How Much Food to Feed?

Family having dinner and unhappy in FBT [Image description: family of 2 adults and two kids and the teen girl looks very unhappy about eating] Represents a potential family in California doing FBT for their teen's eating disorder

In Family-Based Treatment (FBT), we charge families with nourishing their teens back to health through meals at home. Because FBT is a parent empowerment model, parents are often given little specific guidance about how to do this. If you are like other families with whom I’ve worked, now that you understand this important point, you …

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Return to Exercise and Eating Disorder Recovery in Teens During FBT

Return to exercising during FBT for teen eating disorders [Image description: drawing of a teen running on a treadmill] Represents a potential teen undergoing FBT for an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California

Excessive exercise is often a component of various eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, atypical anorexia, OSFED, and subclinical eating disorders. It is a symptom that affects up to 80% of those with an eating disorder (Quesnel et al., 2023). By expending energy, exercise may contribute to the negative energy balance that may trigger …

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Supporting your Child or Other Loved One with an Eating Disorder Through the Holidays

Supporting Child with Eating Disorder Over Holiday in Los Angeles, California [Image description: photo of a Black family preparing a meal together and all the family members are dressed up] represents a potential family supporting a loved one with an eating disorder during the holidays

By Carly Poynter, AMFT, staff therapist The holidays are a challenging time to navigate for most people. The holidays are even more challenging for those who struggle with their relationship with food. As we prepare for the holiday feasts and festivities, there are a few things to consider, especially when you have a child or …

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Eating Disorder College Contracts

Eating Disorder College Contract in Los Angeles, CA [Image description: photo of a hand signing a contract] representing a potential college contract for a hopeful college student with an eating disorder in California

What is an eating disorder college contract? And do you need one? If you are sending a young adult with a history of an eating disorder to college (or seminary or another away program), it is a good idea to have a college contract in place. This is our recommendation for young adults with anorexia, …

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What Parents of Teens with Eating Disorders Need to Understand About Diet Culture

What Parents Need to Know About Diet Culture [Image description: a larger woman smashing a scale] Represents a potential parent of a teen receiving eating disorder counseling in Los Angeles, California

Parents and Diet Culture Many parents experience guilt when their teen is diagnosed with an eating disorder. Nearly every parent can point to a time they themselves dieted, opted not to have a dessert they really wanted, expressed a preference toward thinness, or discouraged their child from keeping eating. You may have done things to …

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Externalizing an Eating Disorder: When, Why, and How Do You Do That and Who is “Ed” Anyway?

Externalizing your eating disorder in Los Angeles, California [Image description: a drawing of a girl facing a monster] Represents a potential teen with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California externalizing her eating disorder

Externalizing an eating disorder is a therapeutic strategy. Jenni Schaefer’s book Life Without Ed, co-written by her therapist Thom Rutledge, popularized this strategy The book summarizes Jenni’s recovery from an eating disorder. Jenni describes how in her treatment she learned to personify the eating disorder as “Ed,” an abusive boyfriend. As explained in the blurb …

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How do I Parent My Teen During Family-Based Treatment? When to Set Limits

Parenting During FBT [Image description: photo of one teen pushing another in a shopping cart] Represents a potential family with teens getting help for an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California

Parenting during FBT is a different type of parenting. Parents doing Family-Based Treatment (FBT) often struggle with “normal parenting concerns” and setting limits while doing FBT. They’re refeeding their teens at home, doing the hard work often done by professional staff at treatment centers, but they still have to parent. It’s exhausting. Their teens who …

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How We Set Recovery Weights

How we set recovery weights [Image description: Drawing of a doctor weighing a teen patient] depicts potential person with an eating disorder receiving therapy in Los Angeles, California

If you have an eating disorder, or your child has one, there is a good chance that weight gain will be an essential part of the recovery process. This is true not just for people in objectively small bodies, but also for people in larger bodies who are diagnosed with Atypical Anorexia, a weight-biased diagnostic …

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Adjunctive Therapies to FBT: What are the Additional Therapies That May be Added to FBT? And When Should They Be Added?

Image Description: Paper in window that reads "Mindfulness" Adjunctive therapies that go alongside FBT for Eating Disorders

In a previous post, I have discussed who is typically on an FBT team. In its traditional manualized form, the core team is a therapist, a medical doctor, and the parents. The team can also include a registered dietitian nutritionist (to guide the parents) and may include a psychiatrist. It is not uncommon for medical …

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Online Family-Based Treatment

Online Family-Based Treatment or Video FBT Therapy in Los Angeles, California [Image description: drawing of a teen and her parents in front of a computer screen] Represents a potential teen with an eating disorder and her family receiving online FBT in California

Online Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is an excellent option for busy families. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our therapists were delivering FBT by telehealth. We continue to do so. Read on to learn why this is such an amazing potential treatment for your family. What is Family-Based Treatment? Family-Based Treatment (FBT) has emerged as a …

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