5 Reasons Why You Might Need Residential Treatment for Your Eating Disorder Today

Seeking treatment at the appropriate level of care is important for helping you progress in your eating disorder recovery.  Thankfully, there are many eating disorder professionals and resources that can help you or your loved one decide what level of treatment might be most suitable for your specific needs.

When it comes to eating disorder recovery, there is a variety of options available for support and treatment. From residential treatment to outpatient care and everything in between, there are resources that can help you find hope and healing. How do you know which level of care is right for you?

Understanding Treatment Options for Eating Disorders

Seeking treatment at the appropriate level of care is important for helping you progress in your eating disorder recovery.  Thankfully, there are many eating disorder professionals and resources that can help you or your loved one decide what level of treatment might be most suitable for your specific needs. It is recommended that you work with a professional to determine what level of care is the most beneficial for your recovery. This might be an eating disorder therapist, counselor, physician, or psychiatrist. By understanding your concerns as well as the signs and symptoms you are experiencing, a qualified professional will make treatment level recommendations that meet you exactly where you are currently. The most common levels of eating disorder treatment include:

• Inpatient Treatment
• Residential Treatment
• Partial Hospitalization
• Intensive Outpatient
• Outpatient

Typically, a more acute or inpatient level of treatment is necessary for someone who may require medical and/or psychiatric stabilization.  Many individuals will often transition to the different levels of eating disorder treatment as they progress in their recovery journey.  Less acute levels of treatment, including intensive outpatient and outpatient treatment, are more suitable for a person who does not require supervision and monitoring and who is relatively stable from any medical or psychiatric complications.  

Why Residential Treatment Can Best Support Recovery

Residential treatment is an important option available for eating disorder recovery. Residential treatment programs offer a safe and structured environment where individuals can find healing from even the most destructive of eating disorders. At this level of care, residents are provided with continual support and monitoring as well as comprehensive treatment from a multi-disciplinary team, including physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, dietitians, and more.  Residential treatment offers the best level of support required for individuals suffering from a severe eating disorder, including anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder and co-occurring conditions.

Making the choice to seek out residential treatment can feel overwhelming, but it is important to know that you are not alone in this process.  Consider some of the following reasons why residential treatment might be a positive option for your recovery:

1. You are struggling with medical complications: Eating disorders are complex illnesses that can result in serious medical consequences. Maybe you have found yourself in and out of doctor's offices to deal with eating disorder symptoms. Alternatively, maybe you have found the quality of your life negatively affected by physical complications resulting from an eating disorder. Eating disorders, if left untreated, can be life threatening, often due to medical complications, such as heart failure, electrolyte imbalance, or malnutrition. In these cases, residential treatment can help you safely recover from these conditions by providing resources needed for medical stabilization.
2. You are overwhelmed, emotionally or psychologically: It is not uncommon for eating disorders to develop alongside other issues, such as anxiety, depression or addiction. These co-occurring conditions can make it more complex for you to find the underlying cause of your eating disorder and start healing. Residential treatment can give you the structure and environment needed to heal from these complex factors.
3. You find it difficult to feed yourself: Sometimes something as simple as feeding your body appropriately can feel immensely challenging if you are living with an eating disorder.  Because of the severity of eating disorder behaviors, you may not even be sure how or what to feed yourself. Engaging in destructive eating habits, like restricting, purging, and/or binging, can make food seem chaotic. You may feel like you cannot trust your body or are intensely fearful of gaining weight. Residential treatment can be an invaluable resource for helping you normalize your eating behaviors and develop healthier eating patterns.
4. The quality of your life is compromised: Eating disorders can deprive you of enjoying life, making it difficult to flourish in school, work, and relationships. You may have had to drop out of school, lost your job, missed out on a promotion at work, or are suffering in relationships with those closest to you because of your eating disorder. Residential treatment can give you the strong foundation you need in your recovery journey to deal with the underlying causes and gain the tools necessary to rebuild relationships.
5. You have a poor support system: Eating disorders can be isolating, and you may not have adequate support to help you through the recovery process. It is important that you do not fight this alone and that you surround yourself with others who understand how to help you. The treatment team available at the residential level of care can give you the support and structure you need to recover.

