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Biological Rhythms Case Study
Emily Armbruster
The Department of Psychology, Liberty University
PSYC 380: Physiological Psychology (B03)
Prof. Christine Steward
February 4, 2024
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About The Client:
Jovie is a 17-year-old female who has been coming to see a counselor twice a week for
nearly four months now. Since she was nine years old, she has struggled with an undiagnosed
eating disorder and has never really been able to get back on track with her eating habits or even
a positive relationship with food. Some of her symptoms consist of restricted eating, being
underweight for her age and height, fear of putting on weight, poor body image, and forcing
herself to throw up after eating all meals. Jovie also struggles with anxiety and maintaining a
positive mindset in connection to eating or gaining weight naturally. Due to her negative
relationship with food, other areas of Jovie’s health continue to have a negative impact from poor
sleep, brittle bones, poor eyesight, increased anxiety, low blood pressure, anemia, and organ
failure. According to the National Institute of Health, Eating Disorders are the number one
leading cause of death in the United States. (NIH, Prathipa Santhanam, 2023). Due to the
evidence of the symptoms as well as what Jovie has mentioned within counseling sessions, this
client is showing signs of having Anorexia Nervosa and an Eating Disorder. There is a history of
Eating Disorders within Jovie’s family and unfortunately, her mom is actively walking through
