Family therapy for eating disorders

Family therapy is increasingly recommended as the treatment of choice for eating disorders among adolescents. The shift from blaming parents for causing an ED to seeing them as a necessary part of the recovery process was set in motion by Salvador Minuchin and colleagues, and then reinforced and expanded on by researchers at the Maudsley Hospital in London, UK, and in the United States and Australia. Data supporting the efficacy of family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa has been solidified, while family-based approaches in the treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa showpromise. Further research is needed to replicate the findings of existing studies and to further clarify the utility of parental involvement in the treatment of older adolescents, or transition age youth, with anorexia nervosaand bulimia nervosa.