![Early Intervention with Family-Based Treatment (FBT) for Eating Disorders [Image description: a teen girl sits next to a doctor who is writing notes; depicts a potential teen client with early signs of an eating disorder in California]](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/medium-shot-doctor-writing1-1024x683.jpg)
Originally published on the F.E.A.S.T Blog on August 22, 2014, by Lauren Muhlheim, Psy.D., CEDS, and Therese Waterhous, PhD/RDN Eating Disorders are serious mental illnesses with dangerous medical consequences. Without early intervention, eating disorders may become chronic or even fatal. Parents are often unaware of some of the early signs of an eating disorder. Even …
![Feeding a Child with ARFID in Los Angeles, California [Image description: photo of a girl eating broccoli and rice and looking unhappy] Represents a child with ARFID in therapy in California](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/686112772-huge2-1024x683.jpg)
Helping a Child with ARFID to Eat Feeding a child with ARFID is challenging and most parents are not adequately prepared. Children with ARFID are not just “picky eaters” and may not respond the same way as other children. Well-meaning advice you may have received—such as, “They will eat when they are hungry,”—often does not …
![College Readiness Webinar 2024 [Image description: photo of Dr. Muhlheim and details about college readiness webinar on Feb 10, 2024]](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/College-Readiness-Webinar-2024-1024x878.jpg)
Are you a parent of a High School Junior or Senior with an eating disorder? Learn how to ensure your student is ready for the transition to college. Attend our Parent College Readiness Webinar. Soon college acceptances will be arriving and deposits will be due shortly. College can be very challenging for young adults with …
![Individual therapy in FBT [Image description: photo of a teen seated and facing an adult] Represents a potential teen client in therapy for an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/priscilla-du-preez-F9DFuJoS9EU-unsplash.jpg)
When I am working as the Family-Based Treatment (FBT) therapist for a teen in eating disorder recovery, their parents will often ask whether the teen should also see a therapist individually. Unlike other therapy situations, in FBT there is no expectation that there is both an individual therapist and a family therapist. It’s there in …
![Getting ready for school with eating disorder [Image description: drawing of a boy with a backpack and lunch box and there is a purple school bus in the background] Represents a teen or child with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/My-project3.png)
It’s almost the first day of school and parents of students with eating disorders have additional concerns to address on top of the usual back-to-school frenzy. Transitions can be tough for all teens—they are especially difficult for those with eating disorders. However, there are some preparations you can make to help things go more smoothly. …
![When your teen with an eating disorder is sick during recovery [Image description: drawing of a daughter in bed and appears ill and her mother is holding her head and a thermometer] Represents a parent caring for a teen with an eating disorder in Los Angeles, California](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/My-project4.png)
Guest post by Dr. Jennifer Johnson What if Your Teen With an Eating Disorder is Sick? One of the most common questions that arise when parents are renourishing a teen with an eating disorder is what to do when they get sick. Parents are sometimes totally overwhelmed when that happens. Some families may back off …
A Family-Based Treatment (FBT)-approach Halloween can be scary for teens with eating disorders for the wrong reason: the candy! Most teens with eating disorders are only willing to eat a restricted range of foods. Expanding this range is an important goal of treatment, with the reintroduction of fear foods being a key step. Candy tends …
Family-Based Treatment Family-based treatment (FBT) is the leading evidence-based treatment for teen eating disorders. It represents a paradigm shift from older treatments that focused on helping teens become independent from their parents in order to recover from their eating disorders. In FBT, parents are central members of the treatment team. Parents are charged with …
College Readiness When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder How do you know whether your child with an eating disorder is ready for college? Sending a child to college usually raises anxiety for most parents. And you may have even more anxiety if your young adult has or has struggled with an eating disorder. Dr. …
![family at family meal in FBT [Image description: a family with their backs to us sits around a table] Represents a potential family in California receiving FBT for their teens eating disorder](https://www.eatingdisordertherapyla.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DALL·E-2023-12-01-19.14.32-a-family-is-seated-around-a-brown-conference-table.-There-are-2-parents-and-2-teenagers-sitting-and-their-backs-are-to-us.-Off-to-the-side-a-therapist5.png)
Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is the best-researched outpatient treatment for teen eating disorders, including anorexia. In FBT, the family plays a central role in treatment. Through family meals, parents restore their teens to health and interrupt eating disorder behaviors. In FBT, parents plan, prepare, serve, and supervise meals. Usually, parents are left wondering 1) how to …