Patient Therapist Engagement
Michael Jackson was a renowned musician. He also wrote songs and was a great dancer. Born on the 29th of August 1958, he was born to a family of 10. He was the eighth. He began music at a young age of around six years. His father was the manager of the family music group. He grew up also into a great solo artist, having written many songs and participated in movies. He was especially known for his spectacular dance moves. He was known as the King of Pop, a music genre that he had perfected and transformed. He married and divorced two wives, Lisa Marie Presley and Deborah Jeanne Rowe. He was a father of three: Paris Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II, and Michael Joseph Jackson.
Michael Jackson was raised by a very strict father, Joseph Walter Jackson, who was very harsh in his treatment to his children anytime they underperformed. This affected Michael Jackson, particularly because it produced a sense of inferiority in his inability to please his father. Michael Jackson also had a skin condition which his father did well to insult. Michael Jackson suffered from a skin disease known as vitiligo, which was the losing of pigments, which resulted in the whitening of his skin. This, coupled with the pressure of the people before who he was a star, made his view of himself dwindle. The media did not make things easier for him.
It seems this kind of upraising brought up a special kind of inferiority in Michael. He seemed to manifest the Peter Pan’s syndrome. This is a syndrome where a person seems unwilling to enter into adulthood. He wants to ‘repeat’ his childhood because of his terrible experiences as a kid. The upbringing seemed to bring imprisonment to the childhood stage. The uprising seemed to have tied his life to that stage. His dressing was almost always like a young boy. This syndrome was also noticed by his queer relationship with children, and he was manifesting childish characteristics, for example, his voice. His first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, admitted to the stress he had after being accused of his first child molestation case in 1993. His resentment for the person he had become might have brought him to a life of drugs and drug abuse. His drug abuse was perhaps to drown his stress on who he was.
Michael Jackson might also have been suffering from a body dysmorphic disorder. This is a disorder where a person is not content with his own appearance. This leads to extreme dissatisfaction and serious steps to change one’s appearance. This is probably the reason for his multiple surgeries. This also seen in his low self-esteem issues and anxiety, evidenced by persistent insomnia and drug use. It seemed it seemed difficult to overcome the sense of ugliness, which could only be drowned by drug addiction. The cosmetic surgeries were also an effort to change how he looked.
Celebrities seem to find it hard to accept the need for help and therapy because of the sense of shame and weakness associated with therapy, especially for famous people like them. Michael Jackson particularly has no known record of receiving therapy. Dealing with such a client, I would go both for insight therapy and behavioral therapy. I will treat my clients based on life experiences and also observe the consistency of the above with their behaviors. Psycho-analysis would also be important for the redemption of emotional but unsolved conflicts, experiences, and pains. It is certain that this condition suffered affected people around him negatively. Despite his fame and great fan base, it seems they never removed the emotional effects of the disorders he suffered. For example, many cases of child abuse accusations. It seems that others were being affected by his personality disorders. It is also almost certain that Michael was accused of many debts. He is accused concerning a loan of 200 million dollars owed to Sony Music, a 14million lawsuit from former manager, a debt with Sotheby for paintings worth around a million dollars, and many other debts. We could also mention his great use of drugs and drug abuse. He might have influenced a good number of his followers into drugs. This is probably because of a life of denial from self-hate. And it seems to me that these conditions are more prevalent among celebrities. This may be due to the pressure of the public and self-consciousness, which may lead to a greater degree of effect. Moreover, the more renown a person is, the harder it is for them to accept that they need help. It, therefore, seems the easier it is for celebrities to infect and affect a greater number of people with the symptoms of their disorders. But seeing themselves from afar, we may not know what they really are like because they only reveal a certain side of themselves to hype our admiration. But from a closer position, some of the celebrities have certain disorders that they battle and which could be very shameful. Therapy is important for all men alike, whatever the class or level of fame.
Work cited
M Conroy, W Menard, K Fleming-Ives, P Modha… – General hospital …, 2008
LE Beutler, JF Clarkin – 2014