by Cheryl Scott

Created on: October 05, 2009   Last Updated: July 09, 2010

Counseling a person with an eating disorder can be tricky, however, the strategies found in this article can aide you in treating this person with a complicated psychiatric disorder with competence and success.  Eating Disorders can be well managed by the prudent counselor knowing just the right steps to take.  

The first step in counseling a person with an eating disorder is to immediately elicit the help of other professionals in a team approach.  These professionals can give you support as well as advice on treating your sensitive patient.  Each member of the treatment team should provide their own treatment goals for you to include in your case management plan.

TREATMENT TEAM
1.  Medical doctor:  Add to your team immediately a Medical Doctor to monitor the health of your patient and prescribe medical treatment as necessary.  Eating Disorders carry the highest morbidity rate of any psychiatric disorder.  
2.  Psychologist:  A Psychologist is helpful in your treatment team because eating disordered patients will likely require a full psychological assessment to rule out the presence of other related disorders or syndromes.  A psychological report will additionally provide baseline functioning statistics and suggestions for planning a behaviorally based treatment option.  
3.  Other Specialists:  Physical Therapists for patients with muscle loss and weakened bones; Dietitians for patients with minimal understanding of good diet choices;  Nurses can monitor overall progress and substitute for some other professions depending upon their own particular education and specialization.

The second step in counseling a person wth an eating disorder is to write a detailed treatment plan and have the patient sign the document.  Eating disordered patients at some level need 'rewiring' and 'rewriting' of old ways.  Your plan will need to be specific and detailed spelling out the consequences, both good and bad, for keeping to the plan.  

TREATMENT PLAN
1.  Session frequency and duration:  Where will you meet, in your office or the nearby park?  When will you meet, how many times per month or week?  
2.  Health Management:  Because the worst thing to do with an Eating Disorded patient is mention 'weight', you will want to de-empasize this treatment management into a more managable statement related to mainting healthy bodily functions in general, weight only

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