Ellie’s emotions

Ellie is a 17-year-old girl in secondary school. Her mother, Mrs Ong owns a beauty spa business, which has been thriving for some years now. Since his recent cancer treatment, Mr Ong, who is closer to Ellie, has not been working at all. They have two children, a son, Edward, and a daughter, Ellie, who are three years apart in age.

From a young, Ellie has been quite frail and introverted, preferring to do things in her bedroom. As a result, she has few friends. Edward, on the other hand, is a rather sociable and popular person. He is generally good at his work and particularly above average in his academic achievements and active in co-curricular activities. Ellie has always struggled with staying focussed on her schoolwork but has managed to reach the final year before attempting the “O” level exams last year.

However, just before the exam of some papers, Ellie freaked out and fell mysteriously ill. The school counsellor strongly advised her to defer her studies. Now this year, she has shown much progress since she has been seeing the counsellor for some emotionally related issues that initially surfaced during her mid-adolescence. She has become more withdrawn
and lacks confidence in passing her exams. Fortunately, she enjoys playing the piano even though she has not been consistent in attending music lessons or practising the required pieces. Her teachers are concerned about her as she continues to show signs of panic and bouts of anxiety whenever there is an upcoming major or important event.

Unfortunately, going for counselling sessions has become burdensome for Ellie and on a few occasions, she has missed out on her appointments, rationalising that they have been of little benefit to her. She gets minimal support from her parents, who have been either tied down in their business or consumed in their hobby, which is gambling. She has taken a part- time job but also wonders about her future and her career prospects. She intends to retake
some subjects which she performed poorly in her final exams to boost her interview opportunities and job offer