Is Weight Suppression Driving Your Binge Eating?

Is Weight Suppression Driving Your Binge Eating? in Los Angeles, California [Image description: drawing of two women wearing purple sweaters and one is fat] Represents potential person overcoming weight suppression during eating disorder therapy in Los Angeles, California

Weight Suppression and Binge Eating: What You Should Know 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 …

Read more

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 …

Read more

Structuring Your Eating Disorder Recovery Environment

Structuring Your Eating Disorder Recovery Environment [Image description: hand visible writing in planner] represents a client in eating disorder recovery in Los Angeles, California writing a meal plan

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 from …

Read more

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

College, COVID, and Eating Disorders [Image description: woman with mask in front of computer] represents a potential college student with an eating disorder having online therapy in California

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 an Eating Disorder College Readiness Checklist. The article provides guidance for parents of students entering college after a history of an …

Read more

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 …

Read more

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

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

Family-Based Treatment–Not Just For Teens–For Adults Too! Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is the leading evidence-based treatment for teens 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 much wider applicability. In fact, I would say that my FBT …

Read more

Parents, Don’t Let Your Kids Diet!

Just say no to kids' diets in Los Angeles, California [Image description: purple scrabble tiles spelling "Just say no to kids diets']

Updated July 2023. Previously published in 2019 as a response to the Weight Watchers Kurbo app for kids. In January 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics released guidelines for treating children and teens in larger bodies with “intensive health behavior and lifestyle treatment”–what I call a diet. In case you are tempted to go down …

Read more

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

Getting ready for school with eating disorder [Image description: drawing of a boy with a backpack and lunch box and there is a purple school bus in the background] Represents a teen or child with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California

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 more smoothly. …

Read more

Do I Need to Quit X to Stay in Recovery?

Do I need to quit X to stay in recovery in Los Angeles, California [Image description: photo of a girl in a swimsuit looking away from the pool during a swim meet] Represents a potential teen in eating disorder recovery wrestling with whether she can continue her sport.

By Carolyn Hersh, LCSW, CEDS-S Clinical Supervisor A difficult decision 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 through exploration of their values. Some come to realize that the sport or career path they …

Read more

When Your Teen With an Eating Disorder is Sick….

When your teen with an eating disorder is sick during recovery [Image description: drawing of a daughter in bed and appears ill and her mother is holding her head and a thermometer] Represents a parent caring for a teen with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California

Guest post by Dr. Jennifer Johnson What if Your Teen With an Eating Disorder is Sick? One of the most common questions that arise when parents are renourishing a teen with an eating disorder is what to do when they get sick. Parents are sometimes totally overwhelmed when that happens. Some families may back off …

Read more

Skip to content