Helping Your Child Overcome an Eating Disorder

Description

5 to 10 million adolescents are currently suffering from anorexia or bulimia. Developing a family plan is an essential aspect of helping the child, but hese kids also often have other disorders like depression or anxiety, and many parents feel out of their depth trying to handle all of these issues. The directors of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders offer parents practical and scientifically-supported strategies for intervention that will ultimately return their child to a life of healthy eating. Parents learn how to best communicate with their child about overcoming an eating disorder, access today's cutting-edge cognitive-behavioral treatments, deal with eating and exercise in the home, and take charge of their child's recovery. Parents are equipped with questionnaires that involve the child, checklists for ongoing evaluation, charts for monitoring and developing positive eating patterns, and a "Creating Solutions" section at the end of each chapter. Guidance is offered for finding a good therapist who can help the child change dangerous behaviors and deal with co-occurring issues. Related special issues, such as extreme athleticism and obesity, are also discussed.

Bethany Teachman, Ph.D., is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the former Assistant Director at the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders.

If your child has an eating disorder, this book is for you. In an easy-to-read style, it answers all the right questions, dispelling myths, and educating at the same time. Parents will find it a valuable and reassuring resource.--Chrisopher G. Fairbunr, FRCPsych, FMedSci, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK