Sibila 1 Mock Interview

Unit VI Assignment: George Kelly, Mock Interview

Dakin J. Michael Sibila

Columbia Southern University

PSY3350

Dr. Perez

11/172015
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Mock Interview

Therapist: Good evening Jane! Are you well today?

Jane Doe: Good Evening! I am not well today, as my husband is still continuing to act abnormal

and seems to be more withdrawn and distant.

Therapist: You stated in our previous session that you think he may be exhibiting telltale sign of

infidelity based on your past experiences with your prior husband cheating on you. What leads

you to this conclusion?

Jane Doe: Because he no longer brings me flowers like he used to when we first started dating,

or calls me on the phone a few times a day and asks me how I am doing, finally he rarely talks to

me anymore.

Therapist: Have you tried seeing things from his point of view, considering that he just lost his

job of ten years. How would you feel in this situation?

Jane Doe: I suppose that I have never taken his feelings into consideration and viewed things

from his perspective. I would feel afraid, depressed, withdrawn, anxious, and humiliated.

Therapist: Have you taken into consideration that people are constantly changing, perhaps in the

beginning of your relationship, he was trying to win your affection, he was doing well

financially, he wanted to learn as much as he could about you, emotions between both of you

were also at an all time high, over time regardless of whether people love one another the level

of feeling and affection tends to die down. Have you compared that to other long term

relationships other than the one in which you were hurt? Perhaps he now feels that he has a good

understanding. Do you have friends or relatives that you may spend time with, enjoy the time
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well spent, and yet engage in little communication, because you have known one another for a

very long time?

Jane Doe: I suppose I haven’t taken that into consideration, as I realize I am not who I was when

we first started dating. He has been struggling lately financially as well, and spending most of his

time looking for a job. Things have also simmered down in regards to affection between us and I

have had prior long term relationships in which things have simmered down as well, without the

involvement of infidelity. I also have friends and family members that even though we spend

time together, we do not always communicate constantly during that time.

Therapist: You stated that you were afraid, because you didn’t know whether he was cheating on

you or not, but you felt that he was exhibiting signs of infidelity, based on your experience from

your previous marriage. Had that experience never happened to you before, or you were able to

understand why your previous husband cheated on you, would you still feel that level of fear, or

accuse your present husband of infidelity. Have you tried comparing this relationship to previous

long term relationships in which you were not cheated on? Would you feel different if you did

not have the fear that history was repeating itself?

Jane Doe: I don’t think that I would have that fear of infidelity had I never been in that situation,

yet if I knew the why and the what, I may compare the two relationships and still be

apprehensive. Come to think of it a man that I was dating named Richard became withdrawn as

well after losing his job, because I felt that he no longer loved me, because he was withdrawn

and we no longer went on dates. Yes!

Therapist: Do you feel now that you are putting unrealistic expectations on your husband, and

perhaps you should consider the world as a whole, in realizing that everyone is different?
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Jane Doe: Come to think of it, none of us are perfect and we all deal with things a bit differently.

Perhaps I am being a little harsh on him, and forming my own opinions based on the past.

Therapist: Perhaps you should go home and engage in open communication with your husband

in order to better understand how he feels, and what is going on in his life. Perhaps the both of

you should communicate on how each of you are feeling, and express your fears.

Jane Doe: I think that would help me to better understand my husband, and maybe lessen my fear

that he is seeing someone else.

Jane Doe: Thank you for seeing me today! I will see you next Thursday.

Therapist: You’re welcome, if you have any concerns over the week, feel free to give my

secretary a call! See you soon!

Conclusion: Analysis
My overall analysis of this patient utilizing George Kelly’s principles is that the client is

using her own personal constructs of the husband who cheated on her in order to gain meaning

and insight on her current situation (Frager pg. 259). As the therapist in this skit, I was trying to

gain insight into the patients way of viewing her current spouse, and break down the transitional

construct she imposed upon herself on the basis of fear. Because she does not understand why

her husband is acting a certain way, she is trying to make sense of it by comparing her present

husband to her previous husband (Frager pg. 264-265) I attempted to use cycles of experience in

an attempt to help the patient. I used circumspection in order to construe the matter in multiple

ways. I used preemption to give alternatives that may gain special attention. I also gave her the

choice of communicating with her husband in that she may not leap to quickly to a conclusion,

and act based of impulsivity with accusations (Frager pg. 267). I also tried giving her other
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options to look at by talking about prior long term relationships whether it be romantic, friendly,

or familial. In an effort that she may create new constructs.

I questioned the patient based off of prior experiences in order that the patient may

develop a new construct for her present husband’s behavior aside from her present negative

construct based upon her prior husband. In asking her to think of previous long term

relationships in which behaviors may have been similar to her present husband (Frager pg. 262).

I asked the patient to try and view this from her husband’s perspective so she could understand

that each person is an individual who has their own constructs, and engage in the principle of

commanility by placing herself in his shoes to realize that people in some regards are

psychologically similar. I also asked her to engage in the principle of sociality that she could

perhaps try and understand his behavior through his point of view (Frager pg. 262-263).

The patient is trying to predict the future based off of one negative construct, the goal

would be to eliminate that construct by giving the patient alternatives in order to fix her

marriage. The patient in this manner is engaged in construing a replication by analyzing the

repetition of familiar themes in order to grasp the nature of the world for the future (Frager pg.

260). Experience by Kelly’s standards are seen in five phases which are anticipation, investment,

encounter, confirmation or disconformation (Frager pg. 262). The client is anticipating the future

in that either her husband is or is not cheating on her. She must now invest the time in order to

gain an understanding of this experience, she must encounter the problem whether by talking to

him, or catching him in the act, and either confirm or discomfirm what she thinks or feels at the

present moment. Even though there may be commonalities between individuals on how they may

respond to a certain event.

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It is important for her to understand that people are also very different. Each person that

she has dated is different in some form or another, though they may be similar as well in some

regards. Most people who lose their job may be withdrawn or depressed. Some may or may not

try and find comfort in their wives, everyone handles their problems differently. Had she not had

the prior construct of her cheating husband’s behavior in comparison to her new husbands

behavior, meaning had she never been cheated on. She may well have seen things from a

different perspective and may not have thought her new husband has been cheating at all.
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References

Frager, R., & Fadiman, J. (2013). Personality and personal growth (7th Ed.). Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall