SOCW-6101-Wk-10-Project

Transcript of Audio File:

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:

COUNSELOR: Hello Ruben, nice to meet you.

PATIENT: Hello, Nice to meet you too.

COUNSELOR: Great! Please have a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?

PATIENT: No thanks. But thank you for taking the time out to meet with me.

COUNSELOR: Oh it’s my pleasure. You know that is what I am here for.

So what brings you in today?

PATIENT: Well to get straight to the point I think I might have an eating disorder.

COUNSELOR: What brings you to that conclusion?

PATIENT: Matt, my roommate for the about 2 years continuously brought it to my attention that my behaviors around eating is unhealthy. He said if I didn’t seek help he is going to have to report me himself. So you know, I don’t think it much of a big deal but he seems to think it’s a big deal so I decided to come.

COUNSELOR: Okay. Well that could possibly be true, but it appears to me that you have some concern yourself.

**Silence for a while**

PATIENT: Well at times I question myself and my approach of maintaining a low weight if it’s too extreme, I even think at some point I may have developed a psychological disorder. But then you know I take a glance in the mirror and see how fit I am, and you know I seem to just throw that notion out the window.

COUNSELOR: Well, You mention that you question your approach about maintaining your weight, what exactly is your method right now?

PATIENT: Well I use laxatives 2x a week as a form of cleansing my body and exercise a lot, especially running it relaxes me. I can run 5 miles easy and just lose track of time.

But I also you know, make myself throw up regularly, which I know is wrong but I just feel gross with myself if I don’t do it.

COUNSELOR: Okay, and how long have you been keeping up this regimen?

PATIENT: Since high school, I use to be a very chubby kid and freshman year I tried at variety of diets but nothing seemed to work. I started really feeling ashamed after I ate.

I come from a big Jamaican family and typically when you enter my aunt’s house, the first thing they do is offer you a plate of food. Even when I ask for a small portion they still pile it on so I consume it because I feel like I have to and I you know, just throw it up afterwards.

COUNSELOR: uh-huh…

PATIENT: You know, wasting food in my family is a big no no, something you don’t do.

You know, my family grew up poor in Jamaica. I try to just eat it so that they see that I eat it and they won’t get offended but then when I get home I just throw it up. I really have this intense anxiety around gaining weight or being overweight like the rest of my family.

So, I heard some the cheerleaders back in high school say that they use laxatives in their regimen especially to maintain their weight and especially after a week of eating badly. I sort of just adapted that regimen and I have been using it ever since.

COUNSELOR: Have you ever thought of any healthier methods to maintaining your weight?

PATIENT: Yeah in the past I have tried you know the Atkins diet, vegetarian diet, and even weight loss pills but nothing seems to work for me.

COUNSELOR: Would you be open to meeting with a physician and then a dietician?

PATIENT: I wouldn’t mind that.

COUNSELOR: Great, here is a list of local physicians in the area and also back here is the number to the school dietician.

PATIENT: Thank you.

COUNSELOR: Can I follow up with you in about 2 weeks?

PATIENT: Yeah I would appreciate that, let me just give you my cell number.

COUNSELOR: Thank you very much Ruben, it was nice meeting with you today. And you will be hearing from me soon.

END TRANSCRIPT