Journal Journal

The most important concerns I have as her counselor is how much is she eating and is she drinking enough to be healthy. Also, I would be concerned to know if she is starving herself or making herself throw up after eating. I would be worried about her blood pressure, if she has an irregular heartbeat, trouble sleeping, lack of energy even though she exercises she could be straining herself. I would wonder if she was having kidney or liver damage and more things that could lead to death.

1. What are the most important concerns to focus on first as her counselor?

I would print out an eating chart and have her fill it out to see when and what she is eating/ drinking and how often. I would ask her if she limits herself to eating or just limits certain foods or if she is portioning it or if she is binge eating and then throwing it up.

1. How would you begin to explore your concerns about her eating patterns, or would you?

I would consider having her as an outpatient at first and see her once a week. I will check her weight, and have her see the doctor to check her heart, and blood pressure. If she continues to not get better, I will have to sign her up for IOP. IOP will help watch over her more and make she is getting the nutrition she needs to be at a healthy weight under supervision.

1. What levels of care might you consider: outpatient, intensive outpatient, and/or residential?

I would mention maybe she is addicted to losing weight, but I would need more time to diagnose that. I would tell her if she does not stop exercising excessively and not eating right that she could end up hospitalized or if it goes on too long death could happen due to not getting the right amount of food.

1. How would you discuss the addictive nature of her eating patterns? Or, would you mention addiction?