Posts Tagged “Services”

Summer can be a hectic time for families. With vacations planned, camps booked, and social gatherings scheduled, your client’s family may hesitate to seek eating disorder treatment. Unfortunately, these illnesses leave no room for putting off care. The “right time” for treatment may, in fact, be this summer — not because the timing is perfect, but because the sooner an eating disorder is treated, the better. 

Eating disorders are severe, potentially life-threatening illnesses. Adolescent clients are particularly vulnerable to their effects, as they are in a critical stage of development physically, emotionally, and mentally. Therefore, it is critical to get your young clients the help they need as quickly as possible. As a healthcare provider, you play an essential role in identifying the signs of an eating disorder and referring young clients to the right resources. Early intervention is crucial to protecting their overall health and achieving positive treatment outcomes. 

The Emily Program, a Specialty Behavioral Health Hospital for children and adolescents with eating disorder diagnoses, now offers nasogastric (NG) tube feeding services for clients determined to be in need of this treatment.

Seeking support for an eating disorder is not only okay, it’s necessary. The longer care is delayed, the longer disordered thought patterns and behaviors have to take root and complicate recovery.

Eating disorder treatment and recovery can (and do) look different for everyone. Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, or background, there is a recovery path for anyone. The Emily Program’s day treatment programs are ideal for many individuals with eating disorders because they allow clients to practice recovery skills in their everyday lives while receiving comprehensive, evidence-based treatment at a higher level of care and structure.

The Emily Program is committed to providing evidence-based treatment that meets you at any stage of life. Breaking free from these all-consuming illnesses is possible. Read on to learn how our day treatment programs promote lasting recovery from an eating disorder.

Accanto Health, the parent company of The Emily Program, Veritas Collaborative, and Gather Behavioral Health, is excited to introduce Dr. Tom Britton as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A seasoned healthcare leader with over 30 years in the behavioral health sector, Dr. Britton brings a wealth of expertise and a deep-seated desire to help individuals find their way to a life of recovery. In this new role, Dr. Britton will oversee ongoing efforts to enrich our evidence-based services, expand our program offerings, and solidify our reputation as preeminent providers within the field of eating disorder specialty care.

The Emily Program is excited to announce that we’ve expanded our services to meet the increasing need for adult residential programming in Ohio. Our new Columbus residential program will provide exceptional, individualized care to adults of all genders struggling with eating disorders.

“We’re thrilled to extend residential care to more individuals in Columbus,” says Site Director Jennifer Beck, LPCC-S. “Eating disorders are serious illnesses, but they are also highly treatable. Access to effective care at the appropriate level is crucial. Residential treatment isn’t widely available in the region, so we’re pleased to fulfill this critical need.”

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.

We at Accanto Health are deeply concerned by the bills being introduced in state houses across the country that single out LGBTQ+ individuals – many specifically targeting transgender youth – for exclusion or differential treatment. The ACLU is currently tracking 420 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. These laws are aimed to limit access to medical care for transgender people, parental rights, social and family services, student sports, or access to public facilities such as restrooms and unnecessarily single out already marginalized groups for additional disadvantage. 

As an inclusive healthcare organization, we strongly believe in every individual’s right to access high-quality care. Emerging data show transgender individuals are at particularly increased risk for eating disordered behaviors. We believe that exclusionary legislation, barriers to care, and societal ostracization is harmful and unjust and will only cause these trends to increase. We are saddened by lawmakers’ refusal to listen to best practices set by the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as many others. We at Accanto stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and strive to create a space that is safe for all, where all are treated with dignity and respect. 

Eating disorders and icebergs are more alike than one might think. Picture an iceberg floating in a vast ocean: You can only see the tip of the iceberg and have no idea of what is under the surface of the water. Most people look at an eating disorder the same way, only seeing what is on the outside. This generally represents the behavioral parts of an eating disorder – changes in weight and eating patterns, excessive exercise patterns, purging, restricting, bingeing, selective eating, and so on – the things that, for the most part, you can see, measure, and quantify.

The most dangerous parts of an eating disorder (and an iceberg) are what you cannot see. Below the surface of an eating disorder are a host of maladaptive thoughts and mental preoccupations, shame, distress, and often feelings of deep isolation. Parents sometimes say, “Well, she gained her weight back or stopped bingeing, so she must be better.” Unfortunately, that is not usually the case. Despite looking better on the outside, they may still be plagued by eating disorder thoughts and feelings.