Patient with Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder

Index

Diagnostic Impressions

Medical Conditions

Psychosocial Factors

Case Conceptualization

Assessment Recommendation

Treatment Recommendations

Works Cited

Diagnostic Impressions: Borderline Personality Disorder; R/O Substance Abuse Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder

Medical Conditions: Arm and leg lacerations, digestive tract irritation as result of toxic elements ingested, gastric suction, effects of alcohol use, effects of cocaine use, and effects of physical abuse through Ecchymosis

Psychosocial Factors: History of physical and verbal abuse, parental disapproval, academic problems, moving to a new country, cultural differences, language differences, withdrawal from peers, and negative comparison to siblings

Case Conceptualization:

Client, Maria, is a seventeen-year-old Hispanic female presenting with symptoms consistent with Borderline Personality Disorder. The client was pleased with her appearance yet she seemed as if she was on the verge of tears throughout the sessions. Maria reported that her reason for coming to the clinic was due to her hospitalization following the ingestion of Drano, however, after analyzing her case there were numerous precursors and signs that lead toward this suicide attempt.

The client and her family immigrated to America from Mexico when she was thirteen-years-old causing a language and cultural barrier between the client and her peers. She does indicate that her father often was dissatisfied with her personal life choices and told her that “she was nothing.” The clinician believes that these difficulties, in addition to the physical abuse inflicted on her by father, are factors in the client’s development of the disorder. The father influenced Maria to...

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...hat the most important function is “structuring the environment” in a way that reinforces progress and does not continue to cause the negative emotions (Bohus et al., 2010). This could include modifying her peer group to not include those who use substances, having family work with the client to emphasize progress and not failure, and re-involve in activities she withdrew from prior to treatment (Bohus et al., 2010).

Works Cited

Bell, K. (2012). Anorexia Nervosa. Department of Psychology, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio.

Bohus, M., Haaf, B., Stiglmayr, C., Pohl, U., Böhme, R., & Linehan, M. (2010). Evaluation of inpatient Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder — a prospective study. Behaviour Research and Therapy.

Butcher, J.N., Hooley, J.M., & Mineka, S. (2013). Abnormal psychology (16th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.