| | The Maudsley Approach (Family-Based Treatment)
Knowing when to seek help, what to say, where to go
When a child develops Anorexia Nervosa, parents often don’t know when or where to turn for help. Conflicting advice may fuel their anguish as the isolating illness proceeds to devour the identity and saps the life of the child they love.
Importantly, the Maudsley Approach is explicit in that anorexia nervosa is not an expression of family dysfunction but an illness, with the family being the solution to the problem rather than a target of treatment. Parents are overjoyed to find the focus is on treating the child in their own home.
Gathering as much information as possible, and knowing what questions to ask, will help ensure your child receives the best help as quickly as possible.
Doctor Ivan Eisler, who writes the foreword in My Kid Is Back, suggests parents and carers consider asking the following questions:
- What eating disorder expertise is available locally?
- Does the treatment encourage an active involvement of the family as partners in the treatment process?
- What medical expertise does the team have to ensure that outpatient treatment can be carried out safely and unnecessary admissions to hospital can be avoided?
- Is there a specialist eating disorder service my child can be referred to for outpatient treatment?
- If there is such a service (locally or regionally) is it worth trying to get referred directly? Sometimes, this may require an assessment by the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, but parents should not accept too readily any protracted wait before treatment is available.
If specialist treatment is not available as a first step it is probably sensible to make use of what is offered locally, but parents should be prepared to make a strong case that they want to be actively involved in the treatment of their child.
This information and more is found in the book My Kid is Back. The book explains the Maudsley Approach, a family-based treatment that involves parents as part of the solution.
Coping strategies are provided for parents and their children and ten families offer valuable insight and inspiration as they share their recovery journeys.
Click on the video link below to learn more about family-based treatment for anorexia nervosa. The 18-minute video includes interviews with eating disorder experts and a young woman recovered from anorexia nervosa. |  |
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