While we support campaigns that encourage healthy eating and balanced living, many of the recent anti-obesity campaigns are not doing this. We are shocked and horrified by CHOA’s initiative which we find shaming. The fear among Eating Disorder advocacy groups is that these types of advertising campaigns only encourage weight prejudice among our children and thus encourage bullying.

At Castlewood we encourage those creating Anti-obesity campaigns to consult the experts and design advertising that promotes health not weight- stigma.

To view the “stop sugarcoating” advertisements go to www.strong4life.com 

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Castlewood Treatment Center is  proud to support EDRS in their efforts by helping sponsor the 6th Annual Conference in Pettaluma, California. Castlewood’s clinical co-director, Lori Galperin will be in attendance. Jake Resch, Anxiety Specialist and Direct Care Supervisor, will attend and market at the Castlewood booth.

For more information about EDRS and their efforts in California please visit their website.

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From Kelley-

When I entered Castlewood, I thought life would get steadily easier. What I soon realized was I was beginning to embark on a journey towards authentic feeling; not an easy task when I was numbed out from the world for so many years.

Emotionally frozen for some time when I came to Castlewood, I began to slowly, very slowly defrost. I moved further away from engaging in my eating disorder behaviors, and closer to recovery. The layers and walls I built up during the period of time I had my eating disorder were gradually beginning to be broken down. As I thawed out from all the emotional pain and chaos I experienced for years, I soon realized that there was light at the end of the tunnel, and that this light was not a train barreling towards me to run me over. Rather, this light was the hope I had desperately, and eagerly been searching for. 

During my defrosting stage of treatment I received an enormous amount of empathy from staff and clients.  Despite all the compassion, care, concern, patience, and understanding I received from all the Castlewood staff, I am learning that the giving nature of the professionals at Castlewood is simply an example of how I should treat myself. From direct care, to therapists, to Mark and Lori,  I have received nothing but the kind, understanding, accepting presence of all the staff.

Melting has not been easy, quick, or painless. Rather, the process towards finding out my identity apart from my eating disorder has been excruciatingly difficult and trying. With the encouragement of clients, staff, my therapist, my dietitian, and my support team outside of Castlewood, I am beginning to see tangible change occur in my life.

I entered Castlewood not knowing who I was as a person. I have now grown a better understanding of my make-up, personality, and unique characteristic traits. I walked through the doors of Castlewood not able to tolerate any intense emotion without acting out on a behavior; I can now sit through a whole range of feelings. I came into Castlewood with little knowledge about why I have an eating disorder. I now understand that there are several factors that played into the development and progression of my eating disorder. When I came to Castlewood I wanted someone outside of myself to fix and cure me. Now I realize that I innately have the capacity to help myself.

As I sit here on this cool January evening and reflect on my time spent at Castlewood I am overwhelmed with hope. Today, while playing basketball at the local YMCA I found myself connected to my mind, body, and spirit. A year ago I would have never been able to work up the courage to go into the open gym and ask ten guys if they would let me play with them. I was the only female, and- I not only asked- but I played. During this time my mind was free of the self-destructive thoughts that have kept me in shackles for so many years. I felt the strength in my body and did not have a body image crisis. I felt my fast heart beat and did not wish that somehow it would suddenly stop.

I am thankful for the pain I experienced because it allows me to more fully experience the joy in life, and I can connect with a moment of joy when in it enters my day. I can now put my finger right on it, name it, and soak it in; this- knowing when I am experiencing true joy- is a gift.

Today I realized I am well into the defrosting stage of recovery, and- although I am far from where I want to be- I am in it. I am fighting, and fighting hard. I cherish these moments, the time when I see tangible results from the hard work I am putting in on a daily basis.

Yes, the early recovery is not a walk in the park. Yes, during my time at Castlewood I have been thrown several balls from left field that I was not expecting. Yes, walking into the doors of Castlewood I did not anticipate facing more pain than I had in my previous treatment experiences. But, if it is all working towards finally being freed from the ice that has held me captive for so many years, then- in my opinion- it is all worth it.

So today my wish for all those who suffer with an eating disorder is that you may find joy in the struggle, and beauty in the pain.

