Advice for Parents by Doris Smeltzer

A challenge

I have a dear friend who recently explained to me one of the "challenge" portions of her eating disorder treatment. Near the end of her time in the program she was taken on a shopping trip where she was to choose an article of clothing that represented a challenge to her...something that, while entrenched in her eating disorder, she would never have allowed herself to wear. Maybe it accentuated or "exposed" a part of her body she had always hated or hugged her body in a way she feared would bring criticism from others or any of the myriad of reasons we refuse to wear certain clothing due to a discomfort in our own skin.

Illusions

I have been in email communication with an out-of-state family who contacted me asking for guidance on how to convince their 20-year-old son (whom I’ll call Tim) that he is in need of treatment. Tim suffers with bulimia and was in deep denial about the severity of his condition as were certain family members. After numerous attempts with one-on-one talks expressing concern, the entire family finally got on board and did a loving but intense "intervention."