NEDA TOOLKIT for Parents
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
(EMDR) A nondrug and nonpsychotherapy form of
treatment in which a therapist waves his or her fingers
back and forth in front of the patient’s eyes, and the
patient tracks the movements while also focusing on a
traumatic event. It is thought that the act of tracking
while concentrating allows a different level of
processing to occur in the brain so that the patient can
review the event more calmly or more completely than
before. Family Therapy A form of psychotherapy that involves
members of an immediate or extended family. Some
forms of family therapy are based on behavioral or
psychodynamic principles; the most common form is
based on family systems theory. This approach regards
the family as the unit of treatment and emphasizes
factors such as relationships and communication
patterns. With eating disorders, the focus is on the
eating disorder and how the disorder affects family
relationships. Family therapies may also be
educational and behavioral in approach.
Hypnobehavioral Therapy A type of behavioral therapy
that uses a combination of behavioral techniques such
as self-monitoring to change maladaptive eating
disorders and hypnotic techniques intended to
reinforce and encourage behavior change.
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) IPT (also called
interpersonal psychotherapy) is designed to help
people with eating disorders identify and address their
interpersonal problems, specifically those involving
grief, interpersonal role conflicts, role transitions, and
interpersonal deficits. In this therapy, no emphasis is
placed directly on modifying eating habits. Instead, the
expectation is that the therapy enables people to
change as their interpersonal functioning improves. IPT
usually involves 16 to 20 hour-long, one-on-one
treatment sessions over a period of 4 to 5 months.
Light therapy (also called phototherapy) Treatment
that involves regular use of a certain spectrum of lights
in a light panel or light screen that bathes the person in
that light. Light therapy is also used to treat conditions
such as seasonal affective disorder (seasonal
depression). Mandometer Therapy Treatment program for eating
disorders based on the idea that psychiatric symptoms
of people with eating disorders emerge as a result of
poor nutrition and are not a cause of the eating
disorder. A mandometer is a computer that measures
food intake and is used to determine a course of
therapy. Massage Therapy A generic term for any of a number of
various types of therapeutic touch in which the
practitioner massages, applies pressure to, or
manipulates muscles, certain points on the body, or
other soft tissues to improve health and well-being.
Massage therapy is thought to relieve anxiety and
depression in patients with eating disorders.
Maudsley Method A family-centered treatment
program with three distinct phases. During the first
phase parents are placed in charge of the child’s eating
patterns in hopes to break the cycle of not eating, or of
binge eating and purging. The second phase begins
once the child’s refeeding and eating is under control
with a goal of returning independent eating to the
child. The goal of the third and final phase is to address
the broader concerns of the child’s development.
Mealtime Support Therapy Treatment program
developed to help patients with eating disorders eat
healthfully and with less emotional upset.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) A treatment
based on a model of change, with focus on the stages
of change. Stages of change represent constellations of
intentions and behaviors through which individuals
pass as they move from having a problem to doing
something to resolve it. The stages of change move
from “pre-contemplation,” in which individuals show no
intention of changing, to the “action” stage, in which
they are actively engaged in overcoming their problem.
Transition from one stage to the next is sequential, but
not linear. The aim of MET is to help individuals move
from earlier stages into the action stage using cognitive
and emotional strategies.
Movement/Dance Therapy
The psychotherapeutic use of movement as a process
that furthers the emotional, cognitive, social, and
physical integration of the individual, according to the
American Dance Therapy Association.
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