- These sessions are for general education only and ARE NOT a medical consultation. If you have a patient who you would like to refer to Equip, click here. If you have questions about one of your patients who is already admitted at Equip, please contact our nurse line at 619-866-0473 or email them at nurses@equip.health.
One of Equip’s main differentiators is our clinical model. Equip has an internal training program that certifies our clinicians in order to deliver evidence-based modalities virtually, and we have a comprehensive research team dedicated to tracking and ensuring effectiveness. Unlike other programs, Equip is proven to work for medically stable patients needing a high level of care who might otherwise seek in-person IOP or PHP programs. In fact, 87% of Equip patients are high acuity
Another differentiator is our multidisciplinary care teams, which consist of a medical provider, therapist, dietitian, and coaches with lived experience. This care team not only collaborates with each other but also closely with referring providers.
This leads to another significant differentiator, our industry-leading outcomes. 70% of patients improving to subclinical symptom levels and 84% meeting weight restoration goals by the end of treatment. After discharge, 76% of patients report that eating disorder symptoms only interfered with daily life “a little” or “not at all” during the previous 28 days.
Initial signs of an eating disorder may include changing eating habits, cutting out food groups, and skipping meals. In general, if you’re concerned about a patient it’s best to refer them to an eating disorder program for a free assessment. Early intervention carries a better prognosis for eating disorder recovery, so the earlier a patient can be diagnosed and begin treatment, the better. You can learn more about when to refer a patient here.
We treat patients of all ages and all eating disorder diagnoses in all 50 states. Our providers are trained to treat patients with all types and subtypes of eating disorders in the DSM, including anorexia, ARFID, bulimia, binge eating disorder (BED), and OSFED, and we also treat patients without an official eating disorder diagnosis.
Many of our patients experience comorbidities, and our clinicians are trained in treating these alongside the eating disorder. In fact, the majority of our patients present with one or more comorbid conditions, which are addressed over the course of treatment.
Equip redefines the fragmented eating disorder treatment landscape, offering evidence-based treatment throughout a patient's entire journey to recovery. Rather than segmenting patient treatment by acuity level (requiring step-down from one setting to another), Equip provides integrated, flexible treatment that meets patients where they are. As long as patients are medically stable, we can begin treatment.
As long as patients are medically stable, we can begin treatment. For patients who are medically vulnerable, we require an in-person medical clearance exam before beginning treatment at Equip. This typically involves a visit to their primary care provider for a physical exam and to check weight, height, orthostatic vitals, and/or labs.
After they are medically cleared (using the criteria from the American Psychiatric Association Practice and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine), we continue to monitor medical status during their time at Equip, either through virtual medical monitoring or by collaborating with in-person medical providers, depending on a patient's needs. By closely tracking weight, vitals, and other markers as necessary, we're able to ensure that all patients can safely be treated at home. Visit our provider resource center for more details on how to medically evaluate a patient for eating disorder treatment.
Length of treatment varies from patient to patient, but the average patient in remission discharges after 51 weeks. This may sound long, but the length of treatment is specifically designed to prevent relapse, which is so common for these illnesses. Additionally, since patients go through treatment from home, treatment doesn’t impede their lives or the lives of their loved ones, and many of our insurance partners provide coverage for at least a year.
Generally, treatment begins as a high-touch process with several appointments per week, and gradually becomes a lower-touch experience as each patient moves through their treatment journey and toward recovery.
Our provider team includes trained and licensed therapists, medical providers, and dietitians, all of whom specialize in eating disorders, as well as certified mentors for both the patient and the people supporting them.
Every therapist is licensed (with licenses such as LCSW, LMFT, AMFT, and others) and has training in eating disorder treatment. Therapists undergo approximately 80 hours of training and supervision in their first three months at Equip. Our medical providers are MDs (physicians, pediatricians, or psychiatrists), registered nurses, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners with training in eating disorders. Medical providers complete 30 hours of training when onboarding with Equip, and nurses complete 50 hours of training. Every dietitian has been licensed as an RD and has experience working with patients with eating disorders. They complete 30 hours of training.
Our coaches are Equip employees who either have lived experience with an eating disorder (meaning they have recovered from an eating disorder themselves) or have helped a loved one recover from an eating disorder. Coaches also receive over 30 hours of specialized mentorship training through Equip.
All Equip providers receive ongoing training and supervision, including 24 hours of continuing education. You can learn more about our in-depth, evidence-based training curriculum and advanced certifications on our provider training page.
The initial focus of anorexia treatment is normalizing eating habits, stopping restriction, and restoring weight as necessary. As the patient's body and brain become more adequately nourished, they may be better equipped to then address other important areas. At this point, treatment might then shift to other areas like body image, social life, learning to handle triggers, and addressing co-occurring conditions.
