Even though treatment can be a long, difficult process, it is important to know that full recovery is possible. Even people who have suffered for years with eating disorders are capable of recovery. When we start treatment with a new patient, we work from the philosophy that this person can and will be able to reach full recovery.

“Recovery” means that a person can learn to eat normally, maintain a healthy weight range, accept their body, deal with feelings, know their needs and have them met, assert themselves and not have their days controlled by diets, fear of food or body hatred. Different from alcoholism or drug addiction in which the person is recovering, but never recovered, we believe a person can completely overcome an eating disorder and that it can eventually be a thing of the past.

Relapse is part of the recovery process with eating disorders. Patients with anorexia or bulimia typically do not follow a straight line of continual improvement once treatment begins. Often times patients are not ready to let go of the eating disorder, so treatment focuses on developing readiness and helping patients determine why it is worth working on getting better. Once a person starts working on change, some things will get better and other things may get worse. Treatment helps facilitate and manage the balance between the ups and the downs with the goal of continuing to build on the ups in order to minimize and overcome the downs.

Treatment and recovery often require hospitalization. Hospital treatment may be necessary to intervene on significant or chronic eating disorder behaviors so a patient can be nutritionally and medically stabilized. It may also be necessary during the course of treatment so the eating disorder can be managed while a patient is working on difficult emotional issues like physical, emotional or sexual traumas. It is not unusual for eating disorder patients to be hospitalized several times during their recovery process.

Working on recovery takes a lot of effort, patience and perseverance. Weight is only one indicator of recovery, it is not the determinant of recovery. When an eating disorder patient reaches a healthy weight range, there is still a lot of work to do on body image, identity, self-esteem, sexuality and normal eating and exercise, among other issues, in order to prevent relapse.

If treatment ends prematurely simply because a weight range has been reached, the potential for relapse is quite high. Eating disorder patients need to learn how to live in a body that feels very foreign at a normal weight in order to maintain progress, continue with the recovery process and reach the point where they can accept their bodies and themselves.