Treatment modalities at Equip
Personalized care built from the leading evidence-based approaches
Eating disorder treatment isn’t one-size-fits-all, but research has proven certain approaches are most effective. We integrate these two realities by providing personalized care that pulls from evidence-based practices to best meet each patient’s unique needs.
During the intake process, we learn all we can about the patient—their history, symptoms, challenges, and goals, as well as any co-occurring conditions—and build a treatment plan based on this information. Our treatment is dynamic and responsive; we can adapt our plan over time if a patient’s needs change or a new approach is needed.
Certain patients may require unique interventions that available research hasn’t addressed, but most often, our clinicians use a variety of clinically-validated treatment modalities. Learn more about the modalities we use at Equip below.
Family-based treatment (FBT) is a treatment approach that empowers families to be active participants in their loved ones’ recovery. It’s considered the gold standard for eating disorder treatment in children, adolescents, and young adults.
Who is FBT for?
FBT is a good treatment approach for most young people struggling with most eating disorders.
It is used to treat children, adolescents, and teens who live at home with their families. A variation of FBT called family-based treatment for transition age youth (FBT-TAY) may also be helpful for patients aged 18 to 26 who need the support of loved ones for recovery.
FBT can be used to treat anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder (BED) and other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED). It can also be used to treat avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in young people, though it is often used in conjunction with another modality, like CBT-AR.
How does FBT work?
FBT is a structured treatment approach in which families take on a central role. Unlike traditional talk therapy approaches, it targets eating disorder symptoms and behaviors first, and addresses psychological, emotional, and relational aspects later.
In FBT, parents (or other family members, or chosen family) are empowered to renourish their child and prevent disordered behaviors like purging, compulsive exercise, or binge eating. With the ongoing support of trained eating disorder professionals—usually at least a dietitian and a therapist—family members gain the skills and strategies they need to help their loved one gain weight (if needed), stop engaging in unhealthy behaviors, and beat the eating disorder.
FBT is an “agnostic” approach, meaning that it’s not concerned with identifying an underlying cause of the eating disorder. This strategy is based on the belief that we don’t need to know the cause of an eating disorder in order to treat it effectively. It’s also true that once patients are renourished and no longer engaging in disordered behaviors as frequently, many psychological symptoms—like body image distress, obsessive thoughts, and anxiety—significantly lessen on their own. In fact, research shows that eating disorder thoughts tend to go away naturally six to eight months after patients achieve weight restoration.
FBT is broken into three phases, with the patient gaining increased independence at each phase.
Phase 1: Parents (or other family members) are tasked with renourishing their child and stopping eating disorder behaviors. The focus is on reducing symptoms and gaining weight (if needed).
Phase 2: The child slowly begins to regain independence under the observation of their loved ones. The focus is on developing skills and independence.
Phase 3: The child is eating independently, and loved ones step back into normal parental roles. The focus shifts to identity formation and relapse prevention.
Benefits of FBT
A large body of research shows FBT to be the most effective approach for treating eating disorders in young people. Though parents and other family members may feel daunted by the prospect of renourishing their loved one, with the right support from trained professionals, the process can be not only manageable, but empowering and healing for everybody involved. And most importantly, FBT works.
Studies show that for children and adolescents with eating disorders, FBT has the highest rates of recovery and the lowest rates of relapse. During the course of FBT, patients see not only a reduction in eating disorder symptoms, but also increases in self-esteem, quality of life, and psychosocial functioning.
The FBT approach helps patients stay in recovery because they are recovering in their own life rather than in a “treatment bubble,” and because their loved ones become educated about how to create a recovery-supporting environment at home. Additionally, FBT helps parents build confidence in their ability to take care of their child, and research shows that building confidence early in the process is associated with a greater likelihood of long-lasting recovery.
Learn more about evidence-based treatment at Equip