Is Weight Suppression Driving Your Binge Eating?

Is Weight Suppression Driving Your Binge Eating?

If you have bulimia nervosa, did you know that being at a weight that is too low for your body could be a problem? And that it could be driving your binge eating and other behaviors. Many people are aware that patients with anorexia nervosa need to gain weight in order to recover, but few …

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

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 …

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Structuring Your Eating Disorder Recovery Environment

Structuring Your Eating Disorder Recovery Environment [Image description: hand visible writing in planner]

  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 …

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College, COVID, and Eating Disorders: What You Need to Know

College, COVID, and Eating Disorders [Image description: woman with mask in front of computer]

  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 …

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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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With a Little Help From My Family: Who is FBT For?

FBT for young adults

  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 …

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Parents, Don’t Let Your Kids Download Kurbo!

Parents, don't let kids download Kurbo app

A disclaimer: I have no vested interest in Weight Watchers’ new Kurbo app. This app will in fact create more work for me. But let me be clear: I do not want this kind of work! I know that you mean well and are merely concerned about your child’s health, but I can assure you …

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Getting Your Teen with an Eating Disorder Ready for the First Day Back at School

Getting ready for school with eating disorder

It’s almost the first day of school and parents of students with eating disorders have additional concerns to address on top of the usual back to school frenzy. Transitions can be tough for all teens—they are especially difficult for those with eating disorders. However, there are some preparations you can make to help things go …

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Do I Need to Quit X to Stay in Recovery?

Do I need to quit X to stay in recovery?

By Carolyn Hersh, LCSW, CEDS-S Clinical Supervisor A difficult concept in recovery is knowing when to let go of an activity or even a job that could potentially re-ignite the eating disorder. As a therapist I find myself guiding my clients toward the realization that the sport or career path they had loved so much …

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When Your Child With an Eating Disorder is Sick….

When your teen with an eating disorder is sick

Guest post by Dr. Jennifer Johnson When parents are renourishing a child with an eating disorder and that child gets sick, parents often don’t know what to do. Some families may back off on feeding every time a child gets any illness, which can be a risky practice. Especially during Phase 1 of Family-Based Treatment …

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