Eating disorders are progressive and debilitating mental health conditions which call for medical, psychological and nutritional interventions. There are different names for the disorders of this category; however there is more that unites the eating disorders than separates them. An NCFED practitioner distinguishes between treatment of compulsive eating, bulimia nervosa, and treatment for anorexia nervosa.

In order to recover properly, a person will be healthy in a number of domains

Behaviour: obviously; eating regularly and healthfully, sufficient to sustain daily energy needed to maintain an appropriate healthy weight. The person is able to take care of themselves with food, eat when hungry and able to stop when they have had enough. He/she will be free of compulsions to binge or purge, or exercise harmfully, and there will most certainly be no need to embark on diets. One part of the recovery process is dealing with the biochemical and nutritional imbalances that perpetuate cravings and difficulties with weight control.

Feelings: recovery involves freedom from anxiety and fear of foods, or of certain food groups. Toxic shame about eating and body image will be resolved. Recovery is more than dealing with feelings about food and weight; it will involve helping the person to manage and deal with all their feelings appropriately, including those which have been linked to previous unhappy experiences. Sometimes an eating disorder is an expression of this psychic pain, which is thought to be unjustifiable and undeserved. This will need to be addressed.

Boundaries: the struggles for control which are part of an eating disorder usually point to many other things in life being "out of control". An important part of recovery is helping a person to set appropriate boundaries with others. Our purpose is to help someone to reclaim all the positive aspects of who they are that have been suppressed by their illness.

Cognitive (thinking) Features: will target the quantity and the quality of thoughts, beliefs and values regarding food and body image. The recovered person will be thinking about things other than food and exercise, be forgiving of themselves for being less than perfect, and have the skills to deal with any of the unhelpful thoughts which rob their enjoyment of life.

Fulfilment and Purpose: a sound recovery must be based on reclaiming what was missing, that enabled the eating disorder to take hold in the first place. For some this may simply be having the wrong information, and for others it is finding something deeper, a new purpose in life, a sense of being connected to other people. We aspire to help people thrive, not just survive.

Psychological Approaches

To achieve these valuable outcomes, NCFED practitioners draw on the taught skills of CBT, CBT-E, mindfulness and positive psychology approaches. Individual therapists can incorporate any other of their skills which are valuable and helpful in eating disorder therapy. These skills, which are therapist-specific, can include Art Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation, (EMDR), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Hypnosis, Coaching, and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), for example. We value the specialisations of all our Affiliates and welcome the input of any resource which is useful to clients.

For more information about joining our Network, please call 0845 838 2040 during office hours.