Chapter 1 Tina's Story
Write your reactions to Tina's story based on the guidelines provided to you on Google Apps from school bps apps. Write your response and then respond to at least two classmates about their ideas and discussion. Each Post is worth 20 points. Thanks!
Tina is not unique in the abuse she suffered. How does her situation make you think about the developing brain and how it can be changed with trauma?
ReplyDeleteTina is a seven year old girl from Chicago who has endured a very traumatic experience. Sexually abused as a young child for two years by her babysitters son, a sixteen year old. Tina's mother Sara seeks for help from the child psychiatry clinic because of her daughter Tina's "inappropriate and aggressive sexual behavior" in school and she does not pay attention or follow instructions in class . When Tina enters Dr.Perry's office Tina assumes that she must submit and please Dr.Perry sexually and tries to perform fellatio.Tina has grown up thinking she must please men and that all men want one thing. Not having a father figure,uncle or protective brother or any male figure in her life to guide her and love her, took its toll on Tina's life. In the result of her painful traumatic sexual assaults every week for two years, resulted in repetitive and intense activation of her threat-mediating stress response neural systems. Dr.Perry started to think Tina's symptoms were the result of developmental trauma. Due to the organization of her stress response neural networks, at the time helped her cope with such events but now causing her aggressive behavior and inattention to her class work in school. She had been over stressed and looked for possible threats and made her prone to violence which seemed to be a better explanation to her aggressive and lack of attention to her school work. Dr.Perry concluded that her problems were related to the abuse. Tina wouldn't have ADD, but instead PTSD. During the course of 3 years, Dr.Perry came to believe Tina was improving. There were no more reports of "inappropriate behavior ". Tina was doing her homework ,going to class and had no longer fought other children.Her speech had improved; most of her problems most of her problems were due to the fact that she was very soft spoken were others could not hear her. She had also become more attentive and less impulsive,so rapidly Dr.Perry concluded that medication was unnecessary. Sadly, Tina was caught performing sexual acts on an older boy. Tina had not changed her behavior but learned to better hide her behavioral problems from adults and to control her impulses in order to avoid getting in trouble. On the surface, Tina could make others believe she was overcoming her problems but in reality had not overcome the damage the traumatic events had on her. This story was incredibly tragic story that left me wondering why Tina wasn't actually getting better. With all the Dr.Perry had done to help Tina heal, she had only learned how to hide her sexual activity. I wonder what else could have been done to really get better.
DeleteI think one of the reasons why Tina wasn't getting better was just the misunderstanding of children and how they react to stressful situations in those days. They were seen as resilient and able to "bounce back" from anything, but in Tina's cause that was obviously not what happened. Even with therapy, all she was able to do to help herself was to not get caught. I think if Dr. Perry could've found a way to help her to better understand why what she was doing was wrong, she would've gotten better.
DeleteTina's case made me realize that things that happen to you at younger ages are the hardest to reverse. I always thought younger children weren't affected as much and could just forget about it. Dr. Perry did his best in trying to show her that all male figures aren't bad. I think the best thing for Tina is to have as many positive males in her life so she wont feel the need to engage in sexual activity.
DeleteI never knew how much you actually take in when your younger. Like when when I was four years old I don't remember anything that happened, it just amazes me how much trauma this little girl and her brother most have gone through to be effected like that. Tina's mother should try her best to get a positive male figure into her life to help with her PTSD.
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DeleteI always knew from having little sisters and taking child development classes that children absorb a lot of things when they're younger but you don't really understand how much an even like being raped for two consecutive years, every week as a toddler which are prime time years for the brain to take in information and the information that a toddler will take in during those few years can and will help shape who they are as a person and effect their behavior for the rest of their lives. Such a traumatic event like Tina went through will not be something that she will forget as well as her brother, they may both be in therapy through out their lives and they may always "slack" in some aspects of they're lives. The amount of stress they go through living with their mom who always under stress does not help their case and will make the healing process harder. Tina needs a constant positive male role model in her life to show her that men are not in her life for sexual purposes. I think she also needs strict talk about sexual behavior.
DeleteTina was molested as a child which shows that when someone is younger they are very susceptible to a change in their actions due to their traumatic state. Her actions when encountering males shows that her brain has made a coping mechanism or a way for her to survive the encounter in a sense. She thinks that every male is the same because she learned at a young age what males "want". When a child experiences trauma their brain tries to find a coping mechanism for survival and that in turn can scar the child for the rest of their life. This is very sad but is often found to be true. Even when she underwent therapy and her doctor had thought that she had improved, she had just hidden what she still was doing. She was acting out what she had been taught was okay with a doctor around but when the doctor was gone she resorted to her old way of self survival.
ReplyDeleteI agree and it completely goes along with what Dr.Perry had mentioned at the end of the chapter about "memory templates." Once different stimuli came together, Tina's brain made sense of the situation by relating it to a previous experience, which in the case of Dr. Perry and Tina's first meeting, Tina's brain related it back to the abuse she had experienced in the past.
DeleteAfter Tina was molested, her childhood had changed traumatically. Her brain had put together that males were bad and only wanted one thing instead of males being caring friends who would not want to hurt her. Children's brains are very fragile with what they are exposed to and in Tina's situation it was to much for her to handle. She had no idea as to why that had happened to her and why the males in her life would do that to her. When she had underwent therapy and met with the doctors she seemed to be making progress but as therapy ended she couldn't help but go back to her old habits because it was the only way she knew to survive. Her brain was still very traumatized and she will always have some sort of trauma with her.
ReplyDeleteTina’s World tells the story of a 7 year-old girl, who was sexualy assulted at least once a week for 2 years during her childhood. This trauma endured at such a young age, has changed the makeup of her brain and has caused her to behave in a sexual manner towards men. She has been taught that is what men “want”. In school, her behavior was “aggressive and inappropriate” with classmates, using sexual language and sex play. Dr. Perry explains how stress and trauma abided at a young age, while the brain is still developing, will impact and change the chemistry of the brain, causing many altered receptors, sensitivity, and dysfunction.
ReplyDeleteOther child psychiatrists believed the correct diagnosis for Tina was ADD. However, Dr. Perry did not agree, and knew it was something completely different. Today, he says that it would have been PTSD. At that time, PTSD was not considered a psychological disorder. For three years, Dr. Perry worked with Tina on thinking before she acts and changing her behavior. He worked with her on feeling more confident and helping her behave more appropriately and rationally. After it appeared that Dr. Perry was really helping her, she started to show her inappropriate behavior again. All along, she had been hiding her sexual behavior towards others. She had not overcome the trauma.
Based on a research paper I did on PTSD, I am familiar with the topic. I’ve known that such trauma can cause PTSD and changes in behavior. I find it interesting though, that trauma at such a young age physically changes the chemistry of the brain and will have a long-lasting impact on all four parts of the brain. I also find it interesting that Tina was able to hide her inappropriate behaviors. She did not overcome her trauma even though she may have appeared to. What needs to happen to prevent something like this from being hidden and instead, treated?
I was also wondering how Tina was able to hide her inappropriate behaviors. I believe that in order for Tina to truly get over her trauma she has to openly talk about how she is feeling instead of internalizing her behaviors. A more stable background might also help her in moving on from her past.
DeleteTina may have realized after her therapy sessions that what she was doing was wrong, so it most likely made sense to her that she had to hide what she was doing to prevent being chastised for it.
DeleteI was wondering the same thing. But unfortunately, it is common for people to hide behaviors created from traumatic events in their lives, especially early in them. For example, how many of us would want to expose aspects of past times that have been traumatic or hurtful to us? It is sad but is why the job of a child psychiatrist is so critical and difficult.
DeleteJessica, your statement is so true. It does confuse me why she never got the help she needed. Not to say that Dr.Perry was helping her wrong but instead of analyzing what she had such as (PTSD) and treating that. The thing is it is so much deeper! Dr.Perry should have dug deeper like what you said Jessica. Maybe finding out what she was feeling would have been a better approach.
DeleteI agree with you Sara that Dr. Perry should have dug deeper into what she was feeling instead of just treating the PTSD. The problem is so much more complex than just a disorder. They should have really dug into what she was feeling and how she would be able to handle it.
