Anorexia and other Eating Disorders: how to help your child eat well and be well: Practical solutions, compassionate communication tools and emotional support for parents of children and teenagers

You may be wondering if a loved one is on his or her way to an eating disorder. You may be pretty sure of it. You may even already have a child in treatment. In any of these circumstances I implore you to buy this book and read it cover to cover.My only regret is that I did t buy it sooner. Ms. Musby is the voice of calm reason, encouragement, and support through every chapter.When I first suspected my daughter had an ED, I read the reviews here and purchased this book but also checked out a few others from the library. They were a waste of my time.My daughter just spent weeks at a traditional Eating Disorder Ctr. but I have pulled her out to take her to a center that implements the Maudsley Method, which Ms. Musby clearly explains in her book.I have read the book but continue to turn to it when our situation starts to feel hopeless. I read a few chapters and get right back on course, feeling strengthened and renewed.I wish I could personally thank the author for sharing her painful experiences with her own daughter, and for opening my eyes to Family Based Treatment. Traditional treatment didn't seem at all logical to me and certainly wasn't helping my teenager. I know we have a long road ahead, but I also know now we are on the right course.

Anorexia and other Eating Disorders: how to help your child eat well and be well: Practical solutions, compassionate communication tools and emotional support for parents of children and teenagers I was full of hope when I purchased this book, thinking that it would answer many of my questions about this horrible disease, and it did not disappoint. It is clearly written, easy to understand, and has lots of helpful examples to get you through rough meals. It helps explain the disease better, and also offers support for weary parents trying to muddle through this process. Thank you Eva Musby for writing this book, it has made the start to our journey a little bit easier to deal with.

When my teen daughter was diagnosed with anorexia, I soon learned how difficult it is to find and access effective treatment. As my daughter's health deteriorated, I decided that since no experienced FBT team was available locally, that we would refeed her at home. I had no idea how difficult it would be to get her to eat, nor did I know how difficult it would be to restore her weight. Eva Musby's book not only gives a very comprehensive explanation of what it's like to care for a child or teen with anorexia, it encourages and guides parents in a personal and supportive way. For me, this book is the most helpful for parents who want to help their anorexic teen, but they don't know what to do in the face of their teen's extreme anorexic behaviors. If you are a parent who feels helpless, don't give up without reading this book! Her advice supports parents through an unimaginably painful and confusing time. All parents of anorexic kids of any age can gain great insight and help by reading this book. Thank you, Eva Musby!

I keep 2 copies of this book in my office at all times so I can lend it out and/or highlight certain sections. It is one of the most practical, well written "how to do this terrible job" books I have seen yet. Parents and care givers will love all the great tips and all the ways they learn to cope when their child has anorexia nervosa. Clinicians will also learn a lot about how anorexia "acts" which is crucial to being a well informed and effective clinician.

This book helped in learning how to deal with people with an eating disorder. Practical advise, and I loved the focus on compassion toward oneself and the ED sufferer.Only thing I didn’t like was mild “swear” words, and her meditation style is not mine. Sometimes lengthy sections, but it’s okay because the author lets the reader know that at the beginning of the book.First time I read about non violent communication—good info. The descriptions of ED sufferers thoughts was very helpful for understanding and gaining compassion. The techniques, such as verbal prompts and parent taking charge of the plate worked well.

I can't say enough good things about this book. My daughter is twelve and suffering from anorexia. She's lost over thirty pounds and is so sad and helpless. My daughter's anorexia was brought on by severe ptsd. She's a survivor and a fighter. She survived an unspeakable trauma when she was small. This book is helping me to help her survive. There are things in here that are more valuable and essential to her survival than I can explain. There are tips and comments that are truly life saving in our situation.

I was literally sweating when I was reading the book. To be honest, I didn’t realize how serious a disease my daughter caught. I have been overlooking the small symptoms since many months ago. Thanks God, I found this book. It really helped us to fight the disease together with our daughter.

I can't say how much I appreciate this book! After spending hours in different therapies and FBT I finally understood how to help my daughter during her struggles with food. This book explains the illness in general and provides clear examples and tips on how to deal with this.

Faced with having a teen suffering depression and anxiety, and having to wait 8 months to speak with a Psychiatrist, an eating disorder developed. As soon as that Psychiatrist showed such alarm and urgency at their additional diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, I was left to learn what I could on my own between delayed appointments and referrals. Told only to get calories into the teen, but not so fast as to make them sick, nothing prepared me to deal with how exactly to go about that and deal with the emotional turmoil that teen suffers at each meal and snack. If after searching the internet in dismay you don't find options that make sense, this is the book to look in.I have tabbed several pages and sections that I find most helpful to refer back to. The author includes a synopsis of many popular approaches and explains why she personally, or studies, felt that some were preferred over others. So many believe in forcing their children to sit hours in agony until a meal is eaten. I've so far been lucky to find collaboration with my teen helpful. I've learned about fear foods and how to manage more caloric intake, usually.The book does not waste time with extra flourishes that just fill the pages. I am a slow reader, but I never lost interest at any point. Our struggle is still very slow going, waiting another 5-6 months for an eating disorders program that I only now learned will provide the dietitian, nutrition therapist, psychology support and social workers my teen needs, despite the current Psychiatrist asserting that the dietitian therapy is needed NOW.I love that the author updates and re-releases the book with the latest developments periodically. She also provides references to YouTube videos as recommended companions to the book. I haven't viewed those yet though.

