Special Topics

More often than not, accommodations can be made to ensure effective and meaningful treatment for all.

It is important to react to our wants and desires…the healthy ones, not the ones Ed talks about.

My daughter smiled at me vaguely from across the blood lab. It was eerie to be honest. We were there to “scare her” into appreciating she was sick with an eating disorder. The pediatrician had sent us there; I was at my wits end. She had lost close to 25 pounds in three months, and it was not stopping.

I was at a birthday party recently for a friend of mine. At the party, her mother got up to say a few words. She gave a wonderful speech about her daughter’s strong morals and values, hardworking nature, kind heart and about how proud of her she was. She said all these wonderful things that were all truly deserving. As I was driving home, I was thinking of this speech and it made me think about how people view me now versus when I was with my eating disorder.

Being alone brings with it a sense of freedom to go and do what you want, care for yourself in a healthy way, and to just sit in the quiet without all the noise in your head about rules and behaviors. Freedom to be confident in the person you are rather than trying to be something else.

I'm pleased to announce the recipients of Walden Behavioral Care's 2012 Difference Maker Award. The recipients where nominated by their peers for going above and beyond and making a significant difference in the lives of our patients, families, and staff.

There used to be a time when the relationship a child had to their parent(s) was blamed by the clinical community as causing the child’s eating disorder (ED). As a result, children were often removed from the home and placed in a treatment facility to develop insight into this relationship. Times have changed.

Eating Disorders have complex causation. However, parents are increasingly seen by researchers and clinicians as presenting the best possibility for a full recovery. Your child’s best chances for recovery involve early and aggressive treatment and you will play a big role.

Anyone entering one of Walden’s residential eating disorder treatment programs for the first time is bound to have many questions—some philosophical and some practical. Some questions, and their answers, will help to make treatment decisions and some will relieve anxiety about the process.

Before recovery, Ed took my health, among other things, from me. I would not have been able to physically climb the steps to the top nor would I have even ventured out on vacation to socialize with my friend. Now that I am recovered, I have the capacity to do all of it and I can appreciate each step I took and how hard I worked to get there.