When I am working as the Family-Based Treatment (FBT) therapist for a teen in eating disorder recovery, their parents will often ask whether the teen should also see a therapist individually. Unlike other therapy situations, in FBT there is no expectation that there is both an individual therapist and a family therapist. It’s there in …
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 try to keep …
Externalizing an eating disorder is a therapeutic strategy that became more widely known through Jenni Schaefer’s book Life Without Ed, cowritten with her therapist Thom Rutledge. 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 …
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 have eating disorders are often experiencing the psychological and …
![Recovery Weight [Image description: doctor scale] How we set recovery weights in eating disorder treatment](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/samuel-ramos-mz9koyBQd4Q-unsplash-1024x683.jpg)
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 …
![Structuring Your Eating Disorder Recovery Environment [Image description: hand visible writing in planner]](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/stil-flRm0z3MEoA-unsplash-768x1024.jpg)
Recovery is challenging! I am repeatedly moved and impressed by the courage of my patients as they work through recovery from an eating disorder. One strategy that can help support recovery is a careful structuring of one’s recovery environment. This applies to adults working individually in treatment as well as to families helping adolescents to recover. Most evidence-based …
![College, COVID, and Eating Disorders [Image description: woman with mask in front of computer]](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/engin-akyurt-WBM97UGM0QA-unsplash-scaled.jpg)
As I’ve talked about in depth, the transition to college away from home is challenging for most young adults. It is especially fraught for young adults with eating disorders. In that article, I provided a College Readiness Checklist for students who are either considering their first move away from home after a history of …
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 …
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our therapists were delivering FBT by telehealth. We continue to do so. One of the most significant impacts of social distancing was a change in the mode of delivery of psychological treatment. Most outpatient therapists, dietitians, and medical doctors moved entirely to telehealth sessions (over the computer). Even many …
![Meal support for Eating Disorder Recovery in Los Angeles, California [Image description: 2 Asian young women eating together] Depicts a potential young adult supporting a friend in eating disorder recovery in Los Angeles, CA via meal support](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/My-project2.png)
Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is the leading evidence-based treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. One of the common misbeliefs I hear is that it’s “only for kids or younger teens.” However, I think it has a much wider applicability. In fact, I would say that my FBT training has significantly improved my …