Susan's Relationship With Her Mother

Part A: Answer any 3 of the following questions:
1) Discuss 2 defense mechanisms that the child uses, and whether each appears to be adaptive or maladaptive.
A defense mechanism Susana is using is being in denial of her current situation and uses crying and hostile behavior as her way of coping (Robbins, Chatterjee, & Canda, 2011). Another reason why Susana is in denial is because even though she was an active five year old despite of overcoming certain obstacles like not having her mother and father around as often she kept moving forward. A reason why she is in denial of her situation is because Susana is often eager, has hope, and is happy to see her mother when she gets home despite of the lack of her presence with Susana as a mother.

Her mother Jacquie is not providing a secure home for Susana and is not building a strong firm relationship with her. Jaquie is hardly home or is attending other responsibilities such as helping Susana’s uncles with their homework instead of meeting Susana’s needs. Susana could be suffering from social deprivation because she is bouncing from one place to another and doesn’t have a secure attachment. Susana might be craving to have one stable relationship with someone she can trust, since she doesn’t have a stable relationship with anyone it is leading her to a lot of unnecessary stress. For that reason, Susana’s brain and heart could begin to slow down and go to waste (Cozolino, 2014). State that when stress has been critical at a young age or it has been lengthy it could cause issues adapting. In conclusion, the absence of her mother Jaquie is causing Susana to become aggressive and will affect her when interacting with other children when she goes into kindergarten. In addition, Susana has not had the proper education or has attended any programs to help her adapt to the new change of going into kindergarten because her mother hasn’t taken the initiative to sign her up. Also, many of the times Jaquie treats Susana as if she is her sister, rather than being her daughter. Maternal deprivation is really taking a toll on Susana and can have a very negative effect in the long run hindering Susana’s relationship with others. In conclusion, Jaquie is not meeting the good enough mother role because she is not attending Susana basic