Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Is Maudsley Family Based Therapy Still Obscure?

As happy as I was to see this article in the Seattle Times I was a bit disappointed to see Maudsley Family Based Therapy(MFBT) STILL being referred to as "obscure." 

Check it out and let me know your thoughts:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2012678841_webanorexia.html

What can we each be doing on a daily basis to let health care providers know about eating disorders and the different treatment options?  Sending this article is one way.  What other ideas do you have?

One thing I love doing is speaking to the groups of health care providers, they are hungry (sorry for the bad pun but I couldn't resist) for this information. 

I love what psychologist Dr. Sarah Ravin says about the family role in MFBT, "If a 15-year-old had a bottle of vodka before school every morning would you say, 'Well, that adolescent is asserting her need for control, so parents back off?"" Ravin said. "No, because drinking alcohol before school is not OK."

I love this about the MFBT approach that includes the family in recovery.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I think if we were starting from scratch, without generations and long careers dedicated to the opposite of MFBT, it would be obvious that this is a good starting point. But so many people are so invested in things that would have to be bravely relinquished, and even renounced, that this will take time.

I also think a lack of science education plays a role here: few people have a grounding in biology or genetics or the brain - but everyone seems to feel like an expert in food and the body!

Thank you for getting this conversation going: we need it, and this kind of questioning is what will get rid of "obscure" and replace it with "optimistic."