DeleteTina was traumatized by her childhood. She was molested by her babysitter's son for two years. Since it happened to her while she was so young, she grew up thinking that every man wanted the same thing from her. The first time she came to her therapy session she thought Dr. Perry wanted the same thing as all the other men wanted, so she made a sexual gesture right away.
ReplyDeleteShe started to move away from her inappropriate behavior once she was going to her sessions for three years. Unfortunately, she started to show her inappropriate behavior again because it had impacted her brain so much. For a while she knew how to control her feelings on the outside, but on the inside she felt and thought the same way.
Dr. Perry would label her diagnosis as PTSD. The problem was that her past experiences were stuck in her memory. She was able to better control her stress system which made her resist her urges, but was still traumatized by her past. It's sad that a child so young will be damaged for the rest of her life from something that happened to her that she had no control over.
I wonder if the damage caused by the trauma is the same for every child. Do similar experiences have the same impact on a child's future or does each child determine how much they will let it impact them? Mind over matter is tough when your mind has been traumatized by your past.
DeleteI wonder why trauma causes the brain to act in such defensive ways, yes I understand that it is to protect the person that the brain occupies but it does seem amazing that it can do such crazy things. It is also very hard to grasp the fact that the brain can be taught to counter the way it had previously reacted and act in a new way, such as in Tina's case.
DeleteI wonder if trauma affects those with abnormalities in there brain more than others. Tina had problems sleeping (brainstem), coordination problems (diencephalon and cortex, and speech and language problems (cortex). Could these abnormalities cause her to be effected more by trauma verses if she didn't have these abnormalities.
DeleteEven though Tina was a child when this happened I wonder how it would've affected her if she woulve been older. How would she have reacted if it happened in her teens? Or maybe even her early 30's? The brain deals with things differently at different ages but how i really want to know how she would've reacted to it then.
DeleteDid Dr. Perry every prescribe Tina any medication to help with her PTSD? I've always wonder if she will every grow or learn not that making sexual gestures and be able to focus and pay attention.
DeleteI was wondering the same thing Alicia. Will she grow out of it or will she become worse and not be able to control her gestures? Maybe even get more help and stay seeing that doctor so she doesn't go back to her old habits.
DeleteIt's interesting to see her actions towards men. I would think that going through such trauma would make her afraid of men; instead, she makes sexual gestures towards them. Even though that is what she has been taught, something that traumatizing would be scary. I wonder if she ever feels threatened around men.
DeleteI feel Dr. Perry, even tough a trained psychologist, will have just as great of a learning experience as Tina will. I am wondering what great obstacles Dr. Perry will face.
DeleteTina is a young girl living in the city of Chicago. She has been sexually abused since the age of 4 years old. This sexual abuse lasted 2 years until her mother found out about it.(page 8)Besides her younger brother, Tina didn’t have much for male influences. Tina had no known contact with her father, grandfather, or even an uncle. Her abuser was her babysitter’s son, a young high school student. With no positive male role models in her life, Tina’s ideals of males were surely flawed. She began to think men were after only one thing, sexual acts. These ideals appeared in her first appearance with her counselor Dr. Perry. The first time they were alone together she assumed it was her task to satisfy the counselor sexually.(page 7) These ideals reappeared in school case settings when she was 6 and later in life when she was 10 while attempting to please another male student with fellatio.(page 26) The fundamentals in her brain have been laid down like bricks pieced together. The Doctor pretty much states that you can’t entirely change her train of thought, but you can change some of the ways she behaves. Show her the ability to hide her sexual desires.
ReplyDeleteAs far as treatment goes he could change parts of her overreactive stress response system, but even he admits that this wouldn’t change her memory. At the end he doesn’t really know what to do for her because most of her ideals had been laid in stone. I learned that even psychiatrist learn from their patients and continue to get better at their occupation. I find it a bit “lame” how the story ends. I feel like it ends at a cliffhanger, and I’m intrigued to find out more about this Tina’s story.
I find this whole story quite familiar with another one I had the pleasure of reading. While the story I had the pleasure of reading it involves an orphan boy whose father and mother were murdered. Like Tina, the boy had speech impediments at a young age and they both had apparent abuse. The boy maybe more notable abuse due to a scar that was prominent on his face. The boy had very negative male figures in his life. Just like Tina had few and very negative male figures. The boy later overcame these disadvantages and was called the chosen one.
I like how you mentioned another story that is similar to Tina's. You said that the boy overcame his disadvantages. That is a great ending but a hard ending to achieve. Adults have a hard time overcoming abuse and assaults such as the abuse Tina endured. Tina having this abuse as a child amazes me that she was even able to function after. It's strange how trauma affects others and how others can overcome it but others can't.
DeleteI was wondering if she felt guilty of the things she has done or if she doesn't know what she is doing is wrong? It seems like she doesn't know what is right and what is wrong.
DeleteI do not think she felt guilty because she thought it was okay. She hadn't known anything aside from the things she was taught by those men, so she assumed that it was normal. Her brain developed in a way that told her it was okay. That was why she had relapsed, her brain was too deeply imprinted with the traumas she had faced when she was younger.
DeleteIt baffles me too, how many people have a conscience of right and wrong and others don't see that. Others don't feel guilty for their wrongful actions. I wonder how they see the world because? Me, having a conscience, I do see right from wrong. I would like to see the difference in the brain from when someone who has a conscience of right and wrong and someone who doesn't see right from wrong often. I am very curious about that.
DeleteAm I catching a Harry Potter reference at the end?
DeleteAs a child, Tina was molested by her babysitter's son. For two years, nobody else knew that this was going on until Tina's mother found out and finally put a stop to it. By this time, however, it was much too late. Since Tina had minimal interaction with males outside of her molester and her younger brother (who had also been molested), it was forever engraved into her brain that all men wanted sex from her. This is clearly seen when she met with Dr. Perry for the first time and instantly assumed he wanted sex from her. After talking with fellow professionals, and years of counseling, it seems like Dr. Perry has reversed the trauma. However, when Tina later continued with her inappropriate behavior, Dr. Perry realized he had only taught her to hide it.
ReplyDeleteDr. Perry later said her condition was PTSD. There wasn't really much else he could have done to undo what had traumatized her. Tina would have to live the rest of her life concealing the stress from the trauma.
I do not agree that people with PTSD should hide their condition because by hiding it they can't get the help they need. By Tina learning how to hide it better, she was able to fool everyone. I feel that if she had received the proper care right from the beginning, she would have been able to open up more about the PTSD.
DeleteTina is a seven year old girl who was sexually assaulted by her babysitter's son for two years. Tina and her younger brother, who was also begin abused, did not tell anyone and the abuse went unnoticed until Tina's mother found out and stopped sending her children to the babysitter. Tina's mother also was unmarried and brought strange men in to the house who would sometimes abuse her. Tina developed an understanding that all men are bad and out to hurt her or her mother.
ReplyDeleteTina is afraid of men now and Dr. Perry is trying to break the theory that trauma on a child's brain does not impact them in the future.
Dr. Perry discusses how by just coloring with Tina and asking her questions about herself has made an impact in how she interacts with males.He works with her and realizes that a child who was abused can have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is a major breakthrough in the field because it was previously believed that children could not have PTSD. Dr. Perry tries to treat Tina by just talking with her, helping her associate men as not all bad, and using techniques from other professionals. After years of this treatment Dr. Perry thinks that he is making a breakthrough with Tina but sadly she only learned how to hide her inappropriate behavior and continues it at school.
I find it interesting that the trauma Tina experienced had such an impact on all four parts of her brain. Even years after counseling and help all Tina was still not able to overcome what she had experienced at four years old. Dr. Perry having such a moral issue with driving his patient home was also interesting, I was unsure why outside interaction would be such a bad thing.
I think the outside interaction part you mentioned has something to do with doctors overstepping their bounds in their patients' lives outside of their office. Sort of like in the movie Sybil. Her doctor was very involved in her outside life and Sybil sort of became dependent on her. But I guess that's sort of the problem with being a doctor.
