Eating Disorders

• Weigh much less than is healthy or normal.
• Are very afraid of gaining weight.
• Think they are overweight even when they are very thin.
• Obsess about food, weight and dieting.
• Strictly limit how much they eat.
• Vomit or use laxatives or water pills (diuretics) so they won’t gain weight.
• Become secretive. They may pull away from family and friends, make excuses not to eat around other people and lie about their eating habits.

• Eat too little food (or lack of diverse food), causing weight loss or nutritional deficiency
• Limited eating may be due to:
  • Unpleasant sensory experience associated with food
  • Concern about consequences of eating, such as getting sick
  • Health concerns that impact appetite or digestion
• Concern about body shape or weight does not drive the disordered eating

• Eat way too much in a short time (called binging), often over a couple of hours or less, on a regular basis.
• Feel out of control and feel like they can’t stop eating during a binge.
• Go to the bathroom right after meals.
• Overeat but don’t gain weight.
• Are secretive about eating, hide food or won’t eat around other people.
• Purge to get rid of the food so they won’t gain weight. They may make themselves vomit, exercise very hard or for a long time, or misuse laxatives, enemas, water pills or other medicines.

• Eat way too much in a short time, often over a couple of hours or less, on a regular basis.
• Eat for emotional reasons, such as being sad, angry, lonely or bored.
• Feel like they can’t stop eating and eat so much that they feel painfully full.
• Overeat and may gain weight.
• Feel unhappy, upset, guilty or depressed after they binge.
• Eat alone because they are embarrassed about how much they eat.

• Atypical Anorexia Nervosa describes a person who meets the criteria for anorexia nervosa, except that despite significant weight loss, the individual's weight currently falls within the normal range. Although this diagnosis includes the word "atypical,” it is more common in the population than anorexia nervosa. 
• Bulimia Nervosa or Binge Eating (of low frequency /limited duration) describes a person with symptoms of bulimia nervosa or binge eating. However, the disordered eating behaviors do not occur at a high enough frequency to meet criteria for bulimia nervosa or binge eating.
• Purging Disorder describes a person who uses purging behaviors (such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications) to influence weight without binge eating.
• Additionally, a person may be diagnosed with unspecified feeding or eating disorder if they experience disordered eating that is met.

Parkview Behavioral Health Institute Eating Disorder Program offers outpatient services for individuals of all ages and genders struggling with an eating disorder. These include:

• Individual therapy
• Family therapy
• Group therapy
• Nutrition therapy
• Psychiatry/Medication management
• Medical monitoring
• Skills coaching

The providers of these services work collaboratively on the eating disorder care team to treat and support you or your loved one during recovery. We utilize a variety of evidenced-based therapies that may include, but are not limited to:

• Embodied recovery
• Polyvagal theory
• EMDR – Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
• CPT – Cognitive processing therapy
• IFS – Internal family systems
• ACT - Acceptance and commitment therapy
• DBT – Dialectical behavior therapy
• CBT – Cognitive behavior therapy
• FBT - Family based therapy / Maudsley informed approach
• Family systems
• Art therapy
• Psychodrama
• Mindful movement

Parkview's Eating Disorder Program offers an Intensive Outpatient Program for adults (ages 18 and older) who are in need of more frequent support than typical outpatient services.

The IOP meets three days per week, for three hours per day in group format. In addition, you may choose to combine individual therapy or nutrition therapy with the IOP. These services would take place outside of the IOP group hours and may be offered by providers within Parkview or with a current provider in the community, if services are ongoing.

The IOP offers group opportunities to learn:

• Skills and coping strategies.
• Interactive opportunities, such as art therapy, psychodrama, embodied movement and group meals.
• To support and encourage one another.

We utilize a variety of evidenced-based therapies that may include, but are not limited to:

• Embodied recovery
• Polyvagal theory
• EMDR – Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
• CPT – Cognitive processing therapy
• IFS – Internal family systems
• ACT - Acceptance and commitment therapy
• DBT – Dialectical behavior therapy
• CBT – Cognitive behavior therapy
• FBT - Family based therapy / Maudsley informed approach
• Family systems