First or Nowhere Case Study

First or Nowhere Case Study

Introduction

The case study that has been selected for analysis in this paper is called First or Nowhere on Gestalt Therapy. The case is that of a woman Louisa who is tremendously depressed and has developed suicidal tendencies. The slightest of provocation takes her to the bottomless pit of self destruction and self hatred. At the heart of all her emotions is the central feeling that she is good for nothing and that her birth was no more than an accident to parents who always had a preference for a male child (Ament-Lyon, 2001). She considers herself only a byproduct of her twin brother. The important thing to note here is that Louisa does not want to take her life because she has no purpose. She wants to take her life because she believes that her own needs do not matter and she herself does not matter. As long as she is on the face of this earth, she should be serving those around her. And if she cannot do good to them, she has no right to harm them either.

My way of handling the case

I think the best way to handle a woman like Louisa who is so depressed and always on the verge of suicide is to bring the best out of her. The psychotherapist in the case tries to explore the dark sides within her. He takes her to it and then tries to get her out of it. He believes that it would be nice to have her acknowledge her own dark side. I personally feel that there was no need of doing that. Already the woman experiences too many of these dark moments when she is all by herself craving for company even it is that of a ...