Eating Disorder Treatment Works, Not DietsÂ
By the time clients enter eating disorder treatment, they are out of control with food. They can write books about nutrition, diets, how they should eat and how they should not. They know the calories and carbohydrates in almost every food. The problem is they just cannot put that knowledge into practice. They are locked into an uncontrollable cycle with food where obsessive thoughts about weight, body image, diets, and food consume their lives.
A reputable eating disorder treatment program connects people back to an internal form of control, making it possible to eat when hungry, make healthy food choices, and stop eating when full. People learn to identify the thoughts, feelings, and situations that trigger using food or thinking excessively about food. At some point in the eating disorder program patients learn to substitute healthy methods of caring for themselves.
An eating disorder treatment program should be a structured program based on cognitive-behavioral theory, solution-focused theory, and educational awareness. It is complemented with experiential and guided imagery, hypnotherapy, affirmations, and meditation techniques.