There are many treatment options for anyone with anorexia to use. There are some barriers to entry for professional therapy due to the cost but even if you don’t have health insurance, call your local clinics to find out about sliding scale fees and payment plans. The treatment doesn’t have to last forever and is a good investment in your health and future.
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
This is an excellent way to approach therapy if you want someone to get well fast. This type of treatment does not focus on your thoughts or feelings, but rather on the actions you can do to get well.
You’ll be encouraged to let go of your emotions, becoming more stoic about your feelings so that you can deal with them better. For example, in ACT, you may learn that you need to eat 2400 calories a day in various combinations. Instead of focusing on how that makes you feel, you’ll simply focus on the act of doing it.
The goal with ACT is to improve health so that you will feel better physically, and then you can work on other issues.
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Cognitive Behavior Therapy
This type of therapy is probably what comes to mind when you think of treatment. You’ll focus on your beliefs, values, and mindset surrounding your disordered eating behaviors. You’ll try to make your mind believe the truth about your weight, shape, and appearance so that you don’t have body dysmorphia causing you to withhold food.
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Cognitive Remediation Therapy
This type of therapy seeks to help you focus on letting go of rigid thinking, while helping you express your feelings when you have them surrounding food and eating.
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy
This treatment option focuses on changing the behaviors that lead to illness with those that are healthier. You’ll focus on mindfulness, building strong interpersonal relationships regulating your emotions, and learning to tolerate normal life stress.
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Family-Based Treatment
Some people with anorexia may need their entire family to undergo treatment. The FBT focuses on ensuring the patient eats enough and gains their full weight. Everyone in the family has to learn better communication methods and coping strategies. This type of treatment usually involves the entire family together and individually going to a therapist, and then focusing on ensuring the anorexic eats a prescribed diet.
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Inpatient Treatment
Some people need to be treated in a hospital setting due to the severity of their issues. In most cases, this will involve feeding with an IV or other types of tubes to ensure proper nutrition even if the patient will not eat.
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Outpatient Treatment
Most of the time, any of the above treatments can be accomplished on an outpatient basis with the help of a trained therapist and the entire family. Since often more than one member of the family is affected, this can be a great option.
The main thing you need to know about getting treated for any eating disorder is that treatment works. Any of the options above can work for the individual affected. Choosing the right therapy will put the patient in control of getting well, at least once physical health has been gained through feeding.