Healing Happens Here:
Real Progress, Real Outcomes

We measure outcomes to ensure clients receive the highest-quality, evidence-based care. Outcomes help us understand what interventions work best, track meaningful improvements over time, strengthen clinical practices, and maintain transparency with clients and families. They also help us contribute to national conversations about eating disorder recovery by sharing real-world results.

Outcome data gives clients and families clear insight into treatment progress, what changes to expect, and how symptoms typically respond to care. It also reassures families that treatment is effective, supports shared decision-making, and offers a framework for discussing goals, progress, and next steps with the care team.

We gather outcomes using validated tools at admission and discharge across all major levels of care. Clients complete questionnaires measuring symptom severity, quality of life, and mental health. Results are compiled across states and programs to understand both individual progress and system-wide clinical effectiveness.

Outcomes data is reviewed continuously. Clinicians analyze individual results during treatment, leadership reviews aggregate outcomes each cycle, and program-level data informs quality improvement initiatives. This ensures real-time insight into trends and supports ongoing clinical excellence.

Yes. The tools we use—EDE-Q, EDQoL, PHQ-9—are designed to capture core features of eating disorders and related mental health challenges. They align closely with what clients describe in therapy, allowing us to validate lived experiences with measurable, reliable data.

The EDE-Q is a 28-item questionnaire that measures eating disorder thoughts and behaviors. It evaluates restraint, eating concerns, shape concerns, and weight concerns. Higher scores reflect more severe symptoms. At discharge, clients consistently show decreases across all subscales, indicating meaningful symptom improvement.

Eating disorder symptoms can consume daily life—meals, social interactions, relationships, and self-esteem. When EDE-Q scores decrease, clients typically report more mental space, less anxiety around food, fewer compulsive thoughts, and greater ability to engage in recovery-oriented behaviors and relationships.

Yes. Adolescents often present with different patterns of symptoms, and their scores can shift differently depending on developmental stage and family involvement. Across both groups, however, we consistently see significant symptom improvement by discharge, reflecting strong treatment response.

A clinically significant change is a measurable reduction large enough to indicate meaningful improvement in daily functioning and symptom burden. At The Emily Program, most clients experience decreases that move them from the clinical range toward normative or subclinical ranges.

The EDQoL measures how eating disorders affect everyday life. It assesses psychological, physical/cognitive, work/school, and financial impacts. Because eating disorders influence far more than food, this tool helps us understand recovery beyond symptom reduction.

True recovery means being able to live fully—engaging in relationships, school, work, hobbies, and daily routines. Improvements in EDQoL scores reflect gains in self-esteem, energy, connection, and emotional presence, all of which are essential for sustainable healing.

Yes. Across levels of care, clients report improvements in psychological wellbeing, daily functioning, energy, and personal satisfaction. These improvements often mirror the decreases we see in EDE-Q and PHQ-9 scores, showing holistic progress across mind and body.

The PHQ-9 measures symptoms of depression, including mood, interest in activities, sleep, energy, concentration, appetite, and feelings of worthlessness. For adolescents, it also screens for suicidal thoughts to support safety and timely intervention.

Depression and eating disorders often occur together. Measuring depression helps us monitor emotional wellbeing, adjust treatment as needed, and ensure clients receive comprehensive mental health support alongside eating disorder care.

Yes. Most clients begin treatment with moderate or severe depression symptoms. After receiving integrated therapy, psychiatric support, and nutritional rehabilitation, PHQ-9 scores drop significantly, showing meaningful mental health improvement.

Our outcomes represent clients across Minnesota, Washington, Ohio, and—soon—North Carolina and Georgia. Data comes from inpatient, residential, PHP/IDP, and outpatient programs using validated tools collected at admission and discharge.

In 2024, outcomes included hundreds of clients across residential, PHP, and IOP programs. These samples are large enough to provide reliable insights and reflect trends across different ages, diagnoses, and treatment settings.

Yes. The EDE-Q, EDQoL, and PHQ-9 are widely used, validated clinical measures supported by decades of research. They are considered best practice in both academic and clinical settings for monitoring eating disorder treatment progress.

We analyze outcomes across states, levels of care, and ages to ensure consistency and identify opportunities for improvement. Comparing outcomes helps maintain quality and supports individualized program development.

Patterns can vary across diagnoses like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, OSFED, and ARFID. But across all groups, we consistently see symptom improvement, enhanced quality of life, and better mental health.

Adolescents often improve rapidly with strong family involvement, while adults typically show steady, sustained gains. Both groups demonstrate significant improvements by discharge across all measurement tools.

Absolutely. Eating disorders and depression often reinforce each other. When clients restore nutrition, build coping skills, and address underlying emotional factors, we typically see improvements across both symptom and mood measures.

Clients often report improved energy, clearer thinking, less anxiety at meals, and greater emotional stability before they notice larger shifts in body image or self-esteem. Small early changes often signal the beginning of sustainable recovery.

Improvement varies by diagnosis and level of care, but many clients begin to notice meaningful changes within the first few weeks of treatment. Structured meals, therapy, medical support, and daily routines accelerate early gains.

Yes. Many clients continue improving with outpatient care, support groups, family involvement, and skill practice. Sustained recovery is a long-term process, and outcomes often continue upward after leaving structured programs.

Yes. Along with medical, nutritional, and psychiatric assessments, outcome measures help clinicians understand the severity of symptoms and functioning. This information guides recommendations for the safest and most effective level of care.

Clinicians often discuss progress with clients as part of collaborative treatment planning. Reviewing outcomes can help clients understand growth, set goals, and notice improvements they may not feel day to day.

Families may hear about progress in family sessions, depending on client preference, age, and program. Outcomes can support conversations about safety, progress, and next steps.

Clinicians consider outcomes, medical stability, safety, and skill readiness when planning discharge. Improvements in symptoms, functioning, and mood help determine readiness to transition to the next level of care.

You can begin by calling 888-364-5977, completing an online assessment request, or visiting our Begin Recovery page. Our admissions team will guide you through next steps, insurance verification, scheduling, and matching you with the right level of care.