Triangle Of Conflict Case Study

Case conceptualization My clinical conceptualization of Lucy’s presenting concerns uses an ISTDP framework. Lucy’s relational difficulties in her present life are connected to her past relational pattern with her parents. She is stuck in a cycle of emotional avoidance through implementation of defense mechanisms in order to keep her anxiety down. At one point in her life, these defenses were effective but now they no longer serves their purposes and as such causes Lucy distress thus pushing her to come back into therapy. I will start the conceptualization by focusing on the two triangles, beginning with the triangle of conflict then the triangle of person. These triangles will illustrate how I understand Lucy and her internal conflicts. …show more content…
Although, it was unclear at first what her hidden feelings were, it became apparent in her stories. She is experiencing relational difficulties because she lacked a deep connection and love towards a significant figure. She has a deep desire to be love and to feel connected to people even though she may not be fully aware of it. This lack of love and connection caused her to feel angry or in her own word “explode” when she is not able to obtain love and connection with the people in her life. The explosion is accompanied with guilt because by exploding she is pushing the people who she wants the connection with further away. These competing emotions of love and anger create an internal conflict that Lucy did not know how to deal with. She felt torn because she wants to have these deep connections yet feel angry that people are abandoning her.

Triangle of Conflict – Anxiety: The internal conflict between love and anger increases Lucy’s anxiety. She experienced these anxiety in her striated muscle and smooth muscle by reporting that she often get headaches when having to deal with other people. She also experiences a lot of somatic pains such as back pain and legs muscle