The headline word in the title is anorexia and, of course, that's a more likely eating disorder for a young person to have, but this book really does offer valuable parental insight to a range of experiences that a family living with any eating disorder may have.In the early days of refeeding at home, when you've been tasked by FBT team to simply 'feed your child' you are somewhat left open mouthed, gaping and saying out loud 'how?' as bedlam descends around you. This book takes you by the hand and offers suggestions, not answers, that may work, with the strict mantra of 'it's ok to make mistakes'. What works one day is thrown out the window 24hrs later and you search around for a new method to try. Underpinning all this is the idea that anything you do is heading towards the best outcome, done with the best of your intentions and may not be perfect but 'good enough' and you really can be ok with that.Read it, skip through the stuff that's not relevant to you (my daughter was already accepted into CAMHS so I could skip the chapter about finding help) and be armed with post it notes to mark the bits that are relevant!

Es ist jetzt ein Jahr her, dass mein damals 12-jähriger Sohn, der eigentlich immer eher "kräftig" (und psychisch völlig unauffällig und fröhlich) gewesen war, nach einem Versuch, abzunehmen, weil er auch mal richtig schlank sein wollte, in einen Teufelskreis des Nicht-Essens geriet und irgendwann Untergewicht hatte, völlig kraftlos, ständig frierend und sehr wesensverändert war (depressiv und launisch). Für das Krankenhaus ging es ihm noch zu gut, aber sein Zustand war alles andere als gesund und mir war klar: noch wenige Kilo weniger und er ist reif für die Klinik. Er gestand mir, dass er einfach nicht mehr so einfach essen könne, obwohl er Hunger hätte. Er hatte panikartige Angst vor dem Essen. In kürzester Zeit war zu Hause nichts mehr wie vorher und wir alle fühlten uns in einer Krise gestürzt. Was ich an Therapieansätzen und Ursachenbeschreibungen über Magersucht las, überzeugte mich nicht wirklich. Wie genau sollte ihm denn dabei geholfen werden? Er braucht - neben psychologischen Gesprächen und emotionaler Zuwendung - vor allem Nahrung und einen Kalorienüberschuss, aber davon sagte die Ärztin, zu der wir dann gingen, gar nichts.Dann las ich von der familienbasierten Therapie, die im angelsächsischen Raum etabliert ist, und kam auf dieses Buch. Die Idee schien auf unsere Situation zu passen: Die Unterversorgung des Kindes mit Nahrung selbst ist ein wesentlicher Umstand, der die Psyche krank macht. Das Kind kann in diesem Zustand nicht frei über seine Essensaufnahme entscheiden, weil eine neurobiologisch bedingte Schieflage entstanden ist. Das Kind muss für eine Weile die Entscheidungen über seine Nahrungsaufnahme an die Eltern abgeben und möglichst zügig aufgepäppelt werden und allein durch die Gewichtszunahme bessert sich auch die Psyche oft sehr schnell. Gerade bei jungen Patienten, bei denen die Krankheit noch nicht lange besteht, ist dieser Ansatz vielversprechend. Mit Hilfe dieses Buches übernahm ich die Verantwortung für das Aufpäppeln.Er hatte zwar auch eine psychologische Ernährungsberatung (nicht besonders lange, nur etwa 6 Sitzungen), und die war auch notwendig, aber vor allem hat er von mir und am Anfang auch unter meiner konsequenten Aufsicht (in den Ferien) bewusst kalorienreiche Nahrung (z.B. Nüsse, Wurst, Brötchen, Fleisch) vorgesetzt bekommen und er hat es auch irgendwann eingefordert, dass ich mich darum kümmere, dass er wieder genug isst. Nach wenigen Wochen ging es ihm schon besser, nach ca. 2 Monaten konnte er nach und nach wieder normaler alleine essen und seine Stimmung hellte sich auf. Ich würde nie sagen, dass wir das Problem überwunden hätten, man weiß nie, aber er isst jetzt wieder alles und ohne Probleme. Dieses Buch war meine Stütze in diesen Wochen.

Practical and realistic. This book answered many of my questions and reassured me as a parent trying to re-feed my child. When I felt like I was failing I knew that I was not alone. I needed all of the motivation I could muster and this certainly helped.

Das Buch hilft sehr, die Krankheit zu verstehen und ist ein wichtiger Leitfaden für Angehörige - goldwert.