ABSTRACT
Beatrice was a 64-year-old woman who was the embodiment of Southern femininity. She was gentle, kind and a hard-working woman who lived with her 38-year-old son. She was supporting him because he had been unable to hold down a job. He was diagnosed as bi-polar and was also prone to fl y into rages, directed mostly towards his mother. For her part, Beatrice took the abuse, and tried to explain away his behavior as due to a “chemical imbalance” and attention-defi cit disorder (diagnosed in childhood). Beatrice also took care of her mother, who was also verbally abusive towards her, criticizing her about her life and how she was raising her son. While Beatrice always unfairly treated by her mother, she was now more sympathetic since she was recently diagnosed with dementia (which she referred to colloquially as “old timers disease”). She came to therapy because she was feeling stressed and overwhelmed all the time. She had begun to take blood pressure medicine, and was getting close to retirement. She was especially concerned about being able to take care of her son as she got older, and worried about what would happen to him when she was no longer capable.
