Systemic therapy applied to a case of akt´aña in an Aymara family:

Case study

Abstract

The present descriptive investigation is a case study that allows to delineate the family and personal experience of a patient of Aymara origin diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. You can perceive how the nickname used by the father, affects a 16-year-old girl who is overweight, said appellation was that of Ak'tana, Aymara word whose meaning is "stuffing", something that was very distasteful to her. This factor, along with others, contributed to the development of the eating disorder, resulting in the patient losing weight until weighing 31 kg. After several sessions, after knowing the family history and the importance of the symptom, it was decided to apply the technique systemic therapy consisting in the prescription of the symptom in order to regulate said behavior and decrease the frequency and intensity of vomiting. The prescription was rejected by the patient, mainly because of the usefulness of the symptom for her and her family system. From the present case, as an approach to Aymara culture and eating disorders, it can be concluded that there are significant differences in terms of concepts and customs about aesthetics and beauty, and in particular, about the function of the symptom in said family system .