Psychology Case Write Up

1. What traits are prominent in these cases? Name two or three from the Big Five and give examples from each person's behavior, emotional reactions or thought processes as 'evidence'.

Shirley:

Shirley seems to not be open to new experiences. At age 57 she has put herself back into psychotherapy. The childhood with a drunken and possible depressed mother seem to play part in the way she raised her children. Where now she only has active contact with one of her daughters and struggles to accept the fact that the other daughter is gay and the son is living in a halfway house. She married an abusive husband which correlates to the men her mother used to date who used to abuse Shirley. Death seems to be a continuous cycle of experiences for Shirley. Her mother died then her first husband, second husband and then her child. She seems to be continuously living the same life over and over and nothing new really happening. An event that does interfere with openness is the fact that she did become a lay minister; open to helping others. Conflicting because she is able to admit she potentially could be an alcoholic but refers to it as a "problem". So I would assume she wants something new but the conflict starts when she exhibits the same behaviors over and over.

Shirley seems to be an extrovert. Although she struggles with depression she still shows signs of wanting to be around people and have some interaction. She decided to go back to psychotherapy which involves group interaction or one-on-one meetings. There is still the effort of keeping in touch with one daughter. It seems Shirley didn't like being alone hence the reason she re-married after her first husband died and joined the lay ministry when her second husband died. Perhaps the reason for connecting with people is a way for her to not worry about herself as much. For example she works for the state and is a lay minister but states "herself as "mentally ill", but that she 'may' also have a drinking 'problem'".

Greg:

Greg seems to be conscientious in some areas and not so much in others. He graduated college with his masters but has a hard time completing his work on the job. Perhaps the reason he struggles with communicating to the children's parents could be a reason why he isn't close to his colleagues; lack of assertiveness. He has never developed a relationship with his father and isn't completely honest with his mother in regards to his sexuality. He seems to be a great achiever within himself but dealing or doing things for something else is where he struggles. For example "has trouble being assertive and setting limits both with clients and colleagues but he works out at the gym and is quite muscular".

Greg seems to be an extrovert. He enjoys singing in the