Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

Eating disorder treatment centers are thought of as facilities where people who are suffering from eating disorders go to get well.  They go to an eating disorder treatment center either because they are ill physically or because they are unable to stop the damaging behaviors that are so harmful to them not only physically but emotionally as well.

The expectation of most patients, parents, and other family members is that a person will go to an eating disorder treatment center and return home well.  The individual will be symptom free and completely healthy.  Most people are sadly disappointed.

An eating disorder treatment center is usually thought of as a place where people either go to a hospital based program or to a freestanding “treatment” center type place that is a therapeutic setting.   In actuality, an eating disorder treatment center can take several different forms.

Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

An Outpatient Program:  An outpatient eating disorder treatment center is a place where a patient will come and see a therapist 2-3 times a week, usually for 2-3 hours at a time.  The individual will receive therapy and nutritional education.  Sometimes a meal is included and/or an individual psychotherapy session.

Day Treatment Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

A Day Treatment Program:  A day treatment eating disorder treatment center is a therapeutic environment where the patient will spend 8 hours a day, usually five days a week, and return home in the evenings and on weekends.   The total length of stay is usually 6-14 weeks.  Therapy and nutritional education are the prime interventions.  A patient is seen by a nutritionist, a psychiatrist, physician, and a therapist who is a specialist in eating disorders.  The goal of treatment in a day program eating disorder treatment program is to help the individual begin to eat normally again, to stop damaging eating disorder behaviors such as restricting, bingeing and purging, and any other unhealthy behaviors directed towards weight control.  The client is also helped to identify any psychological or familial factors that contribute to the eating disorder.  A day eating disorder treatment program is suitable only for people who are not a danger to themselves or others and who are not at acute medical risk.

Residential Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

A Residential Treatment Program:  In a residential treatment eating disorder program, the patient stays on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  In this kind of treatment setting, cognitive behavioral therapy, psycho-education, nutritional interventions and an experiential therapy or two such as art therapy are the primary treatment modalities.  The patient will meet with a psychiatrist, a nutritionist, a physician, and again a therapist who specializes in eating disorder treatment.  Patients in an eating disorder treatment center will have cognitive behavioral therapy, some body awareness and coping skills groups, and they’ll learn meal planning and nutrition.  They will discover what is the appropriate amount of exercise for themselves.  They will leave the eating disorder treatment center with an aftercare plan and a relapse prevention plan.

Inpatient Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

An Inpatient Treatment Program:  In an inpatient eating disorder treatment center, the patient stays 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in a hospital setting or another type of acute care setting.  The recovery process in the inpatient eating disorder treatment center is very intense and is geared toward medical stability.  Treatment in an acute eating disorder treatment program is meant to be short-term to prepare a client for a lower level of care.  Suicidal or homicidal ideation and severe medical consequences need to be treated in a hospital or acute care setting.

Treating anorexia nervosa in an eating disorder treatment center involves three components:

Treating Eating DIsorders with Medications

Some research suggests that the use of medications, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics or mood stabilizers, may be modestly effective in treating patients with anorexia by helping to resolve mood and anxiety symptoms that often co-exist with anorexia. Recent studies, however, have suggested that antidepressants may not be effective in preventing some patients with anorexia from relapsing. In addition, no medication has shown to be effective during the critical first phase of restoring a patient to healthy weight. Overall, it is unclear if and how medications can help patients conquer anorexia, but research is ongoing.

Different forms of psychotherapy, including individual, group and family-based, can help address the psychological reasons for the illness. Some studies suggest that family-based therapies in which parents assume responsibility for feeding their adolescent are effective in helping a person with anorexia gain weight and improve eating habits and moods.  This is called the Maudsley Method.  Shown to be effective in case studies and clinical trials, this particular approach is discussed in some guidelines and studies for treating eating disorders in younger, nonchronic patients.

Others have noted that a combined approach of medical attention and supportive psychotherapy in an eating disorder treatment center designed specifically for anorexia patients is more effective than just psychotherapy. But the effectiveness of a treatment depends on the person involved and his or her situation.

Unfortunately, no specific psychotherapy appears to be consistently effective for treating adults with anorexia. However, research into novel treatment and prevention approaches is showing some promise. One study suggests that an online intervention program may prevent some at-risk women from developing an eating disorder.

Treating Bulimia Nervosa in Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

Treatment for bulimia nervosa in an eating disorder treatment center often involves a combination of options and depends on the needs of the individual.  To reduce or eliminate binge and purge behavior, a patient may undergo nutritional counseling and psychotherapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or be prescribed medication. Some antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac), which is the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating bulimia, may help patients who also have depression and/or anxiety. It also appears to help reduce binge-eating and purging behavior, reduces the chance of relapse, and improves eating attitudes.

CBT that has been tailored to treat bulimia also has shown to be effective in changing binging and purging behavior, and eating attitudes. Therapy may be individually oriented or group-based.

Treatment for Binge Eating Disorder in Treatment Centers

Treatment for binge-eating disorder in an eating disorder treatment center is similar to that used to treat bulimia. Fluoxetine and other antidepressants may reduce binge-eating episodes and help alleviate depression in some patients.  Patients with binge-eating disorder also may be prescribed appetite suppressants. Psychotherapy, especially CBT, is also used to treat the underlying psychological issues associated with binge-eating, in an individual or group environment.

 Conclusion

This article has explained what is to typically be expected in a traditional, medical model, eating disorder treatment center, as opposed to treatment in a holistic, integrative type program.

About the Author

Jeanne Rust, PhD is the Founder and CEO of Mirasol, a holistic, integrative, eating disorders treatment center located in Tucson, AZ. She was the first in the country to use holistic and complementary interventions for eating disorder treatment. She has been written up in various newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle among them, as well as other print publications such as Time magazine in the United States and Flair magazine in Canada. You can access Mirasol's listing in our treatment directory by clicking here: Mirasol Eating Disorder Treatment Center

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