The Avoidant Psychotherapy Patient Justin Faden, DO, and Robert Mcfadden, MD
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Cases That Test Your Skills The avoidant psychotherapy patient Justin Faden, DO, and Robert McFadden, MD How would you Mr. J, age 35, seeks treatment for panic attacks. He takes a handle this case? benzodiazepine and attends psychotherapy but comes once a Visit CurrentPsychiatry.com to input your answers month, and keeps sessions superficial. How can he be helped? and see how your colleagues responded CASE Unexplained panic his mother were close before her affair, he has Mr. J, age 35, is a married, unemployed musi- been unable to forgive or empathize with her, cian who presents for outpatient treatment for and rarely speaks to her. Mr. J’s mother could panic attacks. He experienced his first panic at- not protect him from his father’s abuse, and tack at his oldest son’s baptism 12 years ago, but later compounded her failure by abandoning does not know why it occurred at that moment. her husband and son through her sexual affair. He rarely has panic attacks now, but wants to Growing up with a father he did not respect or continue medication management. He denies get comfort from and sharing a common fear depressive symptoms, saying, “I’m the most op- and alliance with his mother likely made it diffi- timistic person in the world.” Mr. J tried several cult for Mr. J to navigate his Oedipal phase,1 and medications for his panic attacks before clonaz- made her abandonment even more painful. epam, 2 mg/d, proved effective, but always has When Mr. J was 6 years old, he was mo- been vehemently opposed to antidepressants. lested by one of his father’s friends. His father Despite his insistence that he needs only medi- stabbed the man in the shoulder when he cation management, Mr. J chooses to enroll in a found out about the molestation and received resident-run psychotherapy clinic. probation. Although Mr. J knows he was mo- In sessions, Mr. J describes his father, who lested, he does not remember it and has re- also has panic disorder, as a powerful figure pressed most of his childhood. who is physically and emotionally abusive, but also charismatic, charming, and “impos- What could be the cause of Mr. J’s panic attacks? sible not to love.” However, Mr. J felt his father a) fear of becoming like his father was impossible to live with, and moved out at b) unresolved anger toward his father age 18 to marry his high school sweetheart. c) unresolved anger toward his mother They have 3 children, ages 12, 10, and 8. Mr. J d) none of the above worked for his father at his construction com- pany, but was not able to satisfy him or live The authors’ observations up to his standards so he quit because he was I (JF) wanted to discuss with Mr. J why his tired of being cut down and emasculated. first panic attack occurred during such a Mr. J’s parents divorced 15 years ago after his mother had an affair with her husband’s friend. Dr. Faden is Chief Resident and Dr. McFadden is Clinical His father learned of the affair and threatened Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Current Psychiatry Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic 44 August 2012 his wife with a handgun. Although Mr. J and Medicine, Cherry Hill, NJ. Cases That Test Your Skills Table Defenses against countertransference hate Defense mechanism Description Repression Remaining unconscious of feelings of hate; may manifest as difficulty paying attention to what the patient is saying or feeling bored or tired Turning against oneself Doubting one’s capacity to help the patient; may feel inadequate, helpless, and hopeless. May lead to giving up on the patient because the therapist feels incompetent Reaction formation Turning hatred into the opposite emotion. The therapist may be too preoccupied with being helpful or overly concerned about the patient’s welfare and comfort Projection Feeling that the patient hates the therapist, leading to feelings of dread and fear Distortion of reality Devaluing the patient and seeing the patient as a hopeless case or a Clinical Point dangerous person. The therapist may feel indifference, pity, or anger toward the patient Noting one’s Source: Reference 7 countertransference provides a window on how the patient’s symbolic occasion. His panic could be the psychotherapy for panic disorder, see this thoughts and actions result of a struggle between a murderous article at CurrentPsychiatry.com evoke feelings in wish toward his father and paternal pro- Although Mr. J’s initial willingness to tective instinct toward his son. The bap- discuss his past was encouraging, he re- others tism placed his son in a highly vulnerable fused to schedule more than 1 session every position, which reminded Mr. J of his own 4 weeks. He also began to keep the content vulnerability