Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders have attracted a lot of interest over the past few years due to the ever-increasing number of people who report severe problems with their eating behaviors and bodies. The most common eating disorders are psychogenic anorexia, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Their main characteristics are exaggerated concern about body weight and the constant effort to control it.

Often driven by despair and fear, people resort to extreme diets that reach the limits of hunger or even to the use of pills, self-induced vomiting or exercise. Such eating behavior gradually leads to changes both physically and psychologically.

There are two main goals in the treatment of eating disorders. The first is to restore the individual’s nutritional status and achieve metabolic balance. The second is to modify the dysfunctional behavior in food intake, so as to maintain body weight in the long run.

This is accomplished:

• With a combination of nutritional counseling and psychotherapy, so as to create an individualized program depending on the case.
• By participating in group therapy with members who have similar symptoms, the main goal being to support and change distorted perceptions of their feelings, needs and competence to define their lives.
• With family therapy for the best support of the individual, the other members but also the improvement of their relationships.