While the decision to seek out residential treatment can be tough, it is important to realize what you will gain by prioritizing your healing and recovery. Living life to your fullest potential and ultimately being able to thrive in every aspect of your life are gifts that you will never regret.

The risks of not seeking out residential treatment for your eating disorder must be taken into consideration. Left untreated, you could potentially endanger your life or even lose what matters most to you. Consider how you want your future life to look and ask yourself if your eating disorder is part of that picture.

How Remuda Ranch Can Support Your Healing

At Remuda Ranch at The Meadows, we understand what is needed to help you find lasting recovery from your eating disorder. Our residential level of care provides the highest quality of comprehensive treatment to ensure that you are supported every step of your journey.  Our eating disorder professionals are dedicated to seeing you thrive and will support you with an individualized care plan that is designed to meet your unique needs.  Wherever you may be on your journey today, we stand ready to support you in recovery.  For additional information about the treatment of eating disorders, please call to speak to an Intake Coordinator at 866-842-1245

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A Unique Equine Experience

"The Spirit Equine program of Colleen DeRango and Buddy Uldrickson is at the forefront of therapies for trauma and the healing of emotional wounds. Buddy’s calm, centered, presence, his immense horsemanship, and Colleen’s organic mastery of Somatic Experiencing™ have partnered to create a magical and transformative experience. I recommend this powerful program without reservation."



The Meadows’ equine workshop team combines the wisdom of our skillful therapist trained in Somatic Experiencing® (SE), with an uncommon horseman and highly skilled trainer. This unique equine experience is held on a scenic, rustic ranch a short distance from Wickenburg, Arizona.

Combining The Meadows Model, SE, mindfulness, and natural horsemanship, this workshop allows for a distinct healing experience. The program consists of experiential activities with horses, and addresses self-esteem, boundaries, honoring reality, wants and needs, emotional regulation, and spontaneity. Created exclusively for a small group of no more than five participants, this workshop is an outdoor experience facilitated by two gifted professionals.

We Can Help

For more details, call 866-280-2874 or complete the form below. Our Intake Coordinators are happy to assist you between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. MST on weekdays, and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MST on weekends.

Eating Disorder Treatment Center

Success is possible, and we love to share the stories of recovery from our alumni.
Meggie Sexton was kind enough to share hers with us recently. Meggie says; "After struggling with bulimia, anorexia and exercise addiction for six years, I decided I needed to put myself first and take a chance by going away to inpatient treatment before my life slipped away anymore. I put my job on hold, my doctoral degree on hold, you name it...but I knew if I didn’t get my health back in order, none of those long-term professional, educational or personal goals were going to be reached.
The seven hour plane ride to Arizona back in October of 2010 was the most painful, slow-moving time of my life. Once I arrived at Remuda, I was scared, and my eating disorder was defensive. Over time, I fell in love with the support system there, and I relearned how to love myself. At the end of my 45 days, to be honest, I didn’t want to leave that safety net. Fast forward to today, and I have a loving husband, Sam, we have settled into our first starter-home, and we have two healthy baby boys, Connor and Cooper. Without the help of Remuda, I don’t know that I ever would have dug myself out of the deep, dark and awful hole of eating disorders. Iam forever grateful for their help, and I truly believe they helped save my life.
"Thank you for sharing your life with us and your”

Recovery is Possible – Eating Disorder Treatment Center

It is possible to recover from an eating disorder and lead a normal, healthy life. Charlotte Sandy, a Remuda Ranch alumni, was recently married. She wanted us to share her story with you. Charlotte writes: “At age 13, I developed anorexia and struggled with it for 10 years. After one failed treatment attempt and multiple relapses, I entered residential treatment for the last time in November 2009.

