The Stages of Eating Disorder Treatment

There are three fundamental stages of eating disorder recovery. When starting treatment, patients understandably believe they are coming just to fix their eating symptoms and are often surprised and confused at how personal, emotional and transformative the process turns out to be.

The first stage is normalization of eating. The focus is on creating a new meal plan to follow throughout the day. The changes in daily food are very challenging. First, people expend enormous effort to counter the eating disorder expectations and eat food regularly often when they’re not even hungry. The purpose of this stage is to train one’s body to get used to regular eating, ensure improved health and stabilize any physical and mental symptoms attributable to disordered eating.

The second stage disentangles the eating disorder rules, thoughts and mandates from daily life. Eating disorders often start at a young age and become a significant tool people use to cope with life. Although there are many initial triggers for an eating disorder, over time the behaviors become central to how people function. Disordered eating or thoughts about food become the primary way to manage life’s ups and downs, especially to tamp down emotions. This stage enables people to understand how the eating disorder functions in their life and to learn new ways to travel through their days.

The third stage entails letting go more fully of the eating disorder. Even after significant success in the second stage, people are loath to let go of the sense of accomplishment, relief or comfort the eating disorder provides. Even though eating disorder symptoms often cause physical and emotional suffering, the concomitant benefits are enticing and have been a mainstay of daily life for a long time. Despite the benefits of recovery, letting go of the eating disorder feels like a loss, even the mourning of a central part of life. This stage demands learning how to rely on other people and on oneself more fully. It feels exposing and frightening.

The personal transformation of recovery is most evident in the last stage but traverses all the stages. Eating disorder treatment forces the patient to look inward and search for the purpose and meaning of their lives and to better understand who they really are. With the knowledge of what recovery entails, patients can be more prepared for the road that will take them forward in their lives.