The journey back from an eating disorder isn’t an easy one, but ED recovery is possible and worth it for everyone struggling. To get there, it’s essential to have the right support from a team of multidisciplinary experts who are well-versed in evidence-based eating disorder treatment. Getting this kind of care used to be extremely difficult, but with the advent of virtual care, effective eating disorder treatment is now much more accessible.

Read on to learn why it’s so important to work with a team of specialists to achieve lasting recovery, how virtual treatment makes this possible, and how to take your first step toward ED recovery today.

The importance of accessibility

Historically, accessibility has been a major issue in the field of eating disorder treatment. Patients have been unable to get the care they need due to geographic, financial, logistical, or other barriers. Virtual treatment eliminates most of those hurdles, allowing people to access evidence-based care no matter where they live, to fit treatment around their busy lives, and to get care that’s a fraction of the cost of in-person treatment and usually covered by insurance. Research also shows that virtual eating disorder treatment is as effective as in-person treatment.

The benefits of virtual treatment include:

• Quick help when you need it: When you’re struggling with an eating disorder, it’s important to get help as soon as you can: early intervention is associated with better outcomes and makes recovery easier. With virtual treatment, you can usually get care right away (at Equip there is no waitlist), and your providers are available for virtual sessions when you need them most.
• Consistent care without the long commute: Consistency is key to a successful recovery. Regular check-ins, therapy sessions, and nutritional guidance work best when they’re consistent. Virtual treatment makes it easier to stay consistent with your treatment by making sessions extremely convenient: they can happen anywhere and they fit around your schedule. 
• Individualized care. No two eating disorders are alike, and when you meet individually with providers in a virtual setting, it allows them to truly tailor treatment to you. At Equip, we tailor treatment to each patient’s individual needs, creating a treatment plan that fits their diagnosis, lifestyle, preferences, and other factors. We treat you as a whole person, not as a diagnosis or particular symptoms.

Meet your multidisciplinary provider team

So if recovery is a team effort, who is on that team? The exact makeup of a treatment team will vary from treatment program to treatment program, but it should include at least a registered dietitian, a therapist, and a medical provider. At Equip, each patient is matched with a dedicated team of experts across different disciplines. This team includes:

• Therapist: You’ll work with a licensed therapist who specializes in treating eating disorders. They’ll help you unravel the psychological and emotional aspects of your eating disorders. Individual sessions can help you dig into the root causes and triggers of your disordered behaviors, and help you learn healthy coping strategies to turn to instead. Group or family sessions can help you work through complex dynamics and build a recovery-supporting environment at home.
• Dietitian: With the guidance of a registered dietitian, you’ll learn to normalize your eating patterns and establish food freedom. They’ll help you create a meal plan that works with your preferences, lifestyle, and nutritional needs, and provide accountability and support for sticking to that plan. They can help you debunk harmful nutrition myths, learn more about your body’s nutritional needs, and better listen to your intuitive hunger and fullness cues.
• Medical provider: Eating disorders can lead to a number of physical and medical complications. Your medical provider will monitor and address these, while tracking essential measures of health like weight and vital signs. They’ll address any health issues that arise during treatment, as well as manage medications and any co-occurring medical conditions.
• Peer mentor: Having walked the road to recovery themselves, your peer mentor can provide you with invaluable empathy, understanding, and shared experiences. They’re living proof that ED recovery is possible and worth it, providing a powerful source of inspiration during tough moments.
• Family mentor: The treatment journey can be tough on loved ones as well. Your family mentor is someone who has supported a loved one through eating disorder recovery, and can provide empathy, support, and actionable advice to your family, friends, and whoever else joins you in treatment.

Why teamwork matters for eating disorder recovery

One of the most important factors in making treatment work is the collaboration of your provider team. In many treatment settings, patients might work with a team of providers, but these providers don’t communicate openly with one another, putting the burden on the patient to be the middleman between providers and creating disjointed, ineffective care. At Equip, your provider team truly works as a team, with each member bringing their own unique perspective and expertise to build a treatment approach that leads to real results.

Here’s what you can expect from collaborative, team-based treatment:

• All-in-one care: Eating disorders don’t affect just one part of a person—they touch every aspect of your life: emotional, physical, nutritional, psychological, and social. This means that achieving sustainable recovery requires working with multiple specialists. When you take a team-based approach to treatment, you get the holistic, wraparound support you need all in one place.
• Smooth communication: Seeing a variety of different outpatient specialists often means that patients have to act as the liaison between providers. When you work with a team, this burden is off your shoulders. Your team will be in constant communication, sharing insights and updates and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. This helps minimize gaps in your care, making recovery more seamless and more effective.
• Relapse prevention: Holistic care also means thinking about what happens after treatment. By addressing every aspect of your eating disorder—including triggers, root causes, body image, your home environment, and more—your team sets you up for success once formal care ends. Each team member brings their unique expertise and perspective to treatment, ensuring that we address every aspect of your eating disorder and leave it no place to hide.

Equip treatment is built on a team-based approach. When you begin treatment at Equip, you’ll be matched with a dedicated multidisciplinary team that provides you and your loved ones the seamless, comprehensive support you need to achieve ED recovery. With an expert team by your side every step of the way, you’ll have the support you need to navigate the ups and downs of treatment and find a full, vibrant, eating disorder-free life on the other side.

Get in touch with our team today for more information or to schedule a consultation.