Five Tips for Parents with an Eating Disordered Adolescent

Glenn Munt is a very experienced Eating Disorder therapist and has worked with more than 450 young people with Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa and their families over the past 18 years. Almost all these clients make a good recovery.

The Family Based Treatment Program for adolescent eating disorders is very effective in most cases. Its effectiveness depends on several factors.

Firstly, and most importantly, both parents are able to work very closely together to deliver the program, especially to provide calm and consistent supervision at meal times with a steady focus on weight restoration. There is a cessation of exercise until weight is restored and usually school attendance is limited or stops completely for the first two weeks of the program.

  Secondly, parents need to be able to take charge of everything related to food so the young person with the disorder is saved from having to make what can be quite paralyzing decisions. An example might be that the young person with the disorder does not participate in shopping for food. This experience for them can be quite challenging as they often feel compelled to study the food panel on each item to determine which contains the least calories.

Thirdly, parents need to be able to strictly adhere to the program guidelines, especially in the beginning, for example, negotiating with the young person with the disorder about meal preparation and composition, portion size and cooking methods is not helpful to their recovery.

Fourthly, it is essential that parents are able to clearly hold in mind that their child has a life-threatening illness that they did not ask for and need a lot of help with during their recovery. So finding ways to be kind to their child while remaining firm with the eating disorder is also essential.

Finally, parents should take advantage of the support available from the initial weekly therapy sessions Eating Disorders Therapist and out-of-session phone consultations which I encourage, especially in the first 5 weeks of the program but are welcome at any time during the course of the therapy which generally takes 9-12 months to complete.