DeleteI thought it was different that outside interaction was not recommended. In Dr. Perry's case where he saw his patient and the family everyday freezing you would think that it would be alright helping the family out.
DeleteEven though the time Perry had spent trying to help Tina did not stop her sexual actions, that is not to say that she will never overcome this behavior. It may possibly change with continued and repetitive counseling.
DeleteAlso, the outside interaction has a few sides to it. Like you and I, we were unsure why it was such a bad thing. It was morally correct for him to help them. But like Renee said, it was a bounds thing between patient and doctor. But maybe in his situation he handled it at a good balance. It all depends on the individual situation.
I believe Dr. Perry did the right thing in his situation by giving the family a ride home. I do however think outside interaction with a patient can be harmful to a particular case. I also find it shocking that after all the counseling, Tina continued her inappropriate behavior.
DeleteI think it was great that he gave the family a ride home but since he is Tina's doctor he shouldn't have. It is kinda of a 50/50 subject. It's something that you don't hear of often
DeleteI can understand how Dr. Perry was questioning giving the family a ride home, I'm glad he did because I feel like that was the right thing to do. Outside interaction with doctor and patient can be a not so good thing depending on the situation, and what the case is.
DeleteHe still did the right thing. Even if his job wouldn't allow it. That's what nice people do. At least the family knows that someone cares about them. Even outside the office.
DeleteI feel as though the part of the book in which Dr. Perry talks about helping Tina’s family, while it coincides with Renee's views, was also a dig on Dr. Stine's thought that it could be "resistance" as the family stopped being late after moving closer (Pg 18). He's showing that psychiatrists need to not always be so analytical and cutthroat when it comes to their patients in a way that makes it clear without completely insulting that school of thought.
DeleteI think that the outside interaction was very helpful in this case; not only was it a kind thing to do but it helped him to understand and learn things about his patient that he other wise would have never found out.
DeleteI find it crazy that she was only four when she was sexually abused, yet it managed to change the way she thinks for life. She probably doesn't even remember exactly what happened. She just knows that it caused her to think that all men want sex from her.
DeleteDr. Perry's first real case dealing with the psychology of a child begins with 7-year-old Tina. Her mother brought her to see the doctor due to her inappropriate aggression and sexual behavior toward other students and men. She exhibited other issues in the classroom, such as problems paying attention and following directions. Only a small bit of information was presented to Dr. Perry, and explained a two year period of sexual abuse executed by a former babysitter's son. Tina had experienced the abuse from ages 4 to 6.
ReplyDeleteUpon first interactions with Tina, Dr. Perry observed how timid and cautious she was. After their first visit, the doctor reported to his supervisor, Dr. Stine, explaining the symptoms and behaviors Tina presented. Suggesting the use of the DSM, Dr. Stine jumped to the conclusion that Tina showed signs of having attention deficit disorder (ADD).
With many children being diagnosed ADD or ADHD, Dr. Perry did not believe Tina suffered from either. A stimulant such as Ritalin would not cure the child of the trauma and memories she suffered not so long ago. Dr. Perry slowly went about his meetings with Tina, observing her at her own pace and picking things up as they went along and had instead made an official diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The field of neuropsychology had yet to find many cases dealing with children. Dr. Perry, however, found that many of Tina's symptoms had shown correlation with disfunction in many parts of the brain, particularly parts dealing with stress and stress response. Certain triggers set off strange stress responses that others labeled as her aggression and inappropriate sexual actions. Associations made when she was younger still applied to her life later on, causing her to act out. While she improved in school, many of her behaviors had remained. Nevertheless, a new discovery on child psychology and its relationship with functions of the brain had been made.
I really admire Dr.Perry because he didn't just jump to conclusions like Dr. Stine did, be he instead looked for another answer. His view on psychology is what the common view should be, which is caring and compassionate, not mechanized and controlling. If Dr.Perry had simply jumped to conclusions, who knows how Tina would've reacted, but we know for a fact now, that that would've been the wrong answer.
DeleteDr. Perry had helped Tina with some of the issues in her life and in school. Tina had forever been traumatized with the encounter she had when she was four and it will be embedded in her memory forever. Dr. Perry had done more research than he needed, he could have taken Dr. Stine's opinion and said she had ADD but he didn't and had looked into it further.
DeleteTina's World is a story about Dr. Perry's first patient in child psychiatry. Tina was just seven years old when she first started treatment. She was brought to the doctor due to the school she attended insisting her to get evaluated. Tina was said as being aggressive and inappropriate to fellow classmates. She had trouble paying attention and refused to follow directions. Dr. Perry was given the information that Tina and her younger brother had been molested for a two-year period that started when she was four and ended at age six when her mother found about it. The perpetrator was the babysitter's sixteen year old son. Tina grew up to think all males wanted was sexual interactions.
ReplyDeleteAs this being Dr. Perry's first patient he consults with two other psychiatrists, his supervisors. The first one, Dr. Stine after hearing Tina's symptoms and how her first interaction was with Dr. Perry came to the conclusion she had meet all criteria for Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD). Dr. Perry knew there was more to her condition and that a medication like Ritalin would not solve the problem. The second one being Dr. Dyrud agreed with Dr. Perry and said he needs to get to know more about her life and not focus on just her symptoms. Dr. Perry did just that and came to the conclusion that her symptoms were a result of developmental trauma. Instead of labeling her with ADD, it would fit better to say she has post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD).
After working with Tina for three years he is thinking he has made a breakthrough, sadly to only find out she has only learned how to hide her inappropriate behavior when it continues at school. I find it interesting that even after Dr. Perry tried to associate males as not only wanting sexual interaction the memory Tina first had with males can never be changed. It is amazing to think that the memories you encounter in your younger years are the ones that stick in your brain and are nearly impossible to reverse.
I think that it was really terrible for that Tina had to go through that, I think it was really great that her mother took the time to take her to the doctor even though it was difficult at times to get her there. Even though she started acting inappropriate again at school, I really do think that she made some progress. I also think that it was very interesting that Tina's prospective on men never changed after Dr. Perry worked with her for 3 years.
DeleteI feel like Dr.Perry should have done his treatment differently to help Tina cope with males in her life. She still didn't have any positive male influences in her life and he should have worked harder to get her more comfortable with males and not just thinking they want some kind of sexual request. That the events that happened at the end of the chapter would have never happened.
Delete@Colton I feel as though Dr. Perry isn't completely to blame. Dr. Dyrud and Dr. Stine, more experienced doctors, should have been there to help him. Or perhaps the entire psychiatric way of doing things is at fault, more conversing between doctors so as to allow a flow of information and make sure that no stone is left unturned. I do agree though, had Tina's case been handled with more care, the ending could have been avoided.
DeleteTina's story is a sad but true reality. She was sexually abused for about two years when she was young. It was committed by her babysitter's son. This repetitive event impacted her behavior immensely. She was performing sexual play and using sexual language, attacked other children, couldn't pay attention or follow directions in school, (pg 7), and even began to play sexually with her younger brother. These are only a few of the many impacts of the abuse.
ReplyDeleteHe describes the changes in her brain as a product of her environment. She repeatedly was abused by most likely the only male she came in close contact with and therefore the association of males wanting only sex as "normal" to her brain. Because all brains associate certain things as normal (pg 29).
However, he finally diagnosed her with PTSD and not the former thought of ADD.
He had attempted to treat Tina with common conversation and everyday play during her session in order for her to learn common and good behavior that she had not learned from her own household. The outer result was correction to her behavior and attention in school, however, she was only hiding her continual sexual actions.
I thought it was interesting that the human brain is so complex (pg 21), it is a miracle that people function properly and often avoid the countless things that could go wrong in the intricate organ that is our brain. It was also interesting, given people are so impacted by their memories of events in their lives (pg 30), that the majority of people turn out morally and psychologically normal due to the many events that could occur to any given individual. Numerous events could impact someone badly. I also learned that when attempting to diagnose patients, like Perry did, it is best to find a balance between the ideas you were taught and exploring new ways of looking at situations. Because not all patients can be diagnosed from just one angle.
