Usage of Systemic Therapy in Panic Attack Case: A Case Presentation

Abstract

This work is about a case in which someone applied for consultancy with a problem of panic attack and the systemic therapy techniques were used for treatment. The researcher had completed the systemic therapy training at the Wenha m Institute of Family Therapy. A.Y. The subject was a 34 year old housewife with work experience in the recent past, graduated from the high school and married for 12 years. She was suffering from panic attack for the last 4-5 years. She used to get attacks once in nearly every 10 days for 3-4 days each time and these affected her quite badly. During the panic attacks she felt sick and threw up, beside the other feelings like palpitation, pain in groin, contraction in veins and exhaustion with shaking. These dramatic physical symptoms used to be accompanied by over anxiety. The subject who consulted for her panic attacks was using medicine for 5 years. A 10-seance systemic therapy model was applied to the subject at the Psychological Counseling Unit of Mersin University as one seance per week (1 or 1 ½ hrs each). 3 months after the completion of Systemic Therapy the observation phase was started. The subject admitted that she was back to work and both the frequency as well as the intensity of attacks decreased, with her own words she was now able to “dance” with it. The systemic therapy techniques applied to this subject were genogram, classification, analysis of power sources, party of pieces and ranging. Loop questions were used to help her in restructuri ng the problem and in finding new solutions by the help of new viewpoints and increase in her awareness. All in all, this case is noticeable as a promising therapy technique while working with subjects suffering from panic attack.