Eating Disorder Treatment Center Gives Advice for Families of Anorexic and Bulimic Girls and Women

The Victorian of Newport Beach is a world renown eating disorder treatment center in Newport Beach California that has provided counseling and guidance to women who who suffer from eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overeating for many years.

In recent years, the Victorian has become known for family counseling as well as treating the entire family by involving them in therapeutic processes and helping them to set boundaries can increase success rates for treating eating disorders.

Dr. Barbara Cole is the Clinical Director of the Victorian and has written a seminal book on the treatment of eating disorders called The Eating Disorder Solution (Tafford Publishing, 2006).  She states that  "The healthiest thing families can do for someone who is suffering with an eating disorder is to first educate themselves as to where the anorexia, bulimia, or compulsive overeating originated from."

The treatment of eating disorders has progressively evolved to include the family in it as the results are more and more desirable in cases where the family participates.  The Victorian offers tools like an eating disorder quiz to help families approach the sisters, daughters, or mothers who they think may have an eating disorder.  There is also information on the Victorian website about the various eating disorders and topics like pregnant anorexia.

Some of the advice that Dr. Barbara Cole and the Victorian Staff give to families includes:

1. Be Understanding.  The eating disorder is a symptom that the girl or woman is experiencing a need to feel in control.  There may be many different factors contributing to this need but it is good for the family to learn more about the treatment process and that there are underlying issues at play.  It is helpful to address underlying issues and get them out in the open, but the process of recovering from an eating disorder is not aided by guilt, shame, or blame so the therapeutic process is centered on healing not blaming.

2. Take a Team Approach. It is wise to have the family involved with the eating disorder treatment team so that boundaries and rules can all be agreed upon and members of the family can keep each other accountable for their end of the bargain.  Per Dr. Barbara Cole, "... to stop an eating disorder, each family member must decide if they are going to be an ally or an enemy of the eating disorder..." Since family members always think what they are doing is in the best interest of the girl suffering from an eating disorder, it is helfpul for the treatment staff at the Victorian top educated families on what behaviors are useful and what are destructive. 

3. Avoid Negativity.  One of the foundational tenets of the The Eating Disorder Solution is that only positive reinforcement is used in the treatment of the eating disorder.  This is one of the reasons that Barbara Cole's method is known as the No Resistance Method to treating eating disorders.  The staff at the Victorian is adept at helping parents and family members understand how little things like body language and facial expressions can contribute to the negative reinforcement that can be detrimental to the healing process.

4. Get Clinical Help - and Fast! An eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia, or binging/purging can be fatal if not treated.  Eating disorders are among the most powerful, consuming and fatal of all mental health problems.  Parents and family members can exarcebate the situation if they try to confront the woman without learning more about the proven techniques of treating ED.  Often, the best thing to do in response is not the most intuitive and every situation requires a unique approach that an eating disorder professional can assist with.  There are many signs that can indicate an eating disorder and the Victorian website has information that can help including a thought provoking eating disorder quiz.

For more information, or a confidential assessment, please call 888-268-9182.