I think the worst part is that she had began the sexual play with her brother. She didn't even realize the difference between a sexually driven older man and her young brother. She didn't know better because it was the only thing she had ever known. I wonder if, after therapy, she began to see her brother as someone who loved her because she was family, and not simply because he wanted something from her.
DeleteI had been wondering that too... Could Tina, after going through all of that ever truly have a healthy relationship with any of the males, like her brother, in her life?
DeleteI think it's important to remember that Michael (Tina's brother) was abused too. We don't know exactly what Tina and Michael were doing other than having "sexualized play (Pg 13). Michael is also younger than Tina so, I feel as though these "play" sessions were more of a way for them to work out what had happened to them, a sort of coping mechanism. I would have liked to see some sort of therapy between the two siblings, they were victims together and I wonder if that could have helped at all.
DeleteI also feel that, with proper treatment, a healthy relationship is achievable. Tina has a lot to work through and, while she'll always be damaged, that doesn't mean she can't find the right help and learn better ways of coping. While it’s very likely Tina fell through the cracks, it is possible that she made it out of the rabbit hole and found some semblance of a healthy relationship. Perhaps she and her brother found a way out together, maybe to help their hardworking mother and their impressionable younger sibling.
Tina is a young African American girl who was Dr. Perry’s first patient in child psychiatry. She lived a hard life consisting of a one room apartment shared by her family and being sexually assaulted by her 16 year old next door neighbor. Experiencing stress like being assaulted for two years so early on left its toll on Tina. I was Dr. Perry’s job to try to help Tina live a norma life despite her early trauma.
ReplyDeleteTina’s experience left her with many troubling side effects. She exposed herself to her classmates, she attacked them, and used sexual language to try to engage them in sex play. Tina also did not pay attention in class and often did not follow directions. After much speculation Dr. Perry arrived at the conclusion that Tina’s symptoms suggested abnormalties in almost all parts of the brain. With therapy Dr. Perry tried to show Tina how to behave in certain situations he created a safe environment where Tina could just be a kid. Just before Dr. Perry moved jobs he was disappointed to hear that Tina was caught performing sexual acts on an older boy at school.
Why is it that Tina relapsed after years of therapy? Dr. Perry said he tried to regulate her stress system. This could not however solve her biggest problem, her unhealthy sexual behaviors. He could try to help her stress response but could not erase her memory. Since Tina was so young when she was abused her brain began to believe that in the presence of a male they wanted sexual activities. As time passed her brain continued to believe this. Tina’s brain suffered from the constant abuse as a young girl and her memory has shaped her actions toward men. Trauma causes the brain to shape itself to survive Tina did what she had to, to survive her abuse and this has had lasting effects into adolescence and into adulthood.
Despite Dr. Perry's efforts to help Tina live a "normal life" I don't think it would have ever been possible. He could help her manage her feelings or actions in a more adequate manner, however, he could never help her erase those memories. They will be a part of Tina forever despite the counseling and therapy. I think it was his job to help Tina control her actions and give her a different escape, because I do not think he could give her the normal life he wanted her to have.
DeleteAfter traumas happen, no one will be able to get over what happened. They will constantly think about it. They can cope with it, but they will never live the same way again. Yes, therapy helps them cope with it, but it's not to help them live the normal life.
DeleteTina and her younger brother, Michael, were both molested. Tina’s brain was still developing because she was only four years old at the time. She saw all men the same, as sexual predators. She didn’t have a father, a grandfather, an uncle, or any older brothers to look up to. Tina only had her mother Sara, and Sara’s inappropriate boyfriends and her babysitter’s son who raped her. To her all men wanted the same thing, sex. When Tina met Dr. Perry she thought he wanted the same thing every other man wanted, so she made a sexual gesture towards him.
ReplyDeleteAfter three years Dr. Perry was relieved and delighted by the apparent progress she made. Tina had no more reports from school, her speech improved, and she was more attentive and less impulsive. Tina started guiding their play. He still taught her lessons that would help her feel more confident out in the world. Unfortunately, Tina was caught performing fellatio on an older boy at school. Dr. Perry thought he was teaching her to change her behavior but instead he taught her to better hide her sexual activity and control her impulses to hide from teachers and adults.
I'm not sure Dr. Perry taught Tina to hide her sexual activities and control her impulses. She already came to him knowing how to hide certain behavior with males. That's the hard part about Psychology, especially dealing with children. I think sometimes they struggle to communicate what they are feeling and instead it is easier for them to hide behind the problems they have. Tina did exactly this by realizing that she couldn't make sexual advances to Dr. Perry after the first time she tried so instead she showed the behavior he was looking for but was never ready to change her unacceptable behavior with other males.
DeleteI think he should have tried to do something to show her that not all men are there for sex. yes he did help solve many other problems she came in with but I think the biggest one was still left untreated. I do believe that she had the understanding that her sexual behavior was not right but she didn't know what else to do, she was not taught any other coping mechanisms so she went back to doing the only thing she knew how.
DeleteIt was sad that Tina didn't have any good male role models in her life to look up to so it was easy to see why she thought all males were the same and were only after one thing. I thought it was interesting watching the progress they did make, but it was unfortunate that she was still hiding some of those same behaviors he thought had gone away. I don't think it was because Dr. Perry was failing her. I think she was sticking to her old ways because the amount of time she spent in therapy couldn't just erase those memory templates that were engraved into her brain at such a young age.
DeleteI wonder if it would've been different for Tina if she had some kind of male role model in her life. Would she have been as traumatized as she was? I also wonder how she learned to hide her feelings/gestures. It's sad to know that they did not disappear, but had just been hidden.
DeleteLooking back at the case now, I wonder what Dr. Perry could have done to make the treatment more effective. If he strongly felt that ADD was not the correct diagnosis, why didn't he do further research or treat her in a more appropriate manner? Today, we have ways to treat PTSD and symptoms like the ones in Tina's case. However, just like it was stated in the book, the trauma will never completely go away. The individual will always be affected by it in some way.
DeleteAs a result of her childhood traumas, Tina's brain developed in a way that was abnormal compared to other children her age. Because she had been sexually abused by men who were close to her, she grew up thinking that all men wanted from her was sexual attention. She never knew a man who didn't want these things, so her natural response to men was to be sexual.
ReplyDeleteI think that children are not able to "bounce back" easily as one man had said to Dr. Perry because their brains are developing in many ways and the things that they experience when they are young are what shapes their brain as they grow up. For instance, if a child is taught from a young age to be polite towards their parents and elders, they will continue to be throughout their lives. On the other hand, if the parent does not teach their child the life skills they need, or if they are exposed to trauma without psychiatric help, they will grow up to behave in peculiar ways to different situations.
My question is why Tina had never received any psychiatric help when she needed it most. Did anybody know of her situation? Her mother perhaps? She should have been given help at the right time instead of later when it was perhaps too late.
Her mother had only found out after the damage had been done. And even then, no one could have really known about it unless Tina said more. It's also not completely true that children can't bounce back easily. Just as children can be damaged, they can be more easily fixed as well. If Tina had gotten help, say, 10 years later, it would've been much harder to get to the root of any problems she was facing at the time. She was actually pretty lucky to have been able to see a doctor so soon afterward.
DeleteAlthough I agree that Tina should have been given help early on, her family was going through rough times and as Dr. Perry saw they were not exactly the most well-off family. I think her mother wanted Tina to improve, but was just unable to do so because they were so poor.
DeleteTina's situation may have been amplified by the fact that she grew up around a poor environment. In addition to the trauma of being molested, she lived in a poor neighborhood and was raised by a single mother making minimum wage. She had little positive male influences. Although I do not think these complications held Tina's mother back from trying to get her children the best care that she could. She got them help and found a way to make time to bring Tina to the doctor, even when it was inconvenient.
DeleteThe situation was not made known of until long after it had started occuring, so the damage was done long before they found out about the trauma. I also feel as though a lack of funds kept them from bringing her to the clinic, as well as her mother could also be a stubborn parent. This is because they could have brought her in, but it was by the school's request that they brought her in. There could be multiple reasons why she didn't bring her in when she needed it.
