Initial Evaluation - The initial assessment focuses on psychological, social and medical factors that may have contributed to the eating disorder. An individualized treatment plan is designed based on the specific needs and behaviors of each patient. Length of stay is determined by the patient's health status and progress in the treatment process.

Psychiatric Consultaion - Each patient is provided with a psychiatric evaluation soon after admission. The consultation provides a thorough review of current medications and any plans for adjustments. The clinical interview includes measures of personality and eating disorder behaviors and attitudes.

Medical Care - To ensure medical stability, patients are evaluated initially and thereafter as deemed appropriate by the clinic’s physician.

Individual Nutrition Counseling - Nutrition counseling is provided a minimum of once per week (and more frequently if appropriate) to all patients. Nutrition counseling includes a review of progress in achieving nutrition goals established in the treatment plan. Individual sessions also involve identifying, teaching, and developing needed skills in the areas of food and nutrition, improving the ability for self-care.

Individual Psychotherapy - Individual psychotherapy is conducted by our group therapists. Each patient is assigned a primary therapist and meets with her/him at least once per week for a full session of individual psychotherapy. Early in the stay, more frequent meetings may be typical. Individual psychotherapy serves several purposes:

1. Initially, it is a safe place for the patient to discuss concerns that she/he cannot yet relay in the group setting. The therapist can help guide the patient as to how issues can be safely and productively introduced to the group and can provide reassurance regarding the confidentiality of sharing in a group setting. The therapist can also give feedback about the commonality of most of the concerns a patient may fear sharing with the group.
2. Throughout the stay, individual therapy is the setting in which the practical goals and objectives of the treatment plan are formulated and updated as needed. This includes the objectives involving medical and psychological treatments after discharge, and vocational, educational, and residential discharge plans.
3. The individual therapists are full-time staff of the clinic, and are thus available to help patients problem solve urgent issues that may arise on a given day. As often as possible, therapists avoid discussing issues that involve other members privately and encourage the patient to bring up concerns in the group setting. Similarly, therapists are aware of the very common tendency for patients to prefer to discuss many issues privately and to develop close relationships with their therapists and are prepared to redirect patients to the group in such cases.

Group Psychotherapy - This group is scheduled daily, and is considered to be an integral part of the treatment program as it addresses:

1. Interpersonal difficulties linked with the eating disorder;
2. Emotional regulation difficulties contributing to the exacerbation of the disorder;
3. Low self esteem which prevents recovery.

Community Meeting & Wrap-Up Group - The morning community meeting focuses on how patients have coped outside of program hours, triggers, or supports that helped them. At the end of the program day, a wrap-up group focuses on how patients have coped during that day and plan for the evening or, on Friday, for the weekend.

Expressive Therapy Groups - Expressive Therapy groups emphasize nonverbal forms of expression. These experiential groups, such as art therapy, journaling workshop, and poetry therapy, help the patient identify, release and transform perceptions of their situation. Yoga/Meditation is also offered twice weekly to promote body awareness and encouraging patients to connect with their bodies rather than ignoring them, as is common among individuals with eating disorders.

Educational Groups/Focus Groups - These are didactic groups which provide skills in areas such as nutrition, stress management, anger management, self esteem, body image, and relapse prevention.  The benefits of educational groups are manifold. 

The Nutrition Education and Recovery groups cover a broad spectrum of issues and include education regarding the multiple causes of eating disorders, set-point theory, and the physiological regulation of body weight. 

Family Therapy - Some patients may benefit from family therapy and/or family education sessions to address underlying issues contributing to the eating disorder, and/or to educate families about the eating disorder and how they may effectively support their family members.

Body Work - In conjunction of overall treatment goals, patients may be recommended for individualized sessions exploring the body/mind connection, which may include massage therapy and/or gentle Shiatsu.

EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a technique originally designed to assist patients who have experienced trauma in releasing trauma held within the body.  EMDR is used when appropriate within the program as a way to reduce anxiety.  All patients referred to EMDR are screened using the Dissociative Experience Scale.  Those scaling higher than “30” on the DES are provided alternative coping skills. (Due to the level of this partial hospitalization program, EMDR is not used to address the original trauma.)

Leisure/Life Skills Development - On Saturday mornings, activities are scheduled to provide opportunities to enhance healthy lifestyles.  Activities may include grocery shopping, eating out at local restaurants, shopping for clothes, etc.