Anorexia Nervosa

 When is it time to seek help?

Anorexia nervosa is a very serious disorder that can, and has, lead to death if not treated. If you are experiencing the signs and symptoms of anorexia or suspect someone you know is – it’s important to seek support as soon as possible.

Anorexia nervosa treatment methods

The exact treatments depend on the person with anorexia nervosa, and an assessment will be completed before those treatments can be chosen. Some treatments that have been successful in treating anorexia nervosa include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)  is an evidence-based approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is defined by EMDR Canada as an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma and many other mental health problems that utilized bilateral eye stimulation or somatic responding.
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)  is a treatment method that’s similar to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) but emphasizes building skills to manage stress, emotional response and regulation, mental health issues, and the psycho-social aspects of relationship building.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy encourages clients to accept the difficulties and misfortunes of life. Clients learn coping techniques to not dwell on negative emotions by staying in the present.
• Behaviour Therapy tends to view human beings and behaviour with the assumption that humans are a product of their sociocultural conditioning and environment, looking at the current problems and the factors influencing them and emphasizes behaviour changes more than the underlying unconscious processes.
• Emotionally Focused Therapy is based on observations and experience, which looks at emotions and emotional intelligence, which helps support stronger and more secure relationships by helping better understand how our actions impact others, and how our emotions drive our interaction.