DeleteTina and her brother were both molested by their babysitter's son for two years. She did not tell anyone, but eventually her mom found out and put a stop to it. She only lived with her mother, and the only men that she knew were the men her mom brought home and the boy who molested her. She began to believe that all men wanted was sex. When she met Dr. Perry, she made a sexual gesture towards him because she thought that he only wanted sex from her too. Dr. Perry talks to two of his supervisors to try to find out what she has. The first one, Dr. Stine, believed that she had Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) after hearing her symptoms. The second one, Dr. Dyrud, said that Dr. Perry should get to know about her life more before diagnosing her. After getting to know her, he diagnosed her with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
ReplyDeleteAfter three years of working with Tina, Dr. Perry was happy with the progress. Later, Tina was caught performing sexual acts on an older boy at school. He found that he taught her how to control her stress and resist urges, but she was still traumatized. I find it interesting that something like this can have such a huge impact on the brain, especially in children.
I agree, I found it interesting how Dr. Perry and his supervisor discussed the different levels of trauma and the effects on an individual depending on the age and the specific period of development of that individuals brain.
DeleteI agree too, I thought it was strange that the first supervisor didn't really look at what had happened to Tina or her situation, he just matched up some different symptoms and thought that all the she needed was to be prescribed a medication to recover
DeleteI wonder if her brother was ever diagnosed with anything, or if he ever reacted the same way as Tina did. I agree also on how Dr. Stine was so quick to label Tina of having ADD, without going fully in depth.
DeleteDr. Perry was given a particularly difficult task in a field very few seemed to actually understand at a very early point in his career. Tina, one of the first few children Dr. Perry came to help in his career, confused him and intrigued him very early on in their sessions. With a history of acting out in school, inability to focus, and disturbing sexual abuse, Dr. Perry was unsure what to expect of the child and how to help her. Their first interaction was at first what one would expect from a child, but later escalated when she tried to perform a sexual act on Dr. Perry himself. Perry decided to get an opinion from a more experienced colleague in the field, but was disappointed when all he did was chop Tina’s symptoms up to ADD. However, deciding that Tina’s problems were much more complicated, Perry decided to take a different approach, and at first it seemed to be working. She was focusing more in school, and the sexual acts were becoming much more infrequent. Unfortunately, the sessions didn’t necessarily help Tina improve in her trauma, but informed her that the sexual acts were “wrong” - if you didn’t do it privately and didn’t get caught. This was discovered when an older boy was found coercing Tina to perform sexual acts on him.
ReplyDeleteI feel like children are such a delicate subject in the field of psychology because instead of having an adult who knows what they’re doing is wrong and unhealthy, for a child its all they know, and therefore must be right in a sense. They become confused when they learn that, in Tina’s case, her entire sense of life and opinion on men are “wrong”. Dr. Perry will have to go about Tina’s PTSD differently than how patients with PTSD are generally treated because unlike the adults who underwent a traumatic experience, this is the only life Tina has really known.
As Dr. Perry first becomes a child psychiatrist, his first patient was a young girl named Tina. As a child, she was sexually abused by her babysitter's son multiple times. This lasted close to 2 years until Tina's mother walked in on what was happening. She never allowed that family to babysit for them again. These experiences permanently traumatized Tina to the point of no return. Tina was exposing herself to other boys in school and saying inappropriate things to her classmates. She also got to the point where she was not focusing and was not doing her schoolwork. The reason she came to the child psychiatrist is because her school made a request to her mom. As she came to Dr. Perry for the first time, her first impression on Dr. Perry was resting on his lap. She curled in a ball, which created a feeling of love and welcoming to Dr. Perry, but as she was in the ball, she reaches for his zipper and tries to open it. This makes Dr. Perry realize that what he was getting into was much more than he expected.
ReplyDeleteOver the next few years, Dr. Perry had multiple sessions with Tina, playing games and drawing pictures, while at the same time talking to her and getting her past her childhood issues. One day when Tina came to see him, they did their normal routine, and after the fact, Dr. Perry saw them standing in the rain waiting for the bus. One of the things Dr. Perry learned in school was to never interfere with patients outside of the medical room. Dr. Perry saw them standing outside and thought that it was just a kind thing to do. He still couldn't get himself to do it, because he didn't want to interfere with the process; however, he promised himself that if the same thing happened again, that he would give them a ride. The same situation happened again and he gave them a ride home. This very much strengthened the relationship between him and the family. It also showed Tina that men can have a kind heart and are not out for sexual pleasure.
Dr. Perry finally diagnosed Tina with a disease and it was PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. At first he and his coworkers thought it was ADD or ADHD, but after further research, he concluded it was PTSD. However, after years of sessions, Tina's progress had improved greatly. There were no more attentive or focus issues in school, public exposures, or reports from the school. Dr. Perry was very impressed and proud of her progress until one day he got a call from the school saying Tina was caught performing fellatio on an older boy at school. He realized that what he taught Tina was not to stop doing these actions, what he taught Tina on accident was to better hide her sexual activities and to control her sexual actions so that adults and teachers would not see and so she could avoid getting in trouble.
Tina's story is a sad story of a little girl that was innocent, and then became a victim of molestation. It was never her fault, but it affected her for the rest of her life.
This will affect how she looks at life. She will always see life differently. She won't ever be the same innocent girl. She will be hurt for the rest if her life. It's sad that bad things happen to the young and innocent.
DeleteTina, along with her younger brother, was molested by their babysitter's son at least once a week for two years. When she was seven, she started seeing Dr. Perry for therapy. Dr. Perry felt unprepared and initially did not know how to deal with Tina. Eventually, they got to know each other while playing games and coloring. He thought he had made so much progress with her until he found out Tina was still doing a lot of the same things, but she was just better at hiding them now. However, they did see improvement in other areas such as paying attention in class, doing her work, and showing less aggression towards classmates.
ReplyDeleteI found many things very interesting as I read this chapter. One of the things that really caught my attention was Tina saying, "If I grow up" when asked what she wants to become or do in the future. Another matter I found interesting was Dr. Perry giving Tina's family a ride to the store and to their apartment. Although it broke some rules, he felt the need to do it out of the kindness in his heart. One more little thing that I noticed was the differences between the other doctors that Dr. Perry went to for advice and different views on the situation. Dr. Stine loved to stick to the book and relied on medication to solve the kids' problems. On the other hand, Dr. Dyrud was more sensible, and it always seemed like he knew the right thing to do by just listening. Dr. Dyrud was a little more willing to stray away from the books and try new methods.
This was obviously not the easiest thing I have ever read, and this was only the first chapter. It's hard to imagine anybody, especially children, going through something this traumatic. I'm wondering what would have happened if Tina's abuser had been discovered earlier. Would that have made a difference for Tina later on or were those memory templates in her brain created so early on that her behavior would not have been affected? Another thing that I found troubling is what happened to the teenage boy who abused Tina and her brother. I understand that he was only 16 so jail was probably not an option, but was there not a better way to punish him for what he did to those children? Why was he simply placed in therapy rather than a correctional facility or something similar? Finally, has Dr. Perry set a good enough example so Tina will see that not all males expect sex from her or her mother? Over their three years together, did he help her enough that some, if not all, of her inappropriate behaviors will eventually fade? If not, what will it take to help Tina cope and make better decisions instead of continuing to live the way she is and just hiding it?
I also found it interesting that the two Doctors he consulted had such varying opinions on diagnosis and treatment. It is kind of worrisome for the new students to know what is the correct thing to do when the mentors do not agree.
DeleteIt was also very notable on the relationship between Dr. Dyrud and Dr. Perry, they seemed to bond better and have better conversations. Even when Dr. Perry broke the rules and gave Tina's family a ride, Dr. Dyrud was very understanding and knew that it was the kind thing to do. They both realized that may have helped Tina as well because she realized not all men are sex animals.
DeleteTina was traumatized as a child by being sexually abused by her neighbor/babysitter. It al started when she was age four she was sexually abused for two years. Tina is an African American girl who has a younger brother that was also sexually abused, and an infant brother. Their mother works a lot to cover all the bills because the father is not involved.
