Case Vignette: Dora’s case analyzed through Erickson’s psychology

To contribute to this fundamental policy discourse; this paper analyzes a case of an individual with a challenging behavior, utilizes the Erikson psychological theory of development to analyze the mentioned individual’s case and proposes an evidence-based counseling theory that would suffice to help them overcome the above challenging behavior case. In the case Vignette, the 14-year-old, biracial and with sickle cell anemia Dora who is currently abusing drugs, arguing with people in authority and physically threatening others is exhibiting a challenging behavior. The challenging behavior has begun showing itself after Kendal; Dora’s elder brother has gone to school. Now that Dora has not been in good terms with her mother who is subjecting her to exhaustive domestic chores and less caring to her emotions and her sickle celled condition; then it is evident that according to Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development, Dora does not feel safe at the hands of the female gender (Malone, 496).

It will be remembered that alongside the brother, the only other person Dora feels comfortable with is her father who loves his children for who they are but he is busy working at night and resting during the day. These boys supplement her older brother. Despite all her other weaknesses, she has an attraction towards those of the opposite sex. Dora has thus been affected at the trust mistrust stage but is normal for the trust and intimacy stage. To help Dora recover from her problem, a counselor can use an evidence-based theory; the Psychoanalysis would suffice as the best theory in Dora’s case. The psychoanalysis is a therapy theory that was developed by the Australian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Rowland, Nancy, and Stephen Goss, eds.