From Erin McGinty, LPC-

An eating disorder is like a fortress of impenetrable walls; it is designed with the ultimate task in mind to protect vulnerable emotions and experiences of the past, and to ward off the potential of further pain in the present and future. Somewhere during the construction of the intricate layers of protection an eating disorder offers- perhaps a bit at a time- a client’s true identity becomes locked away, hidden from the rest of the world. Most of our clients describe themselves as not knowing who they are without their eating disorders, as their intense self-hatred leads to all of the most authentic, genuine, and lovely facets of themselves being exiled to the depths of their strongholds.

When Kelley came into treatment, she was a series of walls and mazes. She was numb to both her external and internal experiences, and she used her eating disorder and self-harming behaviors to keep emotions at bay. When the emotions came on too quickly or too intensely, the eating disorder served as a means to reinstate numbness and safety. The extreme shame and loathing that she experienced toward herself caused her to consider suicide as a means of escaping the pain that engulfed her day-to-day.

Over time, Kelley began to do exactly as she described… she began to thaw. As she began to believe that life could be more than days spent binging, purging, and restricting, her walls slowly began to come down. As she came to trust others, she started to invite them in instead of turning them away. She began to see herself as worthwhile, reflected in the eyes of staff, peers, and her caring support system. She began to consider that the very barriers she had built between herself and others for the sake of protection were no longer necessary; in fact, the pain of loneliness far exceeded the possible risks of relating with others.

The process by which a person loses herself in an eating disorder is often long and painful; it would only make sense that- if recovery is a process of reconnecting with oneself- then this journey, too, can be lengthy and arduous given the amount of healing that needs to occur. There were days when the pain of recovery seemed unbearable to Kelley, and on some of those days the illusion of comfort that her eating disorder provided was a tempting offer. More often than not, Kelley had the strength and courage to resist eating disorder urges and forge ahead. Her resiliency, like that of the rest of our clients, was remarkable and inspirational to both her peers and to staff. Her start down the path of recovery was not an easy one, and she has overcome multiple roadblocks along the way.

What has since emerged from the frozen block that was once Kelley is a wise, caring, and strong young woman who is well-liked and well-respected in her community of peers. But the real pleasure of this therapeutic, de-thawing process, I think, is to have watched Kelley come to like- and maybe even love- herself.

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Jenni speaks about her former relationship with her eating disorder in an article in the Huffington Post. She shares about recent speaking engagements as well as her singing and songwriting career. In this article she shares a great vision the future of our society. “ What would happen if we stopped being so preoccupied with whether or not our thighs touched at the top and obsessed about life instead? We could spend more quality time with our families. Or we could change careers, go speed dating, and even take trapeze lessons. We could experience more joy.”

Jenni also keeps a beautiful blog dedicated to stories of hope and inspiration for anyone suffering with an Eating Disorder.  For more information on Jenni, her speaking engagements, and her writing, please visit her website.

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The Elisa Project was founded in 1999 by Rick and Leslie McCall in memory of their daughter Elisa, who suffered from an eating disorder and ultimately took her own life. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Elisa Project is dedicated to the prevention and effective treatment of eating disorders through support, awareness, education, and advocacy. They strive to be the premier knowledge resource on eating disorders and a proactive agent of change to ensure that all those affected by these diseases receive the treatment and support they need. Among our program goals:

Public Awareness: Educate the public to understand, prevent, and destigmatize eating disorders.

Community Education and Support: Empower those affected by eating disorders to understand and manage their health needs and to communicate effectively with their family, friends, and healthcare professionals.

Professional Education: Enhance the proficiency of healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders.

Advocacy: Advocate for strong healthcare policies, ensuring access to care, appropriate attention to prevention, and adequate resources for treatment.

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For many who treat Eating Disorders and for insurance companies- the measure of health is weight. At Castlewood, we find this limiting and for some shaming. Now, let me be clear, weight is a measure of health, it is just not the only measure. Those who struggle with anorexia need to get to a healthy BMI in order to restore cognitive function, proper body function, normalize lab work, and in order to start to listen to hunger/fullness cues. And for many who struggle with binge eating disorder, weight loss is  a part of the process of stopping binge behaviors, reducing cholesterol levels, risk of diabetes, etc. The problem emerges when we as a field say that once someone with Anorexia is weight restored they are healthy, or once someone with BED loses the weight they are healthy, or that someone with Bulimia is healthy because they may have a normal body weight. Another problem with weight as the measure of health is if we have a prescribed idea that everyone on the planet should be at 100% ideal body weight. We must take into account that some people will naturally fall outside of these parameters on either side. Their must be adjustments made for body type, family history, and other factors when determining someones goal weight.

