Case Study
The case study will discuss a 20-year-old single black female client, Valerie Gaspard, who is suffering restricting type of Anorexia Nervosa (AN). In this paper, this author will discuss this case and analyze Valerie’s symptoms and diagnosis. In addition, this author will demonstrate evidence-based treatments and talk about potential challenges in therapy.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
This section will show a description of Valerie’s problem and her diagnosis. Valerie demonstrated many features that are related with AN, and she meets the DSM-5 criteria for restricting type of AN. Valerie stated that she complained to her doctor about “frequent headaches and chronic fatigue”. She reported …show more content…
Besides, Valerie reported she had visited a dietitian when her family members considered she had a low weight.
Evidence-based treatment
Researchers conduct a study to assess “enhanced” cognitive behavior therapy (CBT-E)’s efficacy for anorexia nervosa. The study recruited 99 participants who have anorexia nervosa from UK and Italy, and 64% of participants completed 40 sessions of CBT-E over 40 weeks. The research suggested that after CBT-E treatment, 64% of subjects experienced markedly improvements in weight (Fairburn et al., 2012).
Another research evaluated the effectiveness of a novel adaptation of Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) for treating anorexia nervosa, and the results suggested that RO-DBT intervention was related with “significant improvements in weight gain, reductions in eating disorder symptoms, decreases in eating-disorder related psychopathology and increases in eating disorder-related quality of life in a severely underweight sample” (Lynch et al., 2013).
Co-morbid …show more content…
In this case, Valerie with AN might have co-morbid disorders including anxiety and OCD. Valerie expressed that she felt “embarrassed” when her family members and other people told her that she is too thin, and she knew that she needs to increase her weight. Valerie stated that she still does not motivation to eat food and she was consuming limited and small amount of food. Besides, Valerie reported that she did not like waiting for the bus so that she preferred to walk, and she walked for about 3-4 hours per