Support for Anorexia, Bulimia and Other Eating Disorders
For many of us, how we look and our physical appearance matter a lot. But if you suffer from an eating disorder, then your preoccupation with your body shape and weight has become extreme. Your relationship with food will also have become problematic as you seek to control your food intake or punish yourself for over-indulgence.
If you feel compelled to restrict your food or exercise obsessively in order to become thinner and thinner, all the while believing yourself to be overweight, then you are suffering from anorexia nervosa. Over time, this self-starvation causes extensive physical damage to your body, which can cause total collapse of your system and potentially may be fatal.
If you suffer from bulimia nervosa, you are locked in a repetitive, unhealthy relationship with food, where a cycle of binge eating is followed by purging (either through vomiting, using laxatives, etc). You may be a normal weight, but often you feel ashamed and guilty about your bingeing and purging and try to keep it hidden. The cycle of bingeing and purging leads to body electrolyte disturbances, which in extreme situations can become life-threatening.
It requires a great deal of courage and hard work to break free from destructive eating patterns and to work through the underlying causes of such behaviours.
We can help by providing you with established and well-respected treatment for eating disorders, which addresses the disordered thoughts and behaviours as well as the emotional and psychological issues that underlie them. This takes place within the supportive Democratic Therapeutic Community environment necessary for long-lasting recovery to take place.
Eating Disorder Treatment
Our eating disorder treatment focuses on your primary eating disorder diagnosis and offers specific input to help you address issues related to the eating disorder. The treatment runs in conjunction with the main Democratic Therapeutic Programme and utilises community activities and experiences to help you gain greater understanding of the issues underlying your disorder.
You may also participate in individual therapy with a psychiatrist and/or psychotherapist, and access additional assessment and treatment as required through the GP and dietitian. As needed, defined protocols guide meals, activity levels and weight restoration. Our clinical and kitchen staff work together to ensure your dietary needs are met.
RAVES© Group
The RAVES© group at Ashburn is a recovery focused group that requires commitment and motivation. Entry to this group will depend on your engagement with the wider programme, your physical and mental presentation, and your readiness to challenge and change eating disordered thoughts and behaviours.