Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

By , Dr. Mark Warren

A few weeks ago we were privileged to attend the Academy for Eating Disorders International Conference in Miami, FL. Not only was this a terrific opportunity to meet with colleagues and friends from around the world, but the conference also showcased a number of sessions about how research translates into clinical practice. There were several presentations on Family Based Therapy (FBT) that we found very impactful and we were fortunate to have conversations outside these formal presentations with several FBT therapists. Some of the practitioners we spoke to expressed frustration at conducting FBT while not having a formal team. We heard from several people who are working to do FBT that they do not have psychiatrists, individual therapists, pediatricians, or dietitians who support the work they are doing. In some ways this information is an extension of what many parents have said in terms of their frustrations in getting evidence based care for their children. It reinforces how difficult it may be to get the best care, even if you have wiling and educated providers. 

At CCED we have been fortunate to have a system where all staff are educated in FBT. The principles of FBT are therefore reinforced at any point of contact. Our sense coming home from this conference is not that it is impossible to do FBT on your own in your community, but the degree of difficulty is certainly higher. From our own experience our relationships with pediatricians, psychiatrists, therapists, and dietitians, who are supportive of FBT is key to our work. Without the reinforcement that the FBT model is most likely to be helpful for their children, the fear, frustration and historical confusion about evidence based care may seep into an otherwise highly qualified therapist’s treatment program. For those of us in Cleveland or other communities where FBT is a well accepted practice, we have a sense of confidence that we can do FBT in the way that has great fidelity to the treatment as originally described. For those in places that do not have that level of support, it left us feeling that the creation of a good relationship with primary care physicians, family doctors, pediatricians, and internists is probably the next important step for therapists and the families they work with to ensure that FBT happens successfully.

For more information on Family Based Treatment please take a look at the following links:

Maudsley Parents 

F.E.A.S.T

Eating with your Anorexic 

Should you have any questions or comments regarding this post, please email blog@eatingdisorderscleveland.org. 

Contributions by Dr. Lucene Wisniewski and Sarah Emerman