DHUFF MATTHEUS V.

ORTIZ
Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Graduate School
Psychology Department
Sta. Mesa, Manila

ADVANCED PSYCHOTHERAPY
Dr. Hector M. Perez, RPsy

FILM ANALYSIS – ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What if Dr. Berger, psychiatrist in the movie, would employ family-oriented

therapy in working out with Jarretts’ family, what theoretical orientation
would you consider?
Answer:
If I would be employing a family-oriented therapy in their family, I would be using a human
validation process model. As observed in the film, the main problem faced by the family is
that ties among family member are not that strong and that they attempt to run away from
their problem through maintaining a facade from everyone that their family is working fine
despite the boat accident happened 4 months ago. The family, specifically Beth, tried to
suppress all kinds of communication pertaining to Buck’s death and Conrad’s post-
traumatic stress disorder thus making the situation more difficult around her. Further, she
even tried avoiding Conrad because she knows that Conrad is still affected by the accident
involving his brother, thus making Conrad feel that her mother does not love him and that
his mother favors his brother more than him. With these, it is quite clear that the problems
surrounding the family are rooted from lack of communication. In a human validation
process approach, these communication patterns will be addressed and a strong
connection among family members will be promoted. Further, strong emotions that they
tried to avoid will be experienced in the therapy and be confronted in the therapy through
communication and raising the awareness of each family member on how this problem has
impacted their emotional connections and relationships.

2. What do you think is the most effective therapeutic intervention to treat

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Answer:
In most cases of PTSD, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is seen to be effective in
treating this disorder. This treatment is focused on the trauma itself and the techniques are
aimed at identifying, understanding, and change thinking and behavior patterns. This treatment
involves the patient to engage in learning skills that would make them cope effectively with the
symptoms. Further, CBT has different forms, and from recent studies, Eye movement
desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is identified as a promising technique in curing PTSD.
In this technique, people are asked to pay attention to either a sound or a back and forth
movement while thinking about the traumatic memory. The premise is that problems haunt
people when they are not fully processed by the individual and from these techniques, traumatic
memories are aimed to be processed fully through actively holding these memories while
focusing on a moving stimulus.

3. Among the family members involved in the movie, to whom you are going
to work with and what therapeutic interventions you will implement and will
be the goal/s of your therapy?
Answer:
If I would be working with one specific family member, I will be working with Beth and I
will be employing Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Knowing Beth's attitude and
behavior from the film, my treatment goals would involve changing her negative
philosophies that affect her familial relationships and acceptance of the traumatic event. As
what I have observed in the film her attitudes can be looked in an ABC (antecedent, belief,
consequence) perspective wherein: the antecedents are the death of his son Buck and the
admission of her surviving son in a mental health facility, the belief is that everything
would be normal eventually, as long as the problem would not be emphasized or be a
subject of conversation in the family, the consequence is that Beth is having hate feelings
towards her son Conrad who has PTSD. That way she can help Conrad and Calvin in dealing
with the situation headstrong and that any efforts to suppress emotions and feelings
attached to the accident will be impeded.

4. Using the principle of Gestalt therapy of Perls, how would you describe the
impasse experience by any of the characters involve in the film?
Answer:
The impasse experience in the film is when Beth has never considered the idea that the
family cannot get over of the accident by running away from it. As explicitly showed in the
film, this has influenced the family destructively especially to Conrad. To an extent, this
impasse has caused the separation of Calvin and Beth. Though the accident can now be
faced by Calvin and Conrad due to Beth leaving them away, Beth will remain haunted by
the death of Buck due to her unhealthy approach to the problem.

5. Discuss your personal reflexivity regarding this film in relation to the

family-oriented psychotherapy.
Answer:
For me, the film would be better if the therapist focused on the whole family because the
symptoms experienced by Conrad can be explained by the dysfunctional family that he
belongs to. As stated in the film, Conrad was dismissed in the mental health facility after
four months of treatment, therefore it can be implied that Conrad is capable of normal
functioning. However, the therapist in the film has failed to see that the family has different
expressions of love and each member perceived it differently. From that fact, it might be
wrong to revolve the therapy merely to Conrad. Aside from that, the film failed to justify the
dismissal of Conrad from the mental health facility. The film shows that therapy is just a
follow-up of the treatment he received after the accident. For me, the film would have a
happy ending if the moment that Calvin had talked with Dr. Berger, Calvin had successfully
encouraged his family to avail services for family therapy. Then, therapeutic sessions will
aim at repairing communication and openness among family members. Thus instilling
some hope to viewers that familial problems perceived to be lacking of love can be repaired
through open and honest communication.