Research suggests that the most effective treatment for an eating disorder is multidisciplinary. That means that a treatment team, instead of a solitary practitioner, designs and executes a treatment plan that addresses the multidimensional nature of anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
The treatment team: how it works
As the client and treatment team members combat the eating disorder, a physician monitors and treats physical problems associated with starving, stuffing and purging.
If necessary, a psychiatrist prescribes medications that help correct underlying mood disturbances such as depression and anxiety.
A mental health therapist helps the client unravel and solve emotional and psychological problems underlying the eating disorder.
A dietitian provides nutritional counseling and debunks myths surrounding food and dieting.
A family therapist helps identify and change patterns of communications that have been troublesome and unsatisfying in the past.
A group therapy facilitator helps the client see that s/he is not alone in her/his disorder and that s/he can learn from peers.
An athlete's coach is enormously important in her/his life. The coach at different times is teacher, parent figure, confidant, disciplinarian, and demigod. The coach decides when an athlete will compete, how much s/he will compete, and what s/he must do to compete. Because the coach is so significant to the athlete, s/he must not be omitted from the treatment team.
Advantages of including the athlete's coach on the treatment team
There are two main advantages of including the coach on the treatment team. Number one, if s/he does not know what is going on, s/he can unintentionally sabotage progress. For example, s/he must be kept informed of food and weight requirements while the athlete is in treatment and of any restrictions on physical activity.
And secondly, because a coach is so powerful in the life of an athlete, her/his cooperation is needed. Without it, therapeutic concern about an impaired body and mind will be subordinated to sports issues such as keeping one's place on the team, scholarships, opportunities to compete at more advanced levels, the possibility of a professional career in sports, and sometimes the chance for money-making endorsements.
Managing health and participation in sports: a difficult challenge
Athletes want to compete and win, and their coaches want them to do so. Indeed, the career of a coach may depend, for better or for worse, on the success or failure of her/his athletes. Sometimes, when an eating disorder is severe and health is compromised, the medical members of a treatment team will want to remove the athlete from participation in trainings, workouts, and competitions. It is absolutely essential that they and the coach come to mutual understanding and agreement. The bottom line is always the best interests of the athlete, and that may be harder to determine than is first apparent.
Two different worlds
The primary goal of physicians and mental health workers is to restore their clients to physical and psychological health. They may see the impaired athlete as having a destructive commitment to a trivial activity. The athlete and coach, as well as the athlete's family, on the other hand, often see sports achievement as worthy of single-minded determination and significant sacrifice. If the treatment team, including the coach, and the athlete are to work smoothly together and ultimately defeat the eating disorder, they must come to some mutual understanding and agreement about the place of athletics, including discipline and dedication, in the life of the athlete.
Please Note: ANRED information is not a substitute for medical or psychological evaluation and treatment. For help with the physical and emotional problems associated with eating disorders, talk to your physician and a mental health professional.
Page updated April 28, 2008
ANRED
Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc.
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