Other Eating Disorder (OSFED/UFED)
Finding The Right Treatment
The health consequences of OSFED and UFED can be just as severe as those of specified eating disorders. Participating in treatment can help to reduce symptoms and to improve one's quality of life.
Finding a treatment team
The ideal treatment of OSFED and UFED involves a comprehensive treatment team including:
- Psychiatrist and/or other medication providers (psychiatric nurse practitioners or physician assistants)
- Internist/Specialists
- Psychotherapists (clinical psychologists, licensed professional counselors, licensed social workers, and licensed marriage and family therapists as it is important that the whole family is involved in one's treatment)
- Registered Dietitians
Having a complete and collaborative treatment team is the standard of practice for treating eating disorders. All work together. Finding a therapist that specializes in eating disorders is important, as not all therapists have experience treating them. Certified eating disorders specialists, by the International Associations of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp) are the gold standard of professionals that provide treatment.
To find a trained eating disorders team, visit iaedp.com for resources in the area.
Therapy
Several types of therapy can be helpful:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy uses techniques to replace unhelpful thoughts and all or nothing thinking, such as feelings about one's body along with changing behaviors.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy brings in skills to manage emotions around stressful situations and building positive relationships in order to have social support.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy offers competencies to accept thoughts and feelings, stay in the present moment, and choose a valued direction in the recovery process.
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy uses mindful meditation to understand one’s thought process and how the mind becomes entangled by emotions and feelings.
- Body-Centered Therapies integrate talk therapy with techniques that bring the body into counseling as a therapeutic resource to increase awareness of body sensations, behaviors, emotions, and thoughts so to learn the relationships between them. Body centered therapies may include yoga therapy, dance, breath work, and meditation.
Depending on the severity of one's condition, a higher level of care may be warranted such as inpatient hospitalization for medical stabilization; residential treatment for excessive and daily behaviors that undermine health; partial hospitalization for those with daily behaviors but are able to function in normal social, educational, or vocational situations; or intensive outpatient therapy for those who are psychiatrically stable and have symptoms under sufficient control to be able to function in normal social, educational, or vocational situations, while continuing to make progress in recovery.