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The Major Theoretical Perspectives Provide A Framework For Understanding And Conceptualizing Client 's Current Mental Health Issues

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The major theoretical perspectives provide a framework for understanding and conceptualizing client’s current mental health issues and the potential contributory factors in the development of their problems. The present client, Toni Barone, is seeking treatment for her current unhappiness with her life, social isolation, and bereavement issues stemming from her father’s death. From a biological perspective, there appears to be a potential for some genetic or inherited mental health issues, with various family members presenting with diagnosed and undiagnosed disorders. Family members including Toni’s mother, Aunt, and paternal grandmother appear to have mental health issues. In addition, a stress disorder is present in her uncle …show more content…

Previous research has also found an increased sensitivity for stress in those with the two alleles. This research is critical to understanding Toni’s present issues, as her paternal grandmother experienced depressed mood states and her aunt was also diagnosed with anxiety and depression. At the genetic level it is possible that this particular gene is a contributory factor in Toni’s predisposition for the development of her current depressive symptoms. Another interesting finding in research, is that of reduced hippocampal volume in depressed patients (Roy & Campbell, 2013).. There are various models accounting for this such as the neurotoxicity hypothesis which states that the reduction in volume occurs because of prolonged stress and hormone levels. The vulnerability hypothesis states that individuals with a familial risk of depression have a significantly smaller hippocampus than controls (Chan et al., 2016). The Chan et al. (2016) study examined individuals with depression and healthy controls. The participants with depression had reduced hippocampal volume when compared to the control group. The researchers posit reduced hippocampal volume as a possible neural marker of depression and the potential for this to be viewed as a vulnerability marker for future depressive episodes (Assareh et al., 2015). It can be theorized that Toni and her family may have reduced volume of the

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