ReplyDeleteAfter being sexually abused, Tina would act sexual at school and in public towards other people and children. Since her abuser was a male, she thinks every male wants sex from either her or her mother. Tina's symptoms suggested that in almost all of the parts of her brain, there were abnormalities.She had some problems in her brain stem which included sleep and attention problems. She also has difficulties with fine motor control and coordination (diencephalon and cortex), very clear social, relational delays, and deficits (limbic and cortex), she also has speech and language problems which happens in the cortex.
Tina was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD).
After Dr. Perry worked with Tina for three years, she had made a lot of progress. There were no more reports of Tina having "inappropriate" behavior at school. She was becoming a nice girl that did good in school, and got along with the other children. Dr. Perry would use every opportunity he could to teach her a lesson. Tina did fall back into the wrong footsteps again, but then she got right back on track.
I learned that as such a young child and traumatized, that it could possibly could stay with you for years later. I found it very interesting that Tina reacted that way after being abused.
It is interesting to see how events can cause so much damage to the brain, and therefor lead to many problems later on in life. It is sad that Tina faces these traumas as a child, because the brain is growing during this period and more damage can be caused.
DeleteTina is a young seven year old who lives in Chicago with her mother and two younger brothers. Her mother provides for everything with no father around. In her record prior to seeing Dr. Perry it stated that she had been “aggressive and inappropriate” with her classmates. It is very sad the first time they meet in his office. Dr. Perry then learns that she was sexually assaulted and abused from the ages four to six along with one of her younger brothers from their babysitter/neighbor. Due to those traumatic instances she associates every male with the need for sex. It is thought that she has issues with almost every part of the brain from social problems to language issues. She is first thought to have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) but is later diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dr. Perry then works with Tina for three years and she does much better in school with her behavior with only a few relapses. This story has taught me that what children do and learn at a young age will determine their thought process from right and wrong for the rest of their lives unless intervened. It is incredibly devastating for children after they have been abused. This story was very interesting due to the way Tinas behavior was when she got older.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was sad how many different areas of her brain were affected due to the abuse. It was also depressing to find out that she also associated all male figures with the need for sex. On a brighter note, I thought it was cool that they changed her diagnosis to PTSD after spending more time with her rather than sticking with their original ADD diagnosis. It was neat to see the progress they made with her, even with the occasional relapse.
DeleteTina's world is a about a seven year old living in chicago. When she was younger her and her little brother were both molested by their babysitters son. Since Tina's mother was very poor she couldn't afford a good babysitter so she always asked her neighbor. Tina started acting inappropriate at school so the teachers recommended she see a therapist. Giving Tina's past Dr.Perry wasn't expecting what Tina would bring to him. On their first session Dr.Perry thought Tina was just being nice but then he tried to get sexual with him. Dr.Perry was very confused by this and asked another doctor for help. They weren't much help though considering all they wanted to do was diagnose Tina with ADD. Dr.Perry knew it was something else, one night he gave the family a ride home and saw the apartment that the family lived in. Little by little Dr.Perry got to know Tina and little by little she started to get better. He finally diagnosed her with PTSD. He figured the stress Tina faced during her developmental stages affected her now. Tina seemed on her way to recovery when she had another incident. This story is heartbreaking to know that a child is like this because some there sick individual. Something that happened so early in Tina's life is going to last with her forever.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a good thing for Dr. Perry to give them a ride home that night. He learned more about Tina than he would've at one of his therapy sessions. Some people may disagree and say it was against his ethics, but in the end it helped. I also agree that it's heartbreaking to know that Tina has PTSD because of some other sick person.
DeleteIt is incredibly sad that this had to happen to such a young person or any one at all. It will be with her for the rest of her life but hopefully she will be able to live normally and have a better full-filling life.
DeleteTina is an African American girl who comes from a family of four which includes her mom and two younger brothers. When Tina was four, she and her younger brother Michael were both sexually abused by their babysitter's son. These horrific acts went on for two years before it was discovered and stopped. As a result of this tragic experience, Tina acted out in a sexual way anytime a male figure was near her. As his first child patient, Dr. Perry was not quite sure how to treat Tina and he needed to consult with two of his supervisors. It was very clear that both doctors had a different style of treatment. The question was which style was going to work for Tina?
ReplyDeleteOne supervisor, Dr. Stine, instructed Dr. Perry to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual by comparing Tina's symptoms to various disorders in the manual to reach a diagnosis. However, when Dr. Perry did this he had a gut feeling the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) was not correct. He then consulted with Dr. Dyrud who instructed Dr. Perry to get to know Tina more which would help him diagnose and treat her. Dr. Perry was more comfortable with this method and he even broke rules such as giving her family a ride home so he could learn more about Tina and her life. She was the victim of not only sexual abuse at a very young age but also poverty and some neglect from a single mother forced to work many hours to make ends meet. Dr. Perry's therapy with Tina continued for three years and it appeared he was making progress with her based on her behavior but this did not last and Tina was once again caught perfoming a sex act on a classmate.
This was a very sad story that unfortunately happens much to often to children like Tina and her brother. I think she was very lucky because they are victims of sexual abuse where the abuse is never discovered and because they are too afraid to tell anyone they live their life with no help at all while the effects of the abuse mess up their childhood, future relationships and the way they parent their own children. I also think this story reminds us that psychology especially with children is not an exact science and each case is unique where the ultimate goal is to help the child feel safe again and realize it wasn't their fault.
I agree that Tina was very lucky to have received the treatment she did. It is still very sad that these time of incidents are not uncommon.
DeleteTina's case of sexual abuse is an example of how impressionable children are. She mistakenly understands from her encounters with men that all they want is sex from her. In Tina's mind, this is completely logical because every interaction she has had with men has ended up in the same way, either sex with her, or sex with her mother, Sara. (Pg. 8)
ReplyDeleteOf course children are smart, but they need to be taught how to be smart. For example, Tina was able to piece together that men wanted sex from her, without anybody flat out saying it, but she unable to distinguish between this idea or "memory template" from the actual world. If Tina was taught to understand that her experience with men was wrong, and that isn't actually how it happens (or that it shouldn't happen), she could be taught to possibly lead a different life that allows her to separate herself from her trauma, and the real world.
I also loved that we read this chapter first, because it introduces Dr. Perry and his take on child psychiatry. He seems like a level-headed man whose only goal is to help his patients. I also love that he didn't jump to conclusions and simply prescribe a medicine, he instead attempted to find out more about Tina and looked for better solutions.
I love the way he wrote it as well. He writes in a way where you could know nothing about psychology and relate to what he is talking about. He comes off as a normal guy that's just trying to stay afloat at a new job.
DeleteMy favorite part of the whole chapter is when he's describing his conversations with Dr. Stine.
"... nodding as if what he was saying was clearing things up for me: 'Ah, yes. OK. Well, I'll keep that in mind.' But really I was thinking, 'What the hell is he talking about?' "
Tina is a young African American girl who was molested as a young child along with her younger brother. Tina's brother and her grew up in a poor neighborhood in Chicago,Illinois. They were constantly molested by their babysitters son and kept this a secret until one day their mother caught him in the act. Tina was traumatized by all these events and started to act up in school and act inappropriately towards other students(males). Teachers noticed this and requested for Tina to get help from a psychiatrist. Tina's mother brought her to Dr.Perry where he worked with Tina, his first child patient of his career in helping Tina get better. He didn't know how to treat Tina so he seeked help of his two supervisors. Where they gave him guidance and instruction to start of Tina's treatment.
ReplyDeleteDr.Perry Starts Tina's treatment by playing games or coloring with her while asking questions about her life and behaviors. Tina regularly comes to Dr.Perry once a week for an hour session. Her mother and her 3 children take three buses to get there and are sometimes late for her appointments. The mother is always working and trying to support her three children by herself so doesn't regularly get sit down with her children and see them but these sessions let her do that. Dr.Perry learns more and more about Tina every week and one cold winter night he gave Tina and her family a ride to get grocery's and home and learned more about Tina in that one trip then he has in all the sessions combined. Over time Dr.Perry learns that Tina does not have ADD but PTSD from all the traumatic events in her life.
