1. Address the Illness Through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
One of the most successful eating-disorder treatments for children and adolescents is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Helping kids realize that damaging thoughts and emotions are spurring their harmful eating behaviors, CBT therapists train children to avoid irrational thought patterns and reframe their emotions in a positive light. Your CBT therapist may also teach your child to use breathing and relaxation exercises to eliminate harmful thoughts and emotional patterns before they result in negative food behaviors.
2. Examine Social Functioning With Interpersonal Psychotherapy
Like CBT, interpersonal psychotherapy is a short-term form of psychological counseling. The therapist's goal is to help your child identify and repair unhealthy relationships that contribute to his eating disorder. This kind of treatment helps kids recognize how relationships and personal problems play a role in compulsive overeating and starvation behaviors. For example, your child may turn to food when he feels sad, isolated or unable to make friends. Interpersonal psychotherapy helps children learn how to develop friendships and improve social skills with the hope that positive relationships can eventually take the place of eating dysfunction.
3. Create a Food Framework Through Nutritional Counseling
Eating disorders involve psychiatric, medical and nutritional problems, and nutritional intervention is especially important when dealing with children struggling with anorexia, bulimia or similar diseases. In this type of therapy, a dietitian or medical staff member meets with your child to teach her healthy eating habits and develop fun food menus. These nutritional counseling sessions are also designed to help children learn to eat normally, so they can recognize physiological hunger signals instead of associating food with fear, guilt or obsession.
4. Supplement Therapy With Pharmaco-Intervention
While medication isn't a simple solution to the complexity of an eating disorder, your child's psychiatrists or physicians may decide to integrate it into his existing rehab program. Antidepressants can elevate your child's serotonin levels, improving his mood and lowering his frustration levels. Other medicines, like tricyclics, anti-anxiety drugs and mood stabilizers, may be helpful for some kids. Additional medications may be prescribed to your child to treat physical complications caused by his eating disorder, including impaired kidney function, cardiac arrhythmia or gastrointestinal problems.
5. Enroll in a Residential-Care Facility
Don't be afraid to seek more aggressive therapy for your child. Some children suffering from eating disorders need inpatient care with a supervised environment and comprehensive psychiatric and medical programs. These residential options often provide counseling assistance and educational materials for family members as well. Inpatient programs are especially helpful for children with severe medical complications or relapsing habits, since they offer 24/7 care in a supportive, nurturing environment. To find a residential treatment facility in your area, visit the United States Department of Health and Human Services National Mental Health Information Center.
