1.3: Group Scenario - Betty
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Betty is a 60 year old Caucasian woman who is in intensive outpatient treatment for alcohol dependence. She has been in groups for about a month. Betty has relapsed several times while in treatment and shares that this is because the pain of her only child being stillborn is too much to bear sometimes. She states that her dream from childhood was to be a mother and it never happened for her. Betty has a habit of deflecting on stories from her past, particularly losing her baby 15 years ago, when offered any feedback by the group. Betty is separated from her husband but refuses to talk about it.
When confronted with her seeming inability to focus on any other topics in her current life Betty will shut down and become angry. She accuses the group of being cold and callous toward her. “Isn’t the group supposed to offer me sympathy”? “If we don’t support one another then we will end up relapsing.” The group members are tired of Betty always feeling sorry for herself and using her loss to avoid the present. They have started to ignore her in response.