Three years have passed now and Dr.Perry believes Tina is almost all better. She is doing her school work for the first time. Not acting up in class and listening to the teachers. She speaks up now and doesn't talk quietly and you can understand her speech now. She is no longer impulsive and thinks before she speaks now. But sadly one day Dr.Perry learned of Tina performing sexual acts to an older boy at her school. He concludes that Tina was not cured but was covering it up all along on the outside but in the inside she was still recovering from those traumatic events in her life. Dr.Perry should have done more test to see if Tina was actually better or not some kinda of surveys on how she feels on subjects. He didn't teacher how to get better from all of this but how to hide it.
It's interesting how Dr. Perry learned the most about Tina when he gave her family a ride to get groceries and home, even though therapists weren't supposed to interact with the family outside of the sessions. Perhaps outside interaction with the patients should be considered more important and used more often.
DeleteThis makes me wonder who decided that it was unethical to visit a patient outside of sessions? Ethics is obviously an unwritten rule book professionals must follow; however, why would one think that this is unethical? Of course there is line that you wouldn't cross in these situations, but in order to treat anyone psychologically, they must learn how the patient's brain performs In a familiar environment. They attempt to do this by filling pediatric offices with toys and coloring books, in order to make the environment as familiar as possible. An everyday setting would be ideal in order to treat a young patient.
DeleteTina's view of the world changed drastically when she was repeatedly molested for two years by her sixteen year old, male babysitter. Because this was mainly Tina's only contact with men other than her mother's often inappropriate boyfriends, it was set into her brain that it was normal to only have sexual interactions with men. Tina never had a positive male role in her life, her only experience was of abuse, and as a result, her young brain learned that that men wanted sex and to hurt her, so when she met Dr. Perry, she assumed that was what he wanted. Dr. Perry worked with Tina for three years, and while she appeared to be making progress, she was really only hiding her trauma. This shows us that trauma or stress, especially during early development, can significantly impact the way a person views and reacts to people and situations for the rest of their life.
ReplyDeleteTina was molested for about a two year period, which started when she was four and ended when she was six, by her sixteen year old male babysitter. Tina is now aggressive and impulsive at school; she thinks that all males she encounters only want one thing from her or her mother which is sex.
ReplyDeleteTina suffered from many changes in her brain do to the trauma she endured which are, she suffers from sleep and attention problems, difficulties with fine motor control and coordination, clear social and relational delays and deficits, and speech and language problems. Tina has PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. Tina must go to Dr. Perry’s office for an hour a day to help with the PTSD, the results did not work effectively because she got caught at age 10 performing fellatio on an older boy that goes to the same school, all that Dr. Perry taught her was to control her impulsiveness so she won’t get into trouble.
No matter how much you help somebody and try to change them, they’ll always have that memory of that certain event in their mind. I found Tina’s story interesting in the way she thinks about males, that no matter how old they were she was willing to do whatever with them.
The book begins with Dr. Perry’s first patient in child psychiatry. Dr. Perry knew little about his patient. Tina was six years old and came from a poor neighborhood of Chicago. Her and her brother had been sexually abused by their babysitter’s son for about two years. She was referred to see a psychiatrist by her school. The school claimed that Tina did not cooperate and was unruly. She often had inappropriate behavior. After Dr. Perry’s first session with the little girl, it was oblivious that she had a skewed idea of how to interact with males. He visited with supervisors to seek advice on how to treat her. They encouraged Dr. Perry to learn more about her, rather than her symptoms.
ReplyDeleteTina continued to have weekly sessions with Dr. Perry for an hour. The two of them usually played a game or colored as the doctor asked Tina simple questions. He learned that Tina has two siblings and her mother was single. She told him things like what she would like to be when she grows up. Slowly he grows closer to Tina, and even finds himself giving the family a ride home on a cold day.
Dr. Perry finds himself thinking a lot about Tinas situation. He wonder if her treatment is helping, and if it can be improved. He tries to connect her symptoms to a scientific explanation. He must use all of the information he has evaluated to Diagnose Tina. Diagnosis is hard in the field of psychiatry, Dr. perry racks through all of the information he learned through his years of education. The human brain is complex. There are four major parts of the brain. the brain-stem, the diencephalon, the limbic system and the cortex, all of which were affected in Tina. Traumas similar to the one Tina faced, have a greater impact on young kids, because that is when the brain does most of its development. Dr. Perry comes to a conclusion and diagnosis Tina with PTSD.
Dr. Perry continues his sessions with Tina for several years. With time Tina’s symptoms are disappearing due to the treatment. Teachers reported that she was behaving better, and interacting well with her classmates. He feels accomplished until he is disappointed to hear that Tina was caught participating in sexual activity with an older boy at school. Dr. Perry wonders if rather than curing Tina, she was just learning to hide her symptoms from adults to stay out of trouble.
I feel as though she was only hiding her sexual behavior just long enough so that she didn't get talked to by Perry. The book states that she performed oral sex on the older boy only 2 weeks before Perry left. Some could argue that she did it because she again saw men in the same way as she did before their sessions started because she wouldn't have him there anymore to prove that ingrained "fact" wrong. Others could say that the treatment wasn't working at all and she knew that she wouldn't have Perry there to chastise her for her actions.
DeleteEither one could be right because we know, from the information that he gave us, that she never really got the treatment that she needed for her diagnosed PTSD.
*un-diagnosed
DeleteTina was a six year old girl from Chicago. She had been sexually abused by her babysitters sixteen year old son for over two years. Tina's mother decided to take her to a child psychologist after getting phone calls from the school saying that Tina had been acting inappropriate. After Dr. Perry's first session with Tina it had been obvious that she had some sort of trauma and didn't know how to act around males.
ReplyDeleteTina continued to have weekly sessions with Dr. Perry and he tried to imagine himself in her situation and did what he thought would make her better. Dr. Perry wanted to show her that not all males were bad. Throughout this time Dr. Perry realized that trauma made a way bigger impact on children than it did on adults and came to a conclusion and diagnosed Tina with PTSD.
Dr. Perry kept working with Tina for several years after that, Tina's symptoms began to disappear, teachers said she was acting better in class and making friends. Until one day, Tina was caught participating in sexual activity with an older boy at school. Dr. Perry was very surprised by this and thought maybe instead of getting ride of her problems, he was just teaching her how to hide them from everyone.
Dr. Perry helps a young girl named Tina. When she was four years old she was sexully abused by her babysitters sixteen year old son. The mother found out when she came home early from running errands. This went on for two whole years. Tina's mother hasn't had them watch her kids since.
ReplyDeleteTina's mother is single and has three children. Tina has a hard time paying attention in school. In school she doesn't pay attention and she often has inappropriate behavior toward the other kids. The school referred her to see a psychiatrist.
Tina sees Dr. Perry for visits to help her. When she has been going for a while, she slowly comes later and later. In the middle of winter in Chicago, Dr. Perry sees Tina's mother and the three children outside in the cold waiting for the bus to take them home. He tries to keep away from them. After a while, he offers them a ride home. He takes them to the store to get some things then takes them home. Dr. Perry helps take groceries up to the apartment. He hides the fact that he gave them a ride.
Dr. Perry helps Tina with the situations for years. He thinks about her situation a lot. As years pass, teachers report that she has been behaving better and getting along better with her classmates. He wonders if Tina was just learning to hide the symptoms rather than being cured, when he finds out that she was caught participating in sexual activity.
Tina was a six year old girl that was sexually abused at a young age by a neighbor teen. The abuse went on for almost two years before anyone stopped it. Because of this abuse, Tina now sees men as only wanting sex, due to the only experiences with men were sexual ones (pg. 8).
ReplyDeleteWhat's so frustrating about this chapter, for both the reader and Dr. Perry, is the lack of knowledge of the brain, especially one of a child's, and the lack of experience that Perry has on his own. Perry continuously brings up the fact that this chapter takes place before the "The decade of the brain" in the '90s (pg. 18). He is seeing that the simple diagnoses that his supervisors, and everything they taught him in school, might be wrong. He keeps being told by Dr. Stine, and the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual) that she has ADD (Attention Deficient Disorder) (pg. 11). He is also afraid of letting any of his ideas about not going the "traditional way" because he is just starting out (pg. 19) which ties in with the statement he made "Medical training teaches a young physician to act much less ignorant than he or she really is" (pg. 10).
