What to Expect from The Emily Program’s Residential Treatment
The Emily Program provides treatment at multiple levels of care, from outpatient programs to around-the-clock residential care.
Last year, we opened a third adult residential program in Seattle, joining the others located in Cleveland and St. Paul. We also have an adolescent residential program in the Twin Cities.
Through residential care, we are able to work with both local and distant communities to provide treatment to those who require a high intensity of care.
Residential treatment is recommended for those at significant risk from their eating disorder. Medical complications, such as cardiac and kidney concerns, are common, as well as weakness, fatigue, and malnutrition. Residential treatment also may be recommended when behaviors are so common and invasive that they can’t be addressed by a lower level of care.
Making the decision to go to residential care is often fraught with worry, concern, and fear about being away from home. And preparing for residential care is often complicated. It may require taking time away from work or school and often there are family details that need to be addressed prior to attending. Many times, a person needs to prepare for residential in somewhat of a hurry, so life details may even be put on the back burner until they are able to get healthy.
However, residential care is typically a very positive experience and offers the most rapid success, because of an environment in which meals are structured and supervised and therapeutic interventions occur seven days a week, all organized around the client’s eating disorder and treatment. Clients can expect to experience a feeling of community support with residents and staff who are committed to their welfare.
After residential treatment, clients can expect the ability to decrease eating disorder behaviors, feed themselves, eat meals prepared by others, and reduce the chance of eating disorder behaviors before and after meals. Attending residential treatment does involve acceptance—acceptance of an intensive level of care for rapid recovery and acceptance of some interruption in life to achieve full health.
Offering residential treatment allows for more seamless care at The Emily Program, and by offering them in three different states, our hope is to keep clients as close to home as possible. We know it’s important to have family and friends remain involved in treatment.
By providing a full range of care, we can help make it the shortest stay possible so clients can step down and return to outpatient care in their community — and step back into life — as quickly as possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Warren, MD
Mark Warren is the chief medical officer of The Emily Program. He is also one of the original founders of the Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders, which became The Emily Program – Cleveland in 2014. A Cleveland native, he is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Medical School and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School. He served as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Hospital and Medical Director of University Hospital Health System’s Laurelwood Hospital. A past vice-chair for clinical affairs at the Case School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, he continues on the Clinical Faculty of the Medical School, teaching in both the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. He is currently a faculty member and former chair of the Board of Governors at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. Dr. Warren is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a two-time recipient of the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award of the national Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and a winner of the Woodruff Award. He leads the Males and Eating Disorders special interest group for the Academy of Eating Disorders.