Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958. He was one of ten children growing up. Michael and his siblings grew up in a very strict home. He had many conflicts with his father, who was physically and emotionally abusive. Michael’s music career began with the formation of The Jackson 5 in 1963, when he joined his brothers, Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and Jermaine in their already booming musical group. This was the start of Michael’s singing career. He was only five years old at this time, and went solo in 1971 at the young age of thirteen (Internet Movie Database).

His fame continued to grow, until 1993, when things took a turn for the worse. Michael was accused of child sexual abuse. He denied these claims, and the little boy’s family was finally settled out of court. It was around this same time in the 1990’s that Michael was struggling with a drug addiction (Merkin, 2009).

Lisa Maria Presley, who supported Michael through the sexual abuse claims, married him in 1993, but divorced him after only two years. He married again in 1996, this time to Deborah Jeanne Rowe, a long time friend. They had their first child, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., or “Prince,” on February 13, 1997. Their second child, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, was born on April 3, 1998, followed by a 1999 divorce. The custody over both children went to Michael. To everyone’s surprise, Michael had a third child in 2002, the mother unknown. He claimed to have gone through the process of artificial insemination, using a surrogate mother and his own sperm. He named the child Prince Michael Jackson II, calling him “Blanket” (Ditzian, 2009).

On November 20, 2002, Michael held his newborn baby, Blanket, over his balcony railing with a crowd of fans b...

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...n. It is the therapist’s job to listen very carefully to everything that Michael says during their sessions together. Catharsis, the third technique, is when the therapist would guide him through his past and help him relive his problems to eventually overcome them. Finally, working through the now interpreted and understood events is the hardest and longest process of the four. It can take years to complete. As for Michael’s drug addictions, the process is very similar. His past would be uncovered, and he would be encouraged to work through his past conflicts and then, eventually, change the way that he is living (Comer, 2011).

The Psychodynamic Theory has not proven itself to be very effective. It helps people more when it is paired with other approaches, and is now the starting point, or basis, in other types of therapy (Comer, 2011).