Choosing the Right Eating Disorder Treatment

The array of eating disorder treatment has grown significantly in recent years and the new options are even more numerous since the pandemic began.

In years prior, one of the biggest hurdles in outpatient eating disorder treatment was the lack of options. There were few residential treatment programs, ill-equipped hospital programs and a limited number of clinicians who treated people with eating disorders. Outpatient programs had limited insurance coverage and were inaccessible to most people across the country. Just finding any care was the biggest challenge.

Prior to the start of the pandemic, several financial firms bought the most successful eating disorder programs and used the brand to expand rapidly across the country. The programs tried to institute the philosophy of these small programs to the new franchises, but the rapid growth combined with inexperienced staff lowered the quality of care almost immediately.

Virtual care, in its infancy only a few years ago, exploded both due to the pandemic and the continued expectation that remote treatment is an option. Accordingly, many of the new programs offer remote outpatient care, and clinicians do more remote work than ever before. There are even some new programs designed only for virtual care started in the last year.

Another change is the continued growth of eating disorder coaches, people often without formal training but skilled in a variety of supports and able to work around the formal relationships between clinicians and patients/clients.

Questions abound, and even the most diligent patients and families are quickly overwhelmed by the options. It’s necessary yet difficult to individualize treatment now more than ever. There is no one size fits all. Despite the lack of access several years ago, at least the options were much more clear. Now there appear to be unlimited options and no way to make any reasonable decisions.

Here are a few guidelines.

1. Use hospital and residential treatment sparingly and primarily for medical and nutrition stabilization. Few programs have clinicians experienced enough to further the psychological part of recovery.
2. Research outpatient programs thoroughly focusing on two things: the experience of the staff and the clinical focus of the program.
3. Individualize the outpatient team. There are so many more options now so the standard therapist and dietitian may not be the best choice anymore. Creativity may be more beneficial.

Overall people need to think hard about treatment decisions. Programs just recommend more treatment often to bolster the bottom line. Individual clinicians may have more perspective. Treatment is available to most people now, which is a needed change, and finding the right fit can make all the difference for recovery.