Summary There is a woman named Sue who is too rational. Sue’s friend made a suggestion that Sue should receive therapy. For instance, Sue walked in on her boyfriend cheating with a secretary in his office. Instead of being angry and devastated, she rationalized his infidelity thinking that since his childhood was difficult it was okay. Sue has had several different gastrointestinal disorders and severe tension headaches. However when she is asked if she is happy, the reply is always satisfied but not happy. Sue has been coping very differently. Instead of really dealing with the problem that she faces she rationalize it to ease the emotions. When Sue was younger her father raged, and during those times the father would break things. Sues’ mother was too intimidated and helpless to do anything. Since then Sue made a vow to never rage like her …show more content…
In this situation she dealt with it the best way that she could. A psychosocial stage that would fit best with this case is latency, which is “Can I master the skills necessary to survive and adapt” (Salkind, 2004. p. 134). Sue chose rationalization as her necessary skill to survive. Every time she rationalize a situation it is like building a wall of protection to keep the pain from getting in. As Sue matured so did her barrier, making it an unconscious reaction to a situation. On page 116, it explains how the mind can protect itself when threaten. “The unconscious is in control of most early behavior and remain in control of some portion of behavior throughout life span” (Salkind, 2004). Not saying that the unconscious is in control of her whole brain but in a stressful enough it can continue to play a role in her life. Many people do not recover from a certain situation that happen to them. Most people will try to forget or ignore the situation not knowing how much it can affect them mentally. That is when it starts to become