MLO 4 Application of Psychology
This essay to MLO4 is designed to familiarize the reader with my interpretation of this particular
learning outcome, and let them understand how I fulfilled it. In order to interpret this MLO, there are
certain necessary skills one must acquire. One must be able to understand and apply psychological
principles to personal, social and organizational issues with psychological training. It is necessary to be
able to identify major applications and articulate how they can be used toward social understanding. I
am sure most average individuals are not equipped with the necessary skills to apply psychological
principles to personal, social or organizational issues. In my time at CSU Monterey Bay, I took the
required courses for this MLO; Psychology 320, Psychopathology and Psychology 322, Theories and
Methods of Counseling. Psychopathology examined abnormal behaviors, and perspectives. Theories and
Methods of Counseling examined major theories of behavioral change and application of major
counseling models; it emphasized the methods of which individuals are counseled with problems
regarding profession, social, family and individual self. In the contents of this essay I will discuss some of
the assignments I was assigned in these courses, as well as how I used psychological theories and
concepts in order to apply them to individuals’ and diagnose personality disorders.
In my Psychopathology course, Psychology 320, we covered a broad spectrum of psychological
and personality disorders; including Clusters A, B & C personality disorders. Cluster A are personality
disorders that are odd or eccentric behaviors, Cluster B are personality disorders related to emotional or
erratic behaviors and Cluster C are personality disorders that are characterized by anxious and fearful
behaviors (Sue Sue & Sue 2005). During the end of the semester, when all of this knowledge was
acquired, the entire class worked collaboratively on a project, called “The Dysfunctional Cocktail Party.”
The dysfunctional cocktail party disguised a few individuals in the class with personality disorder while
the rest of the students in the class interacted with one another. The task was to diagnose every single
person, and distinguish those with normal personalities from those with actual personality disorders.
Each individual was to personally assign each of the personality disorders to the name of a student, until
all personality disorders on the sheet were filled.
This undercover drama gave the students of Psychopathology the opportunity of spotting
individuals’ with certain personality disorders in this particular party, and use this acquired knowledge in
the future. The Cocktail party was one of the most intriguing events I have experienced. Although I was
only assigned the role of the bouncer, I able to observe all individuals while none of them paid much
attention. I observed how individuals acted and how they interacted with one another and those with
personality disorders, which were very interesting. I also observed those with personality disorders and
observed their actions and how they interacted with others. Two of the personality disorders I found
most intriguing were narcissistic personality disorder (Cluster B), and schizotypal personality disorder
(Cluster A).
Narcissistic Personality Disorder involves an exaggerated sense of self- importance, exploitative,
and lack of empathy. These individuals require attention and admiration and have difficulty accepting
personal criticism. They talk mainly about themselves and show lack of interest in others. They also have
fantasies of power or influence (Sue Sue & Sue 2005). During the party one class student was originally
assigned a normal personality, but unintentionally become a narcissist. He started off quietly and
suddenly becoming self concentrated and a huge interaction with others. Therefore, I ended up
assigning this personality disorder to two individuals, not just one. Schizotypal Personality Disorder
revolves around peculiar thoughts and behaviors, in addition to poor interpersonal relationships. The
disorder also makes the individual believe they posses magical abilities, have reoccurring illusion, or
even speech oddities with vagueness in conversation (Sue Sue & Sue 2005). I have always been
fascinated with the schizophrenic disorders. I assigned this disorder to the correct individual, who kept
leaving the room, claiming he was hearing voices in the walls; however, I do wish that I could have been
the one acting as the schizotypal. I do believe that I could have made an interesting and extremely
believable schizotypal.
In my Theories and Methods of Counseling course, Psychology 322, one of projects we were
assigned was a film analysis of both protagonist; a psychiatrist and client, then analyzing techniques
used and personality disorders the client possessed. The film we analyzed was called “What About
Bob?” The film was about a successful psychiatrist (Dr. Leo Marvin) who receives one of the most
dependent patients ever (Bob); a highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive person. When the
psychiatrist goes on a family vacation, Bob tracks him down, and Marvin shortly losses his mind. In this
film, I used Psychodynamic Theory and Cognitive Therapy to describe certain situations in the film.
Throughout the rest of this paper, I will discuss the certain theories, concepts, disorders, and
therapeutic styles I applied to the film.
I used the Psychodynamic Theory to describe the Marvin’s therapeutic techniques because the
therapist in the film favored Sigmund Freud’s Theory and showed signs of psychodynamics techniques
during his therapy sessions. The psychodynamic theory focuses on the psychological forces that lie
beneath human behavior, especially the self-motivated relationships between conscious motivation and
unconscious motivation (Corsini & Wedding 2010). Sigmund Freud’s Theory described the process within
the mind that flows in psychological energy, libido in the organically complex brain. Corsini and Wedding
(2010) quote Sigmund Freud, “Our purpose is not merely to describe and classify the phenomena, but to
conceive of them as brought about by the play of forces in the mind. . . . We are endeavoring to attain a
dynamic concept of mental phenomena.
