Getting Your Child The Eating Disorder Treatment They Need: Options For You
When you have a child who is suffering from an eating disorder, it can be a difficult situation to process for everyone involved. However, once you have come to terms with the fact that your child has an eating disorder, the next step is to get them the help they need to recover and overcome their eating disorder. There are many eating disorder treatment options available to your child through both inpatient and outpatient eating disorder treatment centers. Get to know some of these various options so that you can be sure that your child is getting the care and help that they need.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
One of the most common treatments used for eating disorders is a form of mental health counseling or therapy known as cognitive-behavioral therapy. This type of therapy focuses on thought, emotion, and behavior and the ways in which all of these actions are linked together and can form a negative cycle in a person with an eating disorder (as well as for other mental health issues).
The focus of the sessions between your child and their counselor will be on identifying these negative thoughts and feelings as well as the behaviors that your child engages in as a result. It will also focus on breaking the cycle by introducing positive behavioral alternatives and healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with negative thoughts and emotions. This will help give your child the ability to better manage their eating disorder on their own once treatment and therapy are complete.
Equine Therapy
Some children do not initially respond well to just going through traditional eating disorder therapy and treatment. They may need something that is a bit less obvious and direct to help them along in their journey to recovery. An option that may help is equine therapy.
Equine therapy still involves working with a therapist, but this therapist specializes in using interactions between the patient and a live horse to recover from mental health problems and conditions, including eating disorders. Many people with eating disorders feel judged and have trouble recognizing their own negative emotions and the root cause of those negative thoughts and emotions. Working with a horse can help with those issues.
Horses are naturally intuitive animals. They noticeably respond to the emotions of people who approach and work with them. Horses also form strong bonds with people whom they work with and trust. This can help your child become more aware of their emotions and better able to get them under control. They can also form an honest, emotional relationship with the horse without fear of judgment or negative consequence to opening up. This can help to improve their outcomes with other, more traditional eating disorder treatments.
Now that you know a few of the treatment options for your child's eating disorder, you can get them the help that they need to get their mental and physical health back under control. Go to website for more information.
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