Categories: Family based treatmentUncategorized

Presentation at NEDA 2015 conference

Katie and I had the honor of presenting in the Individual, Family, and Friends track at the National Eating Disorder Association Conference in San Diego yesterday. The title of our talk was: Family Based Nutrition Therapy: Creating A Supportive Environment. It was a chance to share the way we work to support families who are helping children with eating disorders.

Here are some of the key points of our talk:

Families can be an important part of the solution for eating disorders.
Parents can and should help with refeeding and nutritional rehabilitation.
Food is medicine for the treatment of eating disorders.
The initial focus of treatment should be on nutritional rehabilitation; don’t worry about the cause.
Growth charts should be used to establish individualized weight goals.
Three meals and three snacks at regular intervals throughout the day helps in the recovery for ALL eating disorders.
More fat and variety in the diet lead to better outcome for patients with anorexia.
Prioritizing health sends a strong message; don’t be afraid to pull a child with an eating disorder from an activity.
In beginning stages of recovery exercise generally is contraindicated; prioritize health.
Exposure is important to recovery. Expand the range of foods eaten. Practice eating in different settings. Return to restaurants the family used to enjoy. Push different meal combinations.
Serve dessert daily until the child no longer asks, “When don’t I have to have dessert anymore?”
Photos of meals can be used for remote supervision.
Parents need to prompt children with anorexia to eat. This will likely upset them but get them to eat which is necessary for recovery.
Parents should provide a structure that reenforces recovery behaviors and makes it impossible for the child not to recover.
Parents should seek support for themselves. Great resources for parents include:

Dr. Lauren Muhlheim

Lauren Muhlheim, Psy.D., FAED, CEDS-C, is a Los Angeles psychologist and eating disorder specialist. She directs Eating Disorder Therapy LA and is the author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder and co-author of The Weight-Inclusive CBT Workbook for Eating Disorders. She has been quoted in The New York Times, CNN, and Vox.