People living with eating disorders like Binge Eating Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, or any of the other types of eating disorders have hope in getting help from treatment services. But, there are a couple different types of eating disorder treatment including both inpatient and outpatient eating disorder treatment. In this article, we discuss what outpatient eating disorder treatment is, what its benefits include, and who may be the best candidates for this type of treatment.

What is Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment?

Outpatient eating disorder treatment is an approach to helping people living with eating disorders by providing individuals with behavioral therapy, nutritional counseling, family therapy sessions, and group therapy. With this type of treatment, individuals don’t live on a treatment facilily’s premice, meaning they either go home each night or utilize a supportive housing service. And, can go about daily activities (scheduling permitted) like taking care of family members, going to school, and going to work. While outpatient eating disorder treatment isn’t as intensive as inpatient treatment options, there are many benefits to choosing this type of treatment for the right individuals.

What to Expect From This Treatment Approach

There are a few things you can expect to happen during your time in this type of treatment program. Some of these things include:

• determining a treatment plan with your provider. This may include how many hours you’ll spend in treatment every week, specific therapies you can utilize, and the total duration you can expect to utilize treatment services.
• pinpointing and addressing physical needs. Many people who have been living with an eating disorder for an extended period of time will experience a number of physical issues. These may include nutritional and hormonal imbalances, malnutrition, and physical illness. Before treatment begins, you and your treatment provider will make a plan of attack and set goals to overcoming and addressing any physical issues that have developed as the result of eating disorders during treatment.
• determining payment options. Some insurance providers cover or partially cover the cost of outpatient eating disorder treatment. If not, patients must discover how to pay for treatment services out of pocked. In either case, before treatment begins, you can expect to discuss payment with your treatment provider.
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Benefits of Choosing This Type of Treatment

There are some advantages to choosing an outpatient approach to eating disorder treatment inclding:

Price: outpatient treatment is generally less costly than residential/inpatient treatment options, making it more accesible to more people living with eating disorders.

Scheduling: outpatient treatment allows people to schedule help for eating disorders around their daily life. This makes it more accessible to people who can’t necessarily just up and go to inpatient treatment without negative consequences.

Family: Many outpatient eating disorder treatment approaches encourage family involvement with treatment, giving patients an ideal source of support during and after treatment.

Who’s a Good Candidate for Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment?

Generally, people who are good candidates for this type of eating disorder treatment have less severe physical and mental effects of eating disorders. Or, have already completed an inpatient treatment program at a residential facility. If you feel that you may be a good candidate for outpatient eating disorder treatment programs, Delray Center for Healing can help guide you to making the best decision for both your physical and mental health. Find out more about our eating disorder treatment program from our website.