The Role of a Dietitian in Eating Disorder Recovery
Most people recovering from an eating disorder will enlist the help of a registered dietitian along with a team of eating disorder professionals to guide them toward recovery. But what exactly do dietitians do? Contrary to the media’s portrayal of dietitians, they are not the food police. They serve as important resources of nutrition information for the patient, their family, and the other eating disorder specialists on the treatment team. Recovery cannot occur without proper nutrition.
by: Megan Madsen
Due to the complex nature of eating disorders, treatment often requires the support of a comprehensive treatment team to increase a client’s chance of successful recovery. That’s why at BALANCE eating disorder treatment center, we employ a multidisciplinary team comprised of dietitians, psychologists, mental health counselors, primary and art therapists, social workers, and other certified eating disorder specialists.
In order to help patients achieve improved health and overall well-being, dietitians implement evidence-based counseling techniques to best foster motivation and sustainable behavior change. Dietitians contribute significantly in the evaluation, treatment, support, and education of the patient and their family. They work with patients to determine their nutritional status, eating patterns and behaviors, and any food rules or beliefs that they may be adhering to. The dietitian will also assess the patient’s competency in meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking to determine whether additional education is needed in those areas.
Dietitians help clients rediscover and trust their internal cues to allow freedom and pleasure with food. This involves the implementation of a non-diet, all foods fit, Health at Every Size®, intuitive eating approach. Dietitians emphasize the importance of rediscovering intuition through mindfulness and empowering clients to place their focus on overall health through one-on-one nutritional counseling and meal coaching. They meet patients where they are at in recovery with the goal of helping them heal their relationship with food, their bodies, and themselves.
Dietitians provide eating disorder care across all levels of treatment. These levels vary from inpatient or residential, to partial hospitalization, to intensive outpatient care. At an inpatient or residential level, the patient lives in a treatment facility with continuous day-and-night care and is seen by a dietitian multiple times throughout the week. Partial hospitalization has a similar structure to residential treatment, but patients typically return home or to a controlled apartment community after treatment to practice recovery in real-life settings. They usually meet with a dietitian just as frequently as inpatient residents. In intensive outpatient care, a patient’s schedule will vary based on the program selected by the treatment team. They may be in treatment for a few hours a week and will have one session with a dietitian. BALANCE offers clients four distinct levels of care to meet their specific treatment needs including a day program, intensive outpatient program, step-down groups, and individual nutrition services. Dietitians are here to help in every level of care.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Consequently, treatment can mean the difference between life and death. Dietitians play such an important role in the treatment of eating disorders and they have a profound impact on the lives of those struggling with these illnesses. Their purpose is to help people regain their freedom and develop a healthy relationship with food.
At BALANCE, our team will work with you to create a completely customized treatment plan designed to meet your specific needs. We offer Individual Nutrition Counseling for people challenged with an eating disorder and for those looking for nutrition counseling. Our highly trained registered dietitians will work closely with you and your treatment team to provide the best care possible for your recovery.
Our individual nutrition sessions encompass a wide variety of topics such as: helping clients move from structured eating to intuitive eating, developing individualized food plans, reducing food and body image anxiety, increasing hunger and satiety awareness, and so much more! Whether you love to cook at home or primarily eat out, we can help develop a program specifically for your lifestyle.
This post was written by BALANCE blog intern, Megan Madsen.
Megan is currently working toward receiving her B.S. in Psychology. She is a Certified Nursing Assistant with a passion for eating disorder research and education. Megan has worked as a CNA on several units in a hospital setting and as a Psych Tech at an eating disorder treatment center. It was there that she discovered her passion for helping those afflicted with eating disorders and where her desire for educating patients and the community on eating disorders and mental illnesses began. In the future, she hopes to work as a Clinical Psychologist with a focus on eating disorder treatment.