Rina Ranalli’s daughter has anorexia. When researching their options, she and her husband decided on a different form of treatment for their daughter. Rather than sending her to a therapist, they started treating her at home.
[The] Ranalli family was using the little-known Maudsley Approach, a grueling but evidence-based treatment for adolescents suffering from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. The approach, also called ‘family-based therapy,’ flips conventional treatment on its head… parents immediately start the daunting task of ‘re-feeding’ their malnourished child.
Once weight is restored – and, theoretically, rational thinking returns because the brain has some nourishment – parents step back, and control over eating is gradually returned to the child. [Source: St. Louis Tribune]
Opponents of this approach say it ignores the psychological issues that often accompany eating disorders. Still, clinical trials have found the approach effective, which gives both parents and patients some much-needed hope.
Posted By: Aspen Education Group