To accomplish all this, our clinicians use a variety of different evidence-based treatment modalities, including CBT-E (a form of cognitive behavioral therapy designed specifically for eating disorders), DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy), and ERP (exposure and response prevention). For younger patients who live with their family, we generally use FBT (family-based treatment).
Male anorexia is far more common than most people think, with men and boys accounting for up to 25% of all patients with anorexia. Men and boys with anorexia often go undiagnosed for a long time (at least in part because of societal misconceptions around who gets anorexia), and so they often enter treatment in a more serious condition than their female counterparts.
Anorexia and bulimia share some similarities, but tend to present quite differently. Both are types of eating disorders that involve a preoccupation with body size and weight and a fear of gaining weight. For those with anorexia, the primary eating disorder behavior is restriction. For those with builimia, the hallmark is binge-purge cycles, which are characterized by eating large quantities of food, followed by purging through vomiting, laxatives, compulsive exercise, or other unhealthy means. It is important to note, though, that restriction is often a symptom in bulimia, and bingeing and purging may be present in anorexia. You can learn more about anorexia and bulimia on our blog.
Atypical anorexia is a common yet underdiagnosed type of anorexia, in which a person has all of the symptoms of anorexia except for being at a low body weight. Instead, people with atypical anorexia may be in medium or large bodies. Atypical anorexia is a very serious condition, carries almost all the same health risks as “regular” anorexia, and should be treated the same way as anorexia.
At Equip, we don’t use the term “atypical anorexia”—it is simply anorexia. Any manifestation of anorexia, regardless of weight, is serious and life-threatening and needs the same treatment.
As frustrating as it is, there is rarely one identifiable cause of an eating disorder, and anorexia is no different. More often than not, it is a constellation of biological, psychological, and environmental factors: in other words, someone has a genetic predisposition to developing an eating disorder, and then the eating disorder is “turned on” by environmental factors such a diet, over-exercise, social stress, or even a stomach bug. But the good news is that we don't need to know the exact cause of your child's eating disorder to treat it effectively. You can learn more about the causes of eating disorders on our blog.
- Deloitte Access Economics. (2020). The social and economic cost of eating disorders in the United States of America: A report for the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders and the Academy for Eating Disorders. Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/report-economic-costs-of-eating-disorders
- Hart, L., Granillo, M., Jorm, A., & Paxton, S. (2011). Unmet need for treatment in the eating disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(5).
Frequently asked questions
Research shows that eating disorder treatment is most effective when it uses a multidisciplinary approach (i.e., working with several different types of providers). Every Equip patient or family is matched with a dedicated team of eating disorder specialists, which includes a therapist, dietitian, and medical provider. You’ll also be supported by a coach with lived experience: patients connect with a coach who has recovered from an eating disorder themselves, and family members connect with a coach who has supported a loved one through recovery. Every Equip provider is licensed and specialized in eating disorders, and receives ongoing training at Equip.
We tailor treatment to each patient’s unique needs by using a variety of evidence-based treatment approaches.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the evidence-based approaches we most frequently use:
- Family-based treatment (FBT): FBT is based on the idea that family members are best suited to help their loved one recover. Research shows that for children and adolescents with eating disorders, FBT has the highest rates of recovery and the lowest rates of relapse.
- Enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-E): CBT-E focuses on challenging unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes that keep an eating disorder going.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR): CBT-AR uses personalized strategies to address patients' unique ARFID symptoms, including sensory sensitivities, food-related fears, and lack of interest or poor appetite.
- Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT provides tools to help people regulate and cope with difficult emotions.
- Temperament-based therapy with supports (TBT-S): TBT-S helps patients understand how their temperament traits (e.g. perfectionism, impulsivity, and determination) may contribute to their eating disorder symptoms, and how they can channel these traits into building a life outside of the eating disorder.
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP): ERP focuses on helping people face their fears and triggers. These may include specific fear foods or social situations that contribute to eating disorder behaviors.
You can learn more about Equip’s treatment approaches here.
Equip is in-network with most major insurance plans, and you can check your coverage with our insurance screener. Our team will also verify your insurance information before you start at Equip to make sure we are in-network for your insurance and review how your plan coverage will impact any cost share (copays or coinsurance) you may be responsible for. If Equip is not in-network with your insurance, we offer a private pay option. A financial counselor will work with you directly to review costs and options such as HSA/FSA eligibility.
Length of treatment varies from patient to patient, but the average patient in remission discharges after 51 weeks. This may sound long, but the length of treatment is specifically designed to prevent relapse, which is so common for these illnesses. Additionally, since patients go through treatment from home, treatment doesn’t impede their lives or the lives of their loved ones, and many of our insurance partners provide coverage for at least a year.
Generally, treatment begins as a high-touch process with several appointments per week, and gradually becomes a lower-touch experience as each patient moves through their treatment journey and toward recovery.
