I just found this on the Maudsley Parents web site. Although preliminary, this is an encouraging step, so I am passing it on. I am sure there will be more to come.
My daughter is 20 and has anorexia nervosa. So far, counseling hasn't helped. She was too sick and depressed to stay at college so we brought her home. We'd like to try family-based treatment and she says she doesn't want to go to a treatment center. Is she too old for this to work?
Angela Celio Doyle, PhD responds:
There is no clear first-line treatment for adults with anorexia at this point in time. However, there is initial support for the Maudsley approach with college-aged individuals. The National Institute of Mental Health highlights three important components in treatment of adults:
1. weight restoration
2. treating the psychological issues related to the eating disorder
3. reducing or eliminating the behaviors or thoughts that lead to disordered eating, along with relapse prevention
The Maudsley approach for young adults fits these criteria and is based on the premise that parents continue to play a major role in their child’s life even when their child is a young adult; this role might involve emotional support and guidance or it could be financial (i.e., parents pay for college). This situation provides an opportunity for parents to help their child recover, although careful attention needs to be paid to their healthy psychosocial development as an increasingly independent young adults.
In a recent case series at The University of Chicago, a small number of young adults were provided the Maudsley approach with some modifications based on their age. The results were positive, overall, with the majority of the patients recovering and returning to school at short-term follow-up. Additionally, the patients and their families reported positive feelings towards the treatment approach. A paper describing the results of this case series is in the process of being reviewed for publication by the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Because this form of the Maudsley approach is still being developed and refined, your best bet would be to seek out treatment with a trained and experienced Maudsley therapist who would be willing to adapt the treatment to an older individual. Additional research using randomized controlled trials will need to be done to determine whether this approach is the best treatment for young adults, however.
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I just found this on the Maudsley Parents web site. Although preliminary, this is an encouraging step, so I am passing it on. I am sure there will be more to come.
My daughter is 20 and has anorexia nervosa. So far, counseling hasn't helped. She was too sick and depressed to stay at college so we brought her home. We'd like to try family-based treatment and she says she doesn't want to go to a treatment center. Is she too old for this to work?
Angela Celio Doyle, PhD responds:
There is no clear first-line treatment for adults with anorexia at this point in time. However, there is initial support for the Maudsley approach with college-aged individuals. The National Institute of Mental Health highlights three important components in treatment of adults:
1. weight restoration
2. treating the psychological issues related to the eating disorder
3. reducing or eliminating the behaviors or thoughts that lead to disordered eating, along with relapse prevention
The Maudsley approach for young adults fits these criteria and is based on the premise that parents continue to play a major role in their child’s life even when their child is a young adult; this role might involve emotional support and guidance or it could be financial (i.e., parents pay for college). This situation provides an opportunity for parents to help their child recover, although careful attention needs to be paid to their healthy psychosocial development as an increasingly independent young adults.
In a recent case series at The University of Chicago, a small number of young adults were provided the Maudsley approach with some modifications based on their age. The results were positive, overall, with the majority of the patients recovering and returning to school at short-term follow-up. Additionally, the patients and their families reported positive feelings towards the treatment approach. A paper describing the results of this case series is in the process of being reviewed for publication by the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Because this form of the Maudsley approach is still being developed and refined, your best bet would be to seek out treatment with a trained and experienced Maudsley therapist who would be willing to adapt the treatment to an older individual. Additional research using randomized controlled trials will need to be done to determine whether this approach is the best treatment for young adults, however.
anne
June 4, 2009 - 8:43pmThis Comment
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