That journey included tears, support from my team, and support from new friends as well. I met my best friend, Janine, in treatment. Although she is Canadian and lives 2000 miles away, we have stayed close and have gone through significant milestones together.

I got married on September 1st to someone whose love I never would have accepted in my eating disorder. Janine was my maid of honor, so in this wedding picture, we took pictures of where everything started for us—with Ensure!
We have made it so far in recovery, and I want to share this picture around to show others that recovery is possible! Nothing is perfect of course, but my life is so different than it was in the darkness of my eating disorder.”

We wish Charlotte the best in her marriage, and we love that her life includes Janine, her recovery friend.
As seen on NEDA.

Eating Disorders and the Family: Turmoil and Solutions

By Gejia Capasso, Family Therapist for Remuda Ranch at The Meadows



Historically, families have shouldered the blame for a loved one suffering from an eating disorder. This has been met with controversy from both families and treatment teams. We know that eating disorders are complex and that families do everything in their power to fight the eating disorder. Watching someone you love suffer from an eating disorder is painful, scary, and can create anger and confusion. The stress and division within the family can seem overwhelming as each person involved is impacted in different ways. Loss of trust in family relationships, not knowing what to say or how to say it, and not knowing how to support the person who is quite possibly questioning if they even want to get better are all common experiences. Families describe, “Walking on eggshells,” thinking “Everything I say and do seem to make things worse,” and equally “Everything I don’t say and don’t do seem to make things worse.” Here come the shame and blame that families find themselves walking through as they try to understand a disorder that thrives on secrecy, dishonesty, and isolation.

As the family week therapist at Remuda Ranch at The Meadows, I believe, and have witnessed, families benefiting from education around both the mental and physical effects of eating disorders. In addition, it is important to learn about the complexity of its origins, the role other co-occurring mental health diagnoses play in eating disorders, and the “addictive” process within the experience of the eating disorder.

Though everyone has her own journey into and through recovery, know that recovery is possible.




First, I recommend finding professionals who can guide and support you and your family through this journey. Plug into a team of professionals that will be straightforward and honest in providing education, make clear recommendations, and offer an understanding of everyone’s difficult circumstances while being professionally firm in holding people accountable for the safety of the patient within this process.
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Second, realize and remind yourself often that recovery takes time. This is not going to be a short-term process and it will present with many ups and downs along the path to recovery. Remain calm even in difficult discussions and bring in compassion and empathy. It will be important to listen to learn, not listen to agree with, and not listen to speak. Ask yourself “What can I learn about your experience?” Avoid rationalizing, defer to the professionals for treatment and recovery decisions and acknowledge that this is difficult and affects everyone.

Finally, if treatment is what is necessary to help reverse malnutrition and contain the behaviors surrounding the eating disorder, acknowledge this reality and move in that direction. Treatment is a special gift to all affected by this disorder and a wise investment in recovery.

To learn how Remuda Ranch at The Meadows can help, please call 866-332-5209 today.

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Mentors Helped Me Learn to Love My Body

By Sara Goniea, Remuda Alumna
Once, I wanted to vanish. My body was a vessel to be tamed, broken, tortured, ignored, and forced into submission. I conveniently forgot that without it I didn't exist; frankly, at that point, I often wished I didn't exist.

Then I met a woman named Kacey. She'd fought "ED" and won. I didn't want to change, but I wanted the confidence, boundaries, zest for life and self-acceptance she had. She listened to me and accepted me where I was rather than trying to change me. 

 

When I decided to try recovery, I remembered where she said she had gone and called Remuda Ranch. Through a miracle, I ended up at Remuda and was shown, unconditional love. It was the first time I wasn't judged for struggling, labeled non-compliant or told to "just eat.” It was also the first time I was challenged with the truth in love.

There I met Kelley, an RD, who modeled acceptance of her body, challenged me, and laid the foundation for me to navigate the inevitable pitfalls of the recovery process. I had two pivotal experiences with her. The first was shortly after admission when she met with me and asked how she could help me meet my meal plan since I was refusing pretty much everything.