The measure of health must be more complex.  We have to take into account weight, cognitive function, lab and other medical data and whether the person can maintain this weight while following a normal healthy balanced diet. This debate in the fashion world brings to light the debate that I often hear about weight stigma and the childhood obesity campaigns. There has to be a way to encourage healthy eating, healthy activity without stigmatizing those whose weight is naturally higher. There has to be a way for us as a country to teach our youth to be healthy without encouraging Eating Disorder behaviors.  If you are medically healthy, if you eat normal amounts of food without ED behaviors,  have an active lifestyle, and if most importantly you are happy, then isn’t that the measure of health? Isn’t that what we should all be moving towards?

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According to Psychiatric News the following other changes are proposed for the DSM-V.

Proposed Changes to Criteria for Feeding and Eating Disorders

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The Internal Family Systems model of psychotherapy offers a clear, non-pathologizing and empowering method of understanding human problems, as well as an innovative and enriching philosophy of practice that invites both therapist and client to enter into a transformational relationship in which healing can occur. At Castlewood Treatment Center this approach is incorporated into our program and has been incredibly effective with patients, particularly those who have been in treatment for extended periods of time or who have repeated hospitalizations with no lasting recovery.

Location: Orlando Student Education Center- 4850 Millenia Blvd Orlando, FL 32839  Phone: 407-264-5601

Cost: $90 for 2 days, $50 for 2 days

CEU’s: 12 CEU’s will be available through NASW and NBCC.

To see the full conference website click here. 

DAY 1

DAY 2

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“Some medically necessary treatments for severe mental illness have no analog in treatments for physical illnesses,” the three-judge panel wrote. “For example, it makes no sense in a case such as Harlick’s to pay for 100 days in a skilled nursing facility — which cannot effectively treat her anorexia nervosa — but not to pay for time in a residential treatment facility that specializes in treating eating disorders.”

This  case involves Jeanene Harlick, a 37-year-old woman from California who has suffered from anorexia for more than 20 years. In 2006, she began intensive outpatient treatment, but her doctors said she needed a higher level of care, according to the written decision from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Her insurance company, Blue Shield of California, told her that residential treatment wasn’t covered under her plan, but that hospitalization would be covered if it was medically necessary, and the insurer gave her several names of potential hospitals. Her doctors determined none of those places could provide effective treatment and she admitted to Residential Treatment at Castlewood Treatment Center.

Harlick received treatment at Castlewood for more than nine months, and Blue Shield refused to cover her treatment costs, informing her that her insurance plan covers inpatient services in connection with a hospitalization, but doesn’t cover residential treatment.

Harlick filed a complaint in federal district court in 2008, but the court sided with Blue Shield and concluded that Harlick’s insurance plan “unambiguously excluded coverage for residential care.”

Harlick appealed the decision, and a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals  sided with Harlick, ruling that Blue Cross’ denial violated California’s mental health parity law in denying her claim. The state’s parity law, which was enacted in 1999, requires that insurance plans provide the same coverage for “medically necessary treatment of severe mental illness” as they do for illnesses that are physical in nature.

Lisa Kantor of Kantor & Kantor law firm represented Harlick in this case.  Kantor & Kantor has developed a specialized legal practice representing clients whose claims for treatment of eating disorders, and dual diagnosis (substance abuse and other co-morbid conditions) have been unfairly denied by their health insurers or benefit plan. Kantor & Kantor’s aggressive approach to litigation and legislation has brought justice for clients who have found themselves fighting for their insurance benefits when benefits were wrongfully denied.

At Castlewood we are committed to providing quality Residential care. We believe that Residential treatment is optimal for many clients since it has the unique capacity to treat medical and physical complications while treating the underlying psychological issues.  We applaud Harlick and Kantor & Kantor as they fight to create equality within healthcare and treatment for eating disorders.

To read additional articles about this story:

ABC NEWS 

Examiner 

To Read the full court ruling: CLICK HERE 

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This article and research illuminates a concept very familiar to those of us that have been treating eating disorders for years. Depresssion, negative self image, self hate, shame, etc are the underlying causes of eating disorders. It is not a far leap then to make the statement that without addressing the underlying causes eating disorder symptoms will not remit.

At Castlewood, this is exactly our goal. Treat the underlying depression (or other co-occurring disorders) while working to contain the eating disorder symptoms