Posts Tagged “For Providers”

Valentine’s Day may be commercialized and over-hyped. For some it’s an obligatory gift-giving day, for others it’s a reminder of a broken heart or an unclear relationship status. But for those who do choose to celebrate, the holiday is an occasion to recognize love in all its forms.

This Valentine’s week, we’re exploring love in the context of the relationships we have with ourselves. Like other types of love, self-love is an action we practice and develop, one cultivated through self-compassion. And self-compassion bestows physical and mental health benefits worth celebrating in this season of love and beyond.

The holiday season is upon us, and while it often brings joy and celebration, it also presents challenges for individuals with eating disorders. With food-centric gatherings, disrupted eating routines, and a surge in diet conversations, it’s no wonder this time of year can be particularly tough for those struggling with food.

As a provider, you have the power to recognize the symptoms of disordered eating and eating disorders and connect them with the care they need. In this blog, we’ll explore the challenges faced by those with eating disorders during the holidays and discuss ways providers can offer support to those struggling.

The benefits of athletics are well-established. Participating in organized sports can help you build self-esteem, recognize the value of teamwork, set the foundation for a lifelong physical activity practice, improve mental health, promote social connections, open the doorway for scholarships or even a career, and teach important life skills, such as goal-setting and leadership.

However, these positive outcomes come with an important caveat. The pressures of athletic competition and the emphasis many sports place on body weight, shape, and size can contribute to psychological and physical stress. For individuals naturally predisposed to eating disorders, these stressors can be a tipping point into disordered territory.

Athletes frequently experience diminishing returns from disordered habits like restrictive dieting and over-training. Although it can be difficult for an athlete to step away from their sport, pursuing treatment increases their likelihood of safely returning—and can be lifesaving. Coaches, parents, teammates, and providers have a critical role in ensuring athletes are prioritized over the sport. Understanding the risks athletes face is key to providing preventative support.

Pause for a moment. Take a deep breath in. Now, exhale it all out. The prospect of beginning residential treatment for an eating disorder can be anxiety-provoking, overwhelming, and even terrifying. Whether you’re about to start treatment for the first time, are a returning client who has received treatment in the past at a different level of care, or are helping your loved one or patient prepare for their admission to residential treatment, intense emotions and uncertainty surrounding the start of treatment are understandable.

At The Emily Program, we’ve designed our residential treatment programs to accommodate all the apprehension that may come with this brave leap into the unknown. Residential care offers around-the-clock structure and ongoing skill development, with a focus on personalized support from our multidisciplinary care team. The Emily Program’s residential treatment centers are places of hope and healing. Learn about the variety of interventions we offer in residential care, designed to bring lasting recovery within reach.

ARFID Treatment

As a provider, you know that noticing changes in your patient’s behavior is crucial to providing proper care. Perhaps you’ve recently come across a patient who shows a lack of appetite or little interest in food. Maybe they’re restricting the amount or type of foods they eat, but it doesn’t appear tied to any body image concerns. Perhaps your patient has always been a picky eater and has not “outgrown” this behavior as they have aged. You might also have noticed physical symptoms like significant weight loss, slow growth or delayed puberty, or signs of malnutrition such as anemia or vitamin deficiencies.

These symptoms could be signs of an eating disorder called Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). While not as well known as other eating disorders, ARFID is just as serious and valid as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Each diagnosis requires its own unique treatment plan and ARFID is no different.

If you recognize the signs of ARFID and refer your patient to a specialty eating disorder treatment center like The Emily Program, you may be wondering what happens next. Gain some insight into ARFID and how ARFID is treated at The Emily Program so you can continue to support your patients through their healing journey.

Episode description:

Kathryn Garland and Vanessa Scaringi join Peace Meal to discuss the connection between attachment styles and the development and maintenance of eating disorders. They first provide an overview of attachment theory, exploring how this framework can help us better understand the impact of early attachment experiences on our relationships with food and ourselves. Insecure attachment styles, they explain, are associated with eating disorders and can manifest in disordered behaviors and thoughts. Kathryn and Vanessa share how therapists can help clients address attachment-related issues and nurture secure connections with family and friends that support recovery.  

Kathryn and Vanessa also dive into the impact of the pandemic on our ability to connect with others, which in turn has played a role in exacerbating disordered eating behaviors. In addition, they explain how a relational approach to eating disorder care can complement other treatment modalities, including cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). They end the episode by stressing the importance of connection to good mental health and encouraging those in recovery to take the time they need to nurture their relationships, both with others and themselves.

The back-to-school season can trigger unique stressors and anxieties for students, especially those struggling with their relationship with food and their bodies. It’s important to remain on the lookout for signs of an eating disorder in your adolescent patients during this busy time of year.

Your role in supporting your patients with eating disorders cannot be overstated. By remaining compassionate and committed to your patients’ well-being, you have the ability to intervene early when you notice signs of an eating disorder, thereby improving treatment outcomes and reducing the risk of long-term harm. 

Read on to learn why the back-to-school season can be a catalyst for eating disorders and what you can do to help your patients.

Nine percent of the world’s population will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime, with the most common age of onset being between 12–25 (STRIPED/Volpe et. al., 2016). Healthcare providers like you are instrumental in getting young patients the care they need early on. The sooner an eating disorder is caught, the better the treatment outcomes. 

But what happens after you’ve recognized the symptoms and referred your patient for specialized care? In this blog, we will explore the assessment process for eating disorders in children and adolescents, shedding light on the diagnostic criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).