Jenni Schaefer Named Meadows Behavioral Healthcare Senior Fellow

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare announced today that Jenni Schaefer has joined the organization as a Senior Fellow for its continuum of treatment services and advocate for its specialty eating disorder program, The Meadows Ranch.

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare announced today that Jenni Schaefer has joined the organization as a Senior Fellow for its continuum of treatment services and advocate for its specialty eating disorder program, The Meadows Ranch. In this role, Schaefer will be instrumental in supporting the program’s leading-edge approach to neurobehavioral health treatment, which is integrated with trauma services. She will also share her knowledge, experience, and expertise with patients and staff.

Schaefer graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M University with a degree in biochemistry and knows first-hand the devastating consequences of an eating disorder. Since recovering from her own eating disorder, she has carried her message of self-acceptance and triumph over adversity to the public.

Schaefer has authored several books, including Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too, and contributed to anthologies like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She is a sought-after speaker on addiction and food disorders, relationships, depression, and career. She has appeared on Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, The Today Show and Entertainment Tonight, as well as in print coverage from Cosmopolitan and The New York Times. She is a blogger for The Huffington Post, and her work has appeared in Publisher’s Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Glamour, Shape, The Washington Times, Woman’s World, Seventeen, and more.

“Jenni is a multi-faceted individual and has a real passion for helping people overcome adversity and flourish in life,” said Sean Walsh, CEO of Meadows Behavioral Healthcare. “Her personal experience and knowledge of eating disorders and trauma, along with her high-energy message of the power of self-acceptance in overcoming self-sabotage, is a great lesson that will benefit the patients we help every day at The Meadows Ranch.”

Schaefer is Chair of the Ambassadors Council of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and recipient of their Westin Family Award for Excellence in Advocacy and Activism. She is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and of the Academy of Eating Disorders.

“After battling the debilitating effects of both an eating disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, I now know that a deep healing is possible. I am incredibly grateful that my role as Senior Fellow will give me the chance to share this hope with others: recovery happens, and life can unfold in the most incredible, unimaginable ways,” Schaefer said. “Joining the team at The Meadows Ranch, alongside many of my heroes in the mental health field, is such a full circle—and surreal—story for me. Years ago, another Senior Fellow’s book, Dr. Peter Levine’s Waking the Tiger, provided me with the clarity and inspiration that I needed to face my own trauma. I am deeply honored to work with a program and team that I have admired ever since I began my work as an advocate.”

About Meadows Behavioral Healthcare

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare is the industry leader in providing treatment for people struggling with addiction, eating disorders, trauma, and related mental health conditions through its advanced integrated trauma resolution approach. The company’s programs — The Meadows, Claudia Black Young Adult Center, Gentle Path at The Meadows, Willow House at The Meadows, The Meadows Ranch, The Meadows Outpatient Center, and a variety of intensive workshops offered at Rio Retreat Center — are the premier choice for patients, families, and behavioral health professionals.

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The Importance of Family System Work When Treating an Adolescent with an Eating Disorder

When a child struggles with an eating disorder, it has a major impact on the entire family. Daily routines as well as coping and problem-solving behaviors are all negatively affected. It can seem as if the easiest things become overwhelming; just getting up for school on time involves frustration and fighting. In addition, families dealing with an eating disorder often say that it feels as if time stands still and that everything in their lives has come to focus on the eating disorder.

Research shows that a non-blaming approach to treatment in which the family is seen not as the cause of the problem but rather as a resource to support the adolescent in the recovery process is recommended. Additionally, working within the family system helps members understand the evolution of the family dynamics in relation to the development of the eating disorder. Think of it this way, by openly identifying and discussing these family dynamics, insight and learning can happen and change can be created. Family system work creates significant improvement and positive changes in terms of both the individual and family functioning.

As part of the therapeutic work, families benefit from exploring how they became caught up in the eating disorder. When family members are able to step back from the disorder and identify and practice using their strengths, they gain perspective and are able to discover solutions to their situation.

At The Meadows Ranch, family members are seen as partners in the recovery process. Let me emphasize that families are part of the solution. As the adolescent returns to the family system after treatment, clear expectations and family rules are a necessary part of the recovery process. Parents must “parent” the adolescent and avoid “parenting” the eating disorder. It is important to have discussions surrounding this when families are calm and empowered versus anxious and reactionary. Families can accomplish this with improved communication skills, clear expectations, and with the involvement of professionals.

Family system work is vital in the recovery process for adolescents with eating disorders. Although this work can involve many different people, perspectives, and experiences, healing can occur, understanding can be developed, and families can embrace recovery with elegance, dignity, resilience, and solidarity.

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Remuda Ranch at The Meadows Becomes The Meadows Ranch

The Meadows Ranch  has recently undertaken extensive capital improvements and programming enhancements for the benefit of its patients. Since its acquisition by The Meadows in 2012, Remuda Ranch has programmatically evolved with a leading-edge approach to eating disorder treatment that is integrated with trauma services. The new name reflects the core strength of its sister programs, which are rooted in The Meadows Model as developed by Pia Mellody and clinically guided by a team of world-renowned Senior Fellows.

“At The Meadows Ranch, we are committed to providing the highest level of eating disorder treatment for women and girls through an integrated trauma model in a safe, scenic, and nurturing environment,” said Sean Walsh, CEO of Meadows Behavioral Healthcare.

About The Meadows Ranch

The Meadows Ranch is an industry leader in treating girls aged 8-17 and adult women for eating disorders, trauma, and co-occurring disorders through its critical care/inpatient, residential, and partial hospitalization programs. To learn more about The Meadows Ranch, contact an intake coordinator at 877-231-3541, or visit http://www.meadowsranch.com.