He feels like he was almost too babied when he was in med school and residency and had no critical thinking skills of his own because of it (pg. 9-10). He always had people looking over his shoulder and judging his every move and now he was just sent out and given a case. He says in one passage "I didn't yet trust my own capacity to think independently" (pg. 19) pointing to his regret to not just fallow the evidence as he saw it and not just go with was a book said to do. This is because most of the case he did think that she had PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) and it wasn't until later that he found out that he would have been right about that diagnosis (pg. 25).
To your question about how it changed her brain; he suggests that her brain would have been affected the same way as the experiment with the rat pups (pg. 19). He says that just like the rats, the stressful experience made effects on the developing brain that could last a lifetime. The stress literally altered the way the brain processes and develops
I wish more parents could understand how much affect things have on a child in the early years. To many people think the kid will forget the bad things and not realize it will effect them for the rest of their lives.
DeleteThe story is about a young girl who was sexually abused multiple times. The sexual abuse started when she was 4 years old and living in Chicago. The abuser was her babysitter’s 16 year old son. The abuse went on for 2 years until her Mother found out. Page 8. Tina is raised by a single Mom who has 3 children, they live in poverty. There is no male role model in Tina’s life, since they have no contact with her father, Grandfather or any male relative. Tina’s view of how to interact with males was very messed up. She assumed that all men just wanted sex. At the age of 7 Tina begins to act out in school with inappropriate behaviors. She exposes herself, attacks kids and uses sexual talk. Page 7. The school tells her Mother she needs help. Tina goes to see Dr.Bruce Perry a child psychiatrist at the University of Chicago. Tina also makes sexual advances toward him. Dr. Perry was still in training so he was not experienced in Tina’s behaviors. He consulted with his supervisor. Page 10. The supervisor believed her symptoms presented as attention deficit disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. This did not seem right to Dr. Perry he thought there was more to it. He believed it to be Post traumatic stress disorder. Page 25
ReplyDeleteDr. Perry tried get her guidelines of how to behave. They played games and helped her to learn to take turns and think before she would act. He felt like he was making progress with her and really helping his patient. At the age of ten however she was caught giving an older boy fellatio. He realized she had just learned to hide her behaviors. Dr. Perry realized that Tina’s behaviors had been memorized at an early age and she learned it over a 2 year period and repeatedly so Dr. Perry’s treatment of only one hour a week was not enough time to repair Tina’s issues.
I found it interesting that all trained professionals are not more knowledgeable after so many years of school and training. The fact that he went to a couple different supervisors and their opinions varied greatly. The one Dr. thought everything should be straight by the book and the other one was more open minded and went outside the normal parameters
Yeah, its so weird to think that psychology was in its early stages only a few decades ago; that they have come so far from basing their diagnosis on a textbook standard in such a short amount of time. And in these early stages, what were these medical professionals being taught in school? There weren't anything to study regarding the processes of the brain; everything they learned about treating disorders came after they graduated and were in the field.
DeleteThe book begins with Tina, a young girl who has been sexually assaulted and, as a result, has been misbehaving. This in itself is atrocious but, the truly unsettling part is how it is handled and, as a result, what happens to Tina. Dr. Perry is new to psychiatry, specifically child care. He is unable to "trust [his] own capacity to think independently" which, though he is mentored by Dr. Dyrud, leads him to falter on a severe case that needs his upmost attention (Pg 19).
ReplyDeleteWhat confuses me is Dr. Stine's and Dr. Dyrud's very different psychiatric practices. Both of these doctors have very different views on how to deal with their patients. There is no continuity and, because of this, it leaves Dr. Perry to flounder. It is mentioned that, even after appointments with Perry, Tina and her younger brother continue to have “sexualized play” (Pg 13). These reoccurring instances are glazed over which, leads to Tina, as a 10-year-old “performing fellatio on an older boy” (Pg 26). Dr. Perry is obviously regretful; he was young, blind, simply not experienced which begs the question, why didn’t Dr. Stine or Dr. Dyrud or, any of his other more experienced mentors, not see that Tina’s sexualized view of men was an issue that needed to be dealt with promptly? Dr. Perry was treating Tina’s symptoms in order to help her behave better instead of treating the problem.
It is understandable that Dr. Perry would have focused on the symptoms as Tina began to learn to hide her impulses but, how did no one stop for a minute and think, maybe we should take a step back and help this little girl cope with the memory of the actions committed against her? This is the well-being of a young adolescent girl, can these doctors not all sit and review cases together on a regular basis in order to help one another and their patients? I simply feel that Perry’s mentors could have helped him out better. The “hands off” approach really doesn’t seem to work—it didn’t work for Tina.
I’m really excited to learn more about Dr. Perry though. He seems very well-rounded and obviously wants to help his patients. From the very first page he treats his patients with a sort of delicacy that shows how level-headed and kind-hearted he is.
I agree with you, it is sad to think of how ignorant doctors were. No discussions took place between doctors, just advice from one doctor to the next. They didn't pick each others brains at all in order to come.to a more well-rounded solution.
DeleteAlso, I think its crazy how her mother didn't see that what had happened to her children was traumatizing. The adults involved in that situation figured that if the abuse stopped, there wouldn't be anything else to worry about.
Tina had grown up in a small apartment where her neighbors would watch while her mother (a single parent) would work to support her and her 2 siblings. While her neighbor would watch them, their sixteen year old son would sexually abuse Tina and her younger brother. That had went on for two years straight until her mother had found out, and stopped everything that had went on. Tina had been affected and traumatized due to what she had went through. While she was at school, she would do what had happened to her, and had tried it on other kids, and she also had a hard time being able to focus. Tina's mother had gotten complaints from the school and seemed out for help, and had went to Dr.
ReplyDeletePerry. Dr. Perry had troubles on how to help Tina, or figure out what kind of disorder she had. So he had went to Dr. Stein and told him Tina's story, and he told him that Tina had ADD, but Dr. Perry didn't feel like that is what she had. So he had reached out to Dr. Dyrud, which helped him grasp more on the situation Tina had went through. After a few more visits he could see that Tina had been getting better and improving, but after the sessions had stopped when he went to a different job, Tina had gone back to her ways.
My questions are... How did Tina's brother behave, and what had the other therapist label his disorder as?
That is a very good question that I didn't think of. It's interesting how two people can behave differently to similar experiences.
DeleteDr. Perry's first session with Tina begins with an unusual encounter between the two of them. At the time psychiatry did not recognize the reason for Tina's odd behavior, which led to the false conclusion that she had an attention deficit disorder or was, simply put, weird. Understanding Tina's PTSD was unusual for doctors of this time because they had only used this diagnosis in war veterans. This, however, didn't mean that soldiers were the only ones capable of experiencing life-altering and traumatic events.
ReplyDeleteTina’s only interactions with men contained an atmosphere of control and sex. It was only human instinct that she connected one subject to another. This trauma resulted in Tina having learning and social disabilities. She didn’t behave in class nor did she respect her teachers. The recovery process she had to endure in order to rewire her brain is depressing. With her not knowing right from wrong it makes sense that Tina would think that the only use se had to men was sex. But it makes me wonder why her brain took the route of embracing the idea that she was being used, rather than using her fight or flight instincts. Why doesn’t she coward away from men? This could unfortunately be because she had to endure these encounters so often; she would simply “give in” because fighting was pointless.
This case and cases like it of Dr. Perry’s was so crucial to not only him understanding the human mind better but for ground breaking movement in psychology. It makes me wonder why these doctors and studying the human brain and its exponential capabilities, kept their train of thought completely narrowed. Psychiatrists would reference a chart when diagnosing patients; why was this acceptable? There are several other ways of not only studying information but discovering new information. The puzzle method, crossing symptoms, blending patterns, shifting viewpoints: the possibilities are endless.
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