I started listing off "safe foods" and other ED- related demands when she stopped me. She told me she loved me too much to compromise with my eating disorder and walked off. At first, I was hurt and angry with her but I came to trust and love her because she fought for me and not ED.
The second was when she led our cooking experiential and we made chocolate chip cookies. I asked about sampling the cookie dough and she did it with me without commenting on how it was a "bad" food or how it would impact her body. She modeled that all foods fit into balance, variety, and moderation and that none are "good or bad."

Thanks to the love, support, prayers, and challenges, when I left, I was doing well. I was in my weight range for the first time as an adult and happy.
I thought I wouldn't have to fight this battle again.

A few years passed and then I contracted a serious illness and relapsed. Because I went from healthy to critically ill in the space of a few months, my insurance denied care and nearly cost me my life. I ended up in a program that was a poor fit and caused additional mental and emotional damage. Upon discharge, I connected with Kendra, a registered dietitian new to my area. Slowly, with her help and support and the support of additional team members, I begin to heal.
For me, the hardest part has been becoming comfortable in my body. There's a place of the recovery process when physically things look stable objectively, but mentally and emotionally it's the most dangerous because, yes, physically I'm healthier but ED is still very vocal. It takes time to learn how to be ok in my own skin and not jump right back off the cliff again. Kendra has been the most instrumental and helping me accept my body. First, she taught me touch can be safe—she's a hugger. At first, it freaked me out, but over the years it's something I've come to look forward to and even ask for.

Another neat aspect of working with her has been she's a former competitive gymnast and has been able to relate to some of my struggles with clothing designers because I'm more muscular than many women as the result of doing a very physically demanding job. It's hard to find clothes that fit well off the shelf. Having someone who can normalize that struggle helped me stop trying to mold my body in ways it's not meant to be. She also models that all foods can fit, and has joined me on many an impromptu snack when I brought something I've made into a session.

Overall, though what has helped the most has been what Kendra, Kelley, and Kacey have not done: try to force me to change. The common thread with all of these amazing women is they've led, guided, and listened. I've tried at points to force them away and yet they refused to go and for that I'm grateful. It wasn't until I was shown love that I could begin to love myself. It's still my most vulnerable area, but I'm no longer abusing my body. Even on hard days, I still meet my needs and give my body the care it needs.

What’s Your Story?

We want to give you a chance to share your story of learning to celebrate the beauty of your own unique body and soul.,p> Was there a major turning point in your eating disorder recovery where you finally accepted and appreciated your body? At what point did it happen, and what led you there? In what ways did it change your life?

 

Send a 500- 1000 word essay to asauceda@themeadows.org. The first ten essays to be chosen for The Remuda Ranch at The Meadows blog will receive a free Remuda Ranch blanket as a special gift! Submit your essay by Jan. 15, 2017. We look forward to reading your incredible stories!

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There often comes a point in a woman’s journey through eating disorder recovery, when she begins to see her body in a different light. Instead of hating it for its “flaws” and trying to punish it into perfection, she begins to appreciate it for all of the things it can do and all of the places it carries her.

This kind of radical self-acceptance can be hard to come by. The media and the culture surrounding us are continually blasting us with images of which types of bodies are acceptable and valued and which are not. Being able to set all of that aside and love what you see in the mirror every day requires courage, self-determination, and sense of one’s higher purpose in life.

That’s what makes stories of people reaching these revelations so inspiring. We want to give you a chance to share your story of learning to celebrate the beauty of your own unique body and soul.

Was there a major turning point in your eating disorder recovery where you finally accepted and appreciated your body? At what point did it happen, and what led you there? In what ways did it change your life?

Send a 500- 1000 word essay to asauceda@themeadows.org. The first ten essays to be chosen for The Remuda Ranch at The Meadows blog will receive a free Remuda Ranch blanket as a special gift!

Submit your essay by Jan. 15, 2017. We look forward to reading your incredible stories!
 

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