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Effective Trauma Treatment for Eating Disorder Patients

Many individuals who suffer from trauma will use an eating disorder as a means to feel in control of something. This often occurs because trauma makes a person feel vulnerable and like they have no control over what happens to them in life. Eating disorders often blunt a person’s ability to experience emotions, which lessens intense anxiety, fear, and anger. In addition, an eating disorder can become a distraction from thoughts of trauma as eating disorders often become all consuming. At The Meadows Ranch, our treatment teams understand that to treat a patient with an eating disorder and trauma entirely, both need to be concurrently addressed since failing to treat one or the other will lead to a relapse and a decreased quality of life.

At The Meadows Ranch, we focus on nutritional rehabilitation at the start of treatment because without basic nutrition a person’s brain is offline and unable to participate successfully in therapy or really feel one’s emotions. The next layer is creating a safe environment that supports the trauma work. At The Meadows Ranch, we have a truly amazing group of professionals that genuinely care about each patient’s recovery with staff available around the clock to offer support.

In addition, people that have experienced trauma often engage in maladaptive coping skills, which may include eating disorder behaviors, self-injury, and shutting down to manage their intense emotions. In order to address these maladaptive coping skills our staff, including behavioral health techs, nurses, therapists, and dietitians, are trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). DBT includes skills in mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance. If one of our patients is struggling, our entire staff are trained to help her find and practice an effective coping skill in the moment. This is particularly important when a patient is doing trauma work since she will be more vulnerable to intense emotions and memories that may require assistance to contain her emotions. At The Meadows Ranch, this support is offered 24-hours a day.

The final piece in treating trauma is processing the trauma that has occurred and allowing that trauma to become a chapter in the book of life instead of a novel as it can become when it is not adequately treated. At The Meadows Ranch, our therapists are specially trained in treating trauma, which includes being certified in Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which is an evidence-based treatment for trauma.

The treatment of trauma and eating disorders is complex and multifaceted. At The Meadows Ranch, we have all of the tools available to help individuals recover from both trauma and their eating disorder treatment .

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The Progressive Nature of an Eating Disorder

Trending this Week at The Meadows Ranch
By Libby Neal, MA, LPC

Eating disorders are more fluid than fixed. It seems the course of an eating disorder is progressive in nature, changing in severity over time. Eating disorder professionals who have worked long enough with one person will see the type of behaviors move from one end of the spectrum to another.

One example of the ever-changing nature of an eating disorder would be when a person starts with restricting calories then moves into purging food. Once the person realizes they can eliminate their calories while still consuming food, they may turn to purging calories with laxatives or vomiting. This could take a few years, and it is often the reason eating disorders seem to “sneak” up on family members and loved ones.

Parents often say that the eating disorder just showed up one day when, “all of a sudden my loved one was very sick and had an eating disorder.” The progressive nature of an eating disorder is subtle and easy to attribute to developmental expectations or adolescent quirks. Some of the natural personality tendencies are enhanced. It is easy enough to hide calorie consumption for fairly long periods of time, through meal-time manipulation, clothing selection and food avoidance. Parents seem quickly to notice the activities associated with binging or purging of foods.

Parents may not think much about a child who is an introvert staying in their room longer, or a child who tends towards dark humor becoming more interested in vampire books, or a child who is interested in cooking now reads recipe books yet never eats the recipes.

And while the eating disorder is evolving, it makes sense that the personality of the child is also changing. Perhaps the child’s demeanor has become edgier, angrier or confrontational. This can be intimidating for parents who wonder how to help, but instead take the high road in hopes of it “going away.”

So, if an eating disorder is progressive, it seems possible to encourage the good side of the developing habits that may turn from disordered eating into an eatingdisorder. Could it be that parents and loved ones can forge the positive side of these interests so they can become more involved with family and friends rather than feeling like an outsider?

Certainly it is not the parents fault if a loved one is developing an eating disorder, nor does this suggest an eating disorder is “stopped” by looking at the positive side of new habits, but it seems that we, as loved ones, can make subtle interventions along the way. This may encourage a progression into health rather than a disorder.

Here is a list of ways to incorporate interests that later improve the eating disorder:

• Encourage social time with the family
• Find the time for one on one with a loved one
• Allow for alone time but encourage quiet time around the family
• Read recipes together
• Shop for meals together
• Cook new meals together
• Create old favorite meals together
• Create a schedule in the house so meals and activities are predictable
• Take leisure walks together, maybe in the park and with the dog
• Go clothes shopping together, encourage positive body image
• Attend your child’s sports activities
• Learn about their favorite subjects at school
• Offer help for subjects that are hard for them
• Go to church together
• Offer to take them to appointments
• Help with ideas for proms, homecoming or questions about dating
• Recognizing increased negative changes in their child’s demeanor or habits.

Parents may feel overwhelmed by all their responsibilities in life, and their loved one may say they are fine; however, it is important to remain open to “gut” instincts and to continue an open dialogue concerning how their loved one is “progressing.” An eating disorder is not “contagious” so the parent does not necessarily make it worse by talking with their loved one about it. Remain open, curious and supportive all while looking to outside professionals if you find too many indicators of an eating disorder.

About the Author

 

Libby Neal, MA, LPC, is in private practice on the western slope of Colorado. Specializing in eating disorders and trauma, Libby utilizes psychodynamic therapy, evidence-based practices, equine assisted therapy and art therapy. Libby has fifteen years of experience with eating disorders working as a clinician, administrator and educator.

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