What does treatment for an eating disorder look like? Perhaps you think you may have one and are a little worried about taking the next step. Here are some things that will you therapist will do.

Intake interview

This is the first thing that occurs when a person comes into a therapist’s office for treatment for an eating disorder. At that time the therapist will gather a history of your eating disorder. He or she will ask questions such as, “When did it start? Was there a trigger for it? Do you have certain food rules or rituals? How often to you binge, purge, restrict? Do you over exercise or use laxatives?” The therapist will also get a history of relationships and stressors etc.

Devise a treatment team

Eating disorders require that there is a team of professionals working together. They include the dietician (who comes up with an appropriate meal plan), therapist to help with the emotional struggles, and a doctor to monitor lab results or prescribe medication. Your therapist is the one who will help you devise this team.

Determine level of care

Hopefully outpatient therapy will be appropriate. Some times people with eating disorders need a higher level of care. If the individual is not medically stable (ie. lab results are at dangerous levels, excessively low body weight, fainting, etc.) then an intensive outpatient treatment or residential treatment center may be necessary. This is also the case if the person is not making progress in outpatient treatment.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This is a common form of treatment. People with eating disorders have some distorted thinking patterns. They are taught the ways in which these negative thinking patterns affect their mood and keep the cycle of the eating disorder going. Learning how to challenge the negative thinking patterns is something they learn.

Food logs

Keeping track of what the client has eaten, along with automatic thoughts that go with it is also helpful. The person also notes if they consider what they had to eat was a binge or not, and if they purged in any way.

Eating from the forbidden food list

Often times the dietician will suggest a food challenge, ie. eat something that the client thinks is forbidden. People with eating disorders feel that they can only eat healthy foods, so enjoying something like a donut or slice of pizza can be very challenging. Learning how to do this in moderation is key to recovery.

Interpersonal problem solving skills

If you have an eating disorder, there is a good chance that there are some dysfunctional patterns occurring in relationships. If you are in therapy, you may be taught how to have difficult conversations with people, or learn how to express your needs in a healthy fashion.

Learn how to be more flexible with thinking

Those with eating disorders often times have strict and rigid views on things, and engage in black and white thinking.

Exposure

Wear tighter clothing vs. the baggy clothing that people with eating disorders often wear, or look at other women who are beautiful and notice that they too have flaws.

Relapse prevention

You will be taught ways to maintain the progress you have made. It is very easy to slip back into old ways of behavior. Once you know your triggers (things that may activate your eating disorder thoughts), you can learn ways to protect yourself from them and healthy ways to cope.

If you missed my previous blogs to determine if you have an eating disorder, you may want to visit them. https://debbiegrammas.com/blog/7-characteristics-people-eating-disorders/, https://debbiegrammas.com/blog/7-signs-eating-disorder/

Eating disorders are one of the most difficult things to treat. Treatment will take many months and require hard work. Many people with eating disorders wait years or decades to get treatment. However long it has been, it is not too late if you are struggling. Please call me at 713-304-6554 if this is something you think you may have. It is one of my areas of specialty.

Take care,

Debbie Grammas, PhD