The Changing Face of Eating Disorder Treatment in Recent Years

In many ways eating disorder treatment has improved over the last 15-20 years. Despite the concerns I often express here in this blog, it’s important to recognize the progress.

First and foremost, the most significant change is increased access to care. Fifteen years ago one ever present problem was available options for higher levels of care. There were very few hospital and residential programs. Waitlists were long. The best treatment often involved travel across the country. Insurance didn’t cover most care. Accordingly, most people could not even consider more intensive treatment and had very limited options. Now there are many more programs, many of which accept insurance, and major metropolitan areas often have many treatment options. Rural areas are still limited, but virtual treatment is starting to fill in that gap too.

More comprehensive care opens the door to treating people with eating disorders through the day and in their homes. Traditional mental health care involved a handful of appointments per week to address the eating disorder. Since thoughts and behaviors are pervasive, outpatient treatment ignored the need for ongoing care through the week at home. Eating disorder coaches, meal support and virtual programs and groups fill in the gaps of support throughout the day for people in recovery. These new options create an environment at home much more able to promote recovery.

Last many more clinicians have experience treating people with eating disorder. Because there are more treatment programs, there also are more opportunities to train younger providers to learn how to help people with eating disorders. Over time there also is increased availability of these providers in the community—a significant change from a few decades ago.

The one element of treatment that is not prevalent enough is the kind of treatment known to be most beneficial. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most studied treatment modality for people with eating disorders, yet this approach is neither used nor taught regularly. Addressing eating disorder thoughts and behaviors in a systematic way using CBT provides structure and direction for therapy that is invaluable. Let’s hope that using this approach becomes more recognized, taught and used by the growing eating disorder clinical community.