we will focus on “process of naming” (Hardy) and “power and voice” (Finn).
Based on Brandon’s case vignette:
Please describe what needs to be considered when integrating the process of naming (Hardy) and integrating power and voice (Finn) from a DEIPAR lens to support the work with Brandon. 250 words or less.
Brandon
This is Brandon’s sixth therapy session, and he is still feeling low, hopeless, and despair after being expelled from his university, losing his job, and being abandoned by his husband all within a 3-month period. He was expelled from his university last week for organizing a strike for LGBTQIA rights on campus. He was let go from his job due to the employer’s desire to cut costs while facing an inevitable need to file for bankruptcy. Right before the session, he was on the phone with his husband who left him because he got kicked out of school. He is angry.
Honestly, I don’t what the fuck is going on. Sorry. Before I came in, I got a call, and basically all the shit that’s been going on and with school and with work, he basically just told me that I need to take medicine. He offered his advice and it was hurtful.
I feel judged. I feel judged by the one person who said that they were supposed to be there. That’s the deal, right? It’s you choose this person, to be with this person, through what I remember to be through sick, through all of it.
So I’m sorry. I’m kind of all over the place right now. I don’t really know how to the process that. He said that my erratic behavior is what got me kicked out of school when he fucking knows why I started the fucking protest.
He knows that. He knows exactly what’s going on. I lose my job because I was most recently hired when it doesn’t have anything to do with me. I didn’t do anything wrong.
I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t rude to anyone. I didn’t act aggressively. I mean–
he just called at the worst possible time. He knows that I’m on my way here to you. He knows when my meetings are. Why?
Because he’s my fucking person. So why is it that my person, the person who I chose and who chose me and who’s supposed to be supporting me, is the one who’s abandoning me at the time when I’m supposed to be supported, when I most need this person? I don’t get it. I don’t.
And the whole thing with school is bullshit. I don’t even understand how that’s legal. I don’t. I don’t understand how any of this makes any sense.
It’s obvious the injustices that we’re facing. It’s so blatantly clear, in your face, that the fact that I’m saying something is understandable, at least to me. Correct me if I’m wrong, please. Please correct me if I’m wrong, because I feel like I’m insane right now.
It’s like I’m losing my mind. Because I have someone who’s telling me that I’m acting erratically, that I need to be medicated, because I’m just trying to fight for myself. Like, what? And I get it.
I get it. Money is tight. And it wasn’t supposed to be like that. No one gets married thinking that money is going to be a problem.
Everything is rainbows and flowers and sunshine and happiness. And I subscribed to that. I was really excited. I was a little naive.
I’m in my fucking 20s, and I’m married, and I’m in love. And now this person is flipping the script and saying that I need to be medicated. Not that that’s even that’s even the craziest thing that could possibly happen. You know what?
Maybe I fucking do. Maybe I do need to be medicated. Maybe I do need some pills to level me out, because obviously I’m missing something. I can’t even talk to you about what I came here to talk to you about because of this fucking call that I just got.
It’s [INAUDIBLE]
I just feel like everything’s crumbling apart. Everything that I care for, everything that I love, the reasons why I get out of bed in the morning, that’s not even an easy thing in and of itself. Sometimes that’s a fucking battle. That person who is supposed to be there–
I’m hoping the school thing plays out better. I’m sure that there’s some kind of appeal I can make or some, I don’t–
it’s so fucking much. It’s too much right now. I can’t. And it’s not fucking fair.
I wish that there was a button you could push, or a fucking wand you could wave, or whatever the hell it is that I need to do to go back a couple of months ago before all the shit hit the fan, before I’m here. I don’t deserve any of this. I didn’t do anything wrong.
Question: Meet Brandon 1
Write a response on how you would interact with Brandon from a narrative perspective in the context of understanding his problems and processing his story, confusion, and anger. Consider the following questions:
How would you incorporate elements from DEIPAR with Brandon?
What specifically would you do to understand his life in the context of DEIPAR?
How can understanding DEIPAR in the context of Brandon’s presenting issues push the work forward? 250 words or less