Relational Field Therapy

RFT Case Studies

How Each Archetype Moves Through the Framework

(each section ends with three hashtags)

These case studies aren’t stories about “disorders” or “symptoms.”
They’re field‑maps — demonstrations of how communal wounds land in individual bodies, how misattribution forms, and how RFT restores scale, clarity, and identity.

Each case follows the same arc:

The Field – what environment produced the rupture
The Misattribution – how the wound was pushed onto the client
The Collapse – how the client internalized the field’s failure
The RFT Intervention – how scale is corrected
The Outcome – how the client reclaims themselves

1. Case Study: The Signal Bearer

“I felt it before anyone else did.”

The Field:
A family that avoids conflict, values emotional flatness, and uses “normalcy” as a shield.
Any deviation is treated as disruption.

The Misattribution:
When tension rises, the Signal Bearer senses it immediately.
The family responds with:
“Stop overreacting.”
“Don’t make a big deal.”
“Just act normal.”

The Collapse:
The client begins to believe their perception is the problem.
They suppress intuition and develop chronic self‑doubt.

The RFT Intervention:
The therapist names the truth:
“You weren’t reacting to nothing. You were reacting to the field.”
The rupture is mapped.
The shame dissolves.

The Outcome:
The client learns to trust their sensitivity as a diagnostic gift, not a flaw.

Hashtags: #SignalBearer #FieldSensitive #TruthDetector

2. Case Study: The Scapegoated Divergent

“My difference became the excuse.”

The Field:
A school environment that rewards conformity and punishes divergence.
Teachers use “normal” as a behavioral ideal.

The Misattribution:
The client’s neurodivergence becomes the landing site for the school’s unresolved tension.
They are labeled “difficult,” “disruptive,” or “too much.”

The Collapse:
The client internalizes the belief that their difference causes rupture.
They shrink themselves to survive.

The RFT Intervention:
The therapist reframes the entire narrative:
“You weren’t the disruption. You were the mirror.”
The wound is returned to the institution.

The Outcome:
The client stops apologizing for their existence and begins to inhabit their full shape.

Hashtags: #ScapegoatedDivergent #NotTheProblem #CulturalMisfit

3. Case Study: The Over‑Responsible One

“If I don’t hold it, everything will fall apart.”

The Field:
A family system where adults collapse emotionally and children are expected to stabilize the environment.

The Misattribution:
The child becomes the emotional regulator for the entire household.
They are praised for being “mature” or “strong,” but the praise is actually a wound‑transfer.

The Collapse:
The client grows into adulthood believing they must carry everything — relationships, workplaces, crises.

The RFT Intervention:
The therapist names the structural truth:
“You were a child doing the job of a system.”
Responsibility is returned to the field.

The Outcome:
The client learns to set boundaries and stop absorbing what others refuse to hold.

Hashtags: #OverResponsible #EmotionalLabor #InheritedBurden

4. Case Study: The Collapsed Truth‑Teller

“I named the rupture and they punished me for it.”

The Field:
A workplace with a culture of silence, where speaking up threatens the hierarchy.

The Misattribution:
When the client exposes unethical behavior, leadership frames them as the problem.
They are labeled “negative,” “dramatic,” or “unprofessional.”

The Collapse:
The client begins to question their own integrity and loses trust in their perception.

The RFT Intervention:
The therapist validates the truth:
“You weren’t destabilizing the system. You were revealing its instability.”
The wound is reassigned to the institution.

The Outcome:
The client regains confidence in their voice and stops confusing backlash with truth.

Hashtags: #TruthTeller #FieldPushback #PunishedForHonesty

5. Case Study: The Haunted Healer

“I can’t stand to see others hurt, so I take it on.”

The Field:
A community where emotional labor is expected but never reciprocated.
Helpers are praised but unsupported.

The Misattribution:
The client absorbs others’ pain because no one else will hold it.
They become the unofficial therapist, mediator, and emotional sponge.

The Collapse:
They burn out, dissociate, or lose their sense of self.

The RFT Intervention:
The therapist teaches the Wound‑Boundary Protocol:
“Compassion does not require containment.”
The client learns to witness without absorbing.

The Outcome:
They remain empathic without becoming a vessel for the field’s wounds.

Hashtags: #HauntedHealer #EmpathicOverload #CompassionWithoutBoundaries