Eating Disorder Treatment

Family members often struggle with understanding eating disorders.

Even when family members have the best intentions, there can be misunderstandings and difficulties seeing another family member starve or hurt themselves. This often contributes to family power struggles. Consequently, the individual with the eating disorder might also view family members as controlling or intrusive.

According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT):

“Eating disorders may develop if a person has no other way to speak or represent feelings. Frequently family dynamics, problematic communication patterns, losses, or stresses like abuse have contributed to negative feelings the person could not deal with directly. It is never a simple matter that can be solved by just telling the person to eat. The symptoms have become the individual’s way to avoid facing problems more directly or are an attempt to feel in control when the rest of life feels out of control.”

Eating disorders can exist on a spectrum from mild to life threatening. Without proper treatment and therapy for eating disorders, they rarely go away on their own. As with many mental health conditions, getting help is often viewed as a stigma; a weakness and many resist coming to therapy for many years after the initial symptoms arise. Family member involvement in treatment is key to building long term solutions that result in changing systemic, behavioral patterns that inadvertently contribute to and maintain the eating disordered behavior.

Several of our therapists in Eugene have inpatient and outpatient experience in eating disorder treatment.