Marvin approached Bob in a Freudian manner retaining his central dynamic principles of
psychoanalysis; he sat quietly and asked simple questions to bring out dept from the client. For example,
if the client claimed he was scared of opening doors, he would simply reply with something along the
lines of “talk to me about doors.” In the film, Marvin writes a book called “Baby Steps” which
emphasizes cognitive therapeutic techniques; involving self concept and self actualization to help
individuals help themselves. Cognitive Therapy is a sub type of psychotherapy; it falls beneath the
cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT). It seeks to help patients overcome negatives thoughts and replace
them with positive ones, changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses (Corsini &
Wedding 2010). These theories focus on what is imperative to the client seeking help. This is achieved
by discovering the client’s perceptions and feelings about one’s self and his or her central concerns. One
must first be understood as a totality before actualizing oneself. In this case Bob was given the “Baby
Steps” book by the therapist, Dr Leo Marvin, in order to help Bob self actualize himself and help himself
take small steps into his fears. This technique did not seem to work on Bob.
In order for Bob to succeed in therapy, I hypothesize that Bob would have to endorse a clientcentered therapeutic approach. Client-Centered therapy approaches clients with unconditional positive
regard, and empathic understanding of the client’s situation, using actualizing tendency and reflection.
Where reflection would express and unravel individual situations giving the individual his own
therapeutic journey (Corsini & Wedding 2010). This is so, because he craves meaningful attention as well
as closeness with other individuals. Therefore, involving him with not only a therapist but with a group
of individuals who also lean on each other as greatly as Bob does, for support would satisfy his needs for
closeness. He would then feel a sense of belonging and lessen his excessive emotional and attention
seeking. In conclusion this could lead to the reduction or maybe even the extinction of his other
disorders.
Bob was an incredibly difficult individual to assess because of all the variables. To put it in
metaphorical terms, Bob was like a train station. There was always another disorder as soon as one
disorder was discovered. After careful observation, using the axis of the DSM-IV, I was able to fit Bob
into the following disorders using the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobia,
agoraphobia, panic attack, panic disorder, factitious disorder, histrionic disorder, and dependent
disorder. I believe that his most apparent disorders all stem off of one main disorder; generalized
anxiety disorder. Humanistic Psychology is a fundamental belief that people are innately good and that
mental and social problems result from deviations from this natural tendency. It emphasizes an
individual’s inherent drive towards self-actualization and creativity (Corsini & Wedding 2010). Using a
humanistic perspective I was able to hypothesize that Bob did not receive unconditional positive regard,
which led him to this outcome. I was able to classify Bob with specific phobia of germs and disease was
with his display of immediate anxiety when in direct contact with anything or any person who can carry
germs or diseases. For example, the he used tissues in order to avoid direct contact with things that are
frequently touched and his posture that demonstrates to others “I do not want to touch or be touched.”
Throughout the film, Bob displayed defense mechanisms. The term defense is the earliest
representative of the dynamic standpoint in psychoanalytic theory by Freud. Defense mechanisms are
automatic forms of response to situations that arouse unconscious fears or anticipations of psychic
danger (Corsini & Wedding 2010). The therapist displayed aggressiveness, and frustration towards Bob;
however, Bob avoids these gestures, and denies the fact that Dr. Marvin despises him and instead
suggests to himself that these are therapeutic technique. A prime example of this is when Dr. Marvin
ties Bob onto a tree, and places hundreds of firecrackers to literally kill him. Yet, Bob escapes and denies
the truth behind this act, replacing it with believe this was part of a therapeutic technique by the
therapist. At the end of the film there was only absolute hatred toward Bob; nevertheless, Bob’s
dependant disorder gave him an inability to see evil in his therapist and always see therapeutic
techniques.
Personally I felt that this MLO was important because without this acquired knowledge, a
psychology student would not be able to apply these theories, concepts, disorders, and therapeutic
styles to certain individuals; which is one of the most essential components of the psychology field.
Especially if you are in the field of psychology to become a therapist or psychiatrist, one must be able to
interpret every situation and make certain connections in order to evaluate or apply given theories,
principles or concepts.
REFERENCES
Corsini, R. J., & Wedding, D. (2010).Current Psychotherapies (Ninth Ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks / Cole:
Cengage Learning.
Sue, D., Sue, D. W., & Sue, S. (2005).Essentials of understanding abnormal behavior. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co.