19.5.10

Treatment Planning and Action Steps Against Eating Disorders By Badshah Salamat

* Do not attempt to treat an individual whose symptoms are affecting her health.
* A girl whose eating disorder is endangering her life or well-being should be in the hospital or an inpatient treatment program.
* Even if the eating disordered person must be hospitalized, there is still a family that is hurting. Focus on them and their needs. Help them to avoid blaming themselves or their child. Help them instead to have hope for recovery.
* Keep reminding everyone involved that God is always working and there is always hope for recovery. Eating disorders are very difficult, but not impossible to overcome.
* Watch for evidence of suicidal feelings (see section on Suicide) and get help immediately if you see signs.
* If the behavior has gone on for some time, you will do best to seek the assistance of a professional who is a specialist in eating disorders. The young woman's health Will continue to be compromised until she gets help.
Action Steps
1. Identify a target weight
* It is important to identify an ideal weight and target weight. Ideal weight refers to the best weight for the person when the persons height and body type are taken into account. The body mass index (often abbreviated as BMI) is the most accurate measure of ideal weight, but few persons can easily work with this index.
* A target weight is the lowest safe weight; it is the bare minimum you want someone with an eating disorder to be at. Target weight is calculated as 90 percent of midpoint of the ideal weight. It is best to have agreement on a target weight with a doctor or dietician because persons with eating disorders often try to negotiate this number.
2. Focus on relationships
* You will want to build a positive relationship with the person. Those with eating disorders tend to have a very hard time being open and accepting help. You will need much patience and you will need to be willing to speak the truth. Let the young woman know that she must be willing to hear the truth.
* Encourage family members to show unconditional love to the eating disordered person. Do not criticize or compare or ask questions in a manner that causes the person to feel condemned.
* Healing relationships with people and with God are essential to the recovery process.
3. Take the focus off of food
* Unless the girl is in immediate danger from starvation or electrolyte problems, examine what weight loss means to this person, what eating stands for, and what she most fears about eating.
* Help the family to take the focus of food at home. They need to see that focusing on food is part of the problem, not the solution.
4. Watch for triggers
* Help her to see what triggers her binging behaviors and try to identify situations that aggravate it.
* Help her to see what is behind her actions. Chances are, some kind of anxiety and stress is driving these actions.
5. Change thinking Patterns
* Gently question the girls thinking. Help her begin to see the lies behind the behaviors that are trapping her.
6. Examine Perfectionism
* Examine her perfectionism. Chances are she holds herself to standards to which she does not hold her loved ones.
* Help her to examine these standards and how they square with God's truth revealed in Scripture.
7. Keep a Journal
* Encourage the person to write in a journal about her feelings and the events of each day. She may have difficulty identifying feelings. Help her to view her feelings as normal and acceptable.
Take help of web counselor.
eCounseling.com is the leading provider of online counseling and telephone counseling technologies, and exists to connect people who hurt with people who help, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. eCounseling.com was created by counselors who perceived a need for better online counseling methods. eCounseling.com now boasts a full range of distance and in-person counseling capabilities in video and text chat, HIPAA-compliant secure email, and fully searchable counselor listings, all organized strategically around the top 40 most commonly seen counseling issues. Its directors include Dr. Badshah Salamat, who practices therapy at Thrive Boston Counseling, and Ryan Neace, of the nearly 50,000-member American Association of Christian Counselors.

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