and impotent rage toward of our sessions superficial, which caused his father. Anxiety often results when an me angst because he seemed to be with- individual has 2 opposing wishes,2 and a holding information and would not come murderous wish often is involved when more frequently. Although I was not proud anxiety progresses to panic. Getting to the of my feelings, I had to be honest with my- root of this with Mr. J could allow for fur- self that I had started to dislike Mr. J. ther psychological growth.3 His murderous wishes and fantasies are ego-dystonic, and How would you handle a patient you begin panic could be a way of punishing himself to dislike? for these thoughts. When Mr. J identified a) refer him to another therapist himself as his son during the baptism, he b) consult with a colleague about how to likely was flooded with thoughts that his handle the situation defenses were no longer able to repress. c) continue therapy as usual Seeing his son submerged in the baptis- d) decrease the frequency of sessions mal font brought back an aspect of his See this article at own life that he had completely split off CurrentPsychiatry.com from consciousness, and likely will take Countertransference reactions for a description of time to process. Considering the current Countertransference is a therapist’s emo- psychodynamic psychotherapy therapeutic dynamic, I decided that it was tional reaction to a patient. Just as patients for panic disorder not the best time to address this potential form reactions based on past relationships conflict; however, I could have chosen a brought to present, therapists develop manualized form of psychodynamic psy- similar reactions.5 Noting one’s counter- chotherapy for panic disorder.4 For a table transference provides a window into how Current Psychiatry that outlines the phases of psychodynamic the patient’s thoughts and actions evoke Vol. 11, No. 8 45 Cases That Test Your Skills feelings in others. It also can shed light on Although Mr. J only takes clonazepam an aspect of the doctor-patient relationship and citalopram, 20 mg/d, which I prescribed that may have gone unnoticed.2 after he admitted to depression and anxiety, Countertransference hatred can occur he has hyperlipidemia and a family history when a therapist begins to dislike a patient. of heart disease. In addition to being a musi- Typically, patients with borderline personal- cian and working at his father’s construction ity disorder, masochistic tendencies, or sui- company, he has worked as a security guard, cidality arouse strong counter transference bounty hunter, and computer technician. His reactions6; however, any patient can evoke careers have been solitary in nature, and, with these emotions. This type of hateful patient the exception of computer work, permitted can precipitate anti therapeutic feelings an outlet for aggression. However, he recent- such as aversion or malice that can be a ly started taking online college classes and Clinical Point major obstacle to treatment.7 Aversion leads wants to become a music teacher because he the therapist to withdraw from the patient, feels he has a lot to offer children as a result A hateful patient and malice can trigger cruel impulses. of his life experiences. His fantasy of being a can precipitate Maltsberger and Buie7 identified 5 de- teacher shows considerably less aggression, antitherapeutic fenses therapists may use to combat coun- and could be a sign of psychological growth. feelings such as tertransference hatred (Table, page 45). When Mr. J is struggling financially and his home aversion or malice treating Mr. J, I used several of these defenses, is on the verge of foreclosure. Early in treat- including projection and turning against the ment he told me that he stopped paying his that can be a major self to protect myself from this challenging mortgage, but demonstrated blind optimism obstacle to treatment patient. In turning against the self, I became that things would “work out.” I asked if this doubtful and critical of my skills and increas- was a wise decision, but he seemed confident ingly submissive to Mr. J. Additionally, I pro- and dismissive of my concerns. Although he jected this countertransference hatred onto now struggles with this situation, I consider Mr. J, focusing on the negative transference this healthier than his constant pseudo-happy that he brought to our therapeutic encoun- state, and a sign of psychological develop- ters. On an unconscious level, I may have ment.8 Despite his financial stressors, he wants feared retribution from Mr. J. to pursue his dream of being a famous musi- I became so frustrated with Mr. J that I cian, and says he “could never work a 9-to-5 reduced the frequency of our sessions to job in a cubicle.” once every 6 weeks, which I realized could be evidence of my feelings regarding Mr.