The Place of Family Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Eating Disorders

Family therapy has become a popular theme in the literature on eating disorders, but little has been written on the application of family therapy in adult patients with a chronic and severe eating disorder. Growing clinical experience with large groups of inpatient anorexics and bulimics points to the importance of incorporating the family in the treatment. This article, therefore, presents some basic guidelines in the therapeutic work with these often rigid families or marriages, of which one member is hospitalized for a severe or chronic eating disorder. Possibilities and pitfalls of family therapy, according to the different phases in the treatment process, are discussed.