn't go away and became apart of her subconscious actions which manifested themselves in many parts of her life.
These actions included being hostile and paranoid about her husband who according to her family was great to her and she loved. She would push him away and yell at him even if he hadn't done anything, and always interpreted his behavior as controlling. They also included becoming an alcoholic, because not only was she trying to prove her husband wrong but she wanted to escape reality.
Therefore, I think the two most relevant concepts that apply to Laney are learned helplessness and psychological projection. Learned helplessness explains why Laney continues drinking and puts herself in pain because it is what is familiar to her and she has only known that, even though she knows she is dying. Psychological projection explains the subconscious feelings that she is taking out on her husband and other family members, which comes from her refusing to deal with her problems from her step father and ex boyfriend.
What do others think are the most relevant concept(s)? Thoughts?
I agree with all of your thoughts about this intervention. On top of psychological projection and learned helplessness, I think diffusion of responsibility played a major role. First of all, Laney’s mother refused to take responsibility for how she treated Laney as she did not make an effort to improve her situation. Likewise, Laney herself was unable to take responsibility of her drinking problem.
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis of this intervention is very accurate. I believe another relevant concept is Illusory Correlation because Laney connects the behaviors of her step father to the behaviors of her husband. Even though these two people have nothing to do with each other, she sees a resemblance, and pushes her husband away.
ReplyDeleteI think your analysis of this intervention is very accurate. I believe another relevant concept is Illusory Correlation because Laney connects the behaviors of her step father to the behaviors of her husband. Even though these two people have nothing to do with each other, she sees a resemblance, and pushes her husband away.
ReplyDelete