Finding the Best Eating Disorder Treatment for Your Needs
Once you’ve come to the realization you need help to move beyond your eating disorder self and attain your healthy self, the challenge becomes finding the right eating disorder treatment center to address your needs and help you accomplish the full recovery you seek.
What It Means to Fully Recover from an Eating Disorder
Before you can begin your journey toward recovery from an eating disorder you must first come to realize what recovery means to you. At Monte Nido, we define being fully recovered as the point at which you can accept the natural size and shape of your body without having a self-destructive relationship with food or exercise.
Many individuals living with eating disorders must spend a fair amount of time tending to the soul before true healing can begin. The common complaint of “I can’t stop eating” must be addressed and cast out from the individual’s mentality with a strategy combining treatment, education, and changes to the diet. In most cases, outside help is necessary to accomplish this state. The best programs offer more than a treatment for the symptoms of your eating disorder and dig deeper so that recovery for body and soul are achievable.
What to Look for When Selecting an Eating Disorder Treatment Center
Everyone has unique and individual needs. Some people respond better to one treatment than the next. One thing that is absolutely essential when selecting a treatment center for your eating disorder, is that you choose a center that offers individualized treatment and therapy.
Other considerations to keep in mind include things like:
- Thorough medical and psychiatric management.
- Daily exposure therapies.
- Psychologically gentle.
- Highest level of care available outside of a hospital environment.
For some individuals seeking recovery from eating disorders, there are other considerations to keep in mind as well. These considerations are more about feeling comfortable throughout the healing process and may include things like:
- Luxurious surroundings and facilities.
- Availability or access to off-site activities.
- Staff that is as talented as they are compassionate.
- Medical treatment.
- Treatment of co-occurring conditions, such as drug addiction and/or mental health disorders.
- Opportunities for outpatient treatment if necessary for individuals who cannot miss work or school to seek treatment.
- Outcome-oriented treatment that focuses on healing while providing individuals with the tools they need to continue with their recoveries long after treatment ends.
Some women and adolescent females living with eating disorders prefer to seek treatment in female-only treatment centers and locations. If this is a concern for you, make sure the treatment center you choose offers this option.
Ultimately, the best eating disorder treatment program is a subjective term because everyone has different criteria for what qualifies as the best. At Monte Nido, we strive to offer effective treatment to help each of our patients come to the understanding that your health self can heal your eating disorder self. It is stronger than you realize.
Our purpose is to help you identify that strength within, draw from it, and use it to help you overcome your eating disorder. We offer treatments for eating disorders that reveal the truth without judgment, so you can begin your path to better health.
Monte Nido Keys to Recovery
Eating disorders are not colds. They aren’t something you shake and move on from. It takes several key ingredients to successfully and fully recover from an eating disorder. Carolyn Costin, the founder of Monte Nido, stresses these eight keys for recovering from an eating disorder:
- Motivation combined with equal portions of patience and hope.
- Understanding that your healthy self will heal your eating disordered self.
- Knowledge that it’s not just about the food.
- Allowing yourself to feel your feelings and challenge your thoughts.
- Realizing that it is about the food, too.
- You must change your behavior.
- Learn to reach out to people rather than returning to your eating disorder.
- Finding your path to meaning and purpose.
Eating disorders do not simply go away on their own. It is possible to treat the condition and Monte Nido offers a highly effective, yet gentle approach to treating and healing people who wish to overcome their eating disorders.
