I don't know if family based therapy works or not. To be honest, I
don't know much about it.

For me, I was an adult when I was diagnosed with ED-NOS. (A wife and
mom, no less.) Throughout my recovery, I have been faced with the
curse and blessing that there is only one person who can make me
recover - that person is me. I made a committment to myself when I
started recovery that I wouldn't lie. Stretch the truth, omit facts -
absolutely! but I would never outright lie. And it's this committment
to myself that propels me forward.

With that being said, I'm an adult with responsibilities to others,
most especially my son.

Essentially, accepting the fact that my behaviors are my own and that
I am the only one able to change them has helped me in my recovery.
But this rests on the premise that my family is not capable (or will
not) change. So why bother getting them involved in therapy?

I'd be interested to hear if any adult has tried family-based therapy
and how it worked for them.

--- In edstudies@yahoogroups.com, "Rachel Richardson"
<sshutterbbug@...> wrote:
>
> Does family based therapy work? What are your thoughts?
>
>
> http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=93866
>
> By Nesita Kwan WMAQ/NBC News Channel
>
> High school senior Brittany Goodrich is visiting colleges and
weighing
> her choices, but the simple act of weighing herself casts a shadow
> over every decision she and her parents make.
>
> "I would never say I'm anorexic," Goodrich said. "It's like someone
> who is afraid of spiders. Food freaks me out." Early in high school,
> Brittany wanted to drop a few pounds, but then she couldn't stop.
She
> kept getting thinner and thinner and her behavior became more
bizarre.
> She was down to 93 pounds at one point, and by then, her parents
said
> it was an emergency.
>
> "She could have literally dropped at any minute," said her dad.
>
> Goodrich said she was paralyzed by fear.
>
> "You're afraid to put anything in your body, it's like you're just
> sitting slowly watching yourself die -- it's miserable," said
Goodrich.
>
> For two years, the Goodriches struggled to find help, and finally,
> they turned to Dr. Daniel LeGrange's program at the University of
> Chicago that emphasizes family therapy -- not individual counseling.
>
> "This approach relies heavily on getting the child to accept there
is
> no way the parents are going to back off," LeGrange said.
>
> Under this approach, the first task is to push the anorexic into
> gaining weight because talking therapy can't work when you're too
> hungry to think straight. The Goodriches said the first thing they
> learned is that the first thing an anorexic starves is their brain
so
> they started constantly pushing food.
>
> "You can sit for an hour and a half at the table with her to get her
> to eat something," said Mrs. Goodrich.
>
> "Eventually, the personality takes over -- it's the eating disorder
> that's afraid of the food. It gets angry and yells and screams at my
> parents," said Goodrich.
>
> Her parents said the more weight she gains, the more logical she
> thinks. The process is intense, time consuming and emotional, and
> LeGrange said not every family has the stamina for it. But the
> Goodriches did and now college is in Brittany's future.
>
> She's reasonably confident that on her own, she'll be able to stick
> with an eating routine. But if not:
>
> "I know if I call them up, they'll tell me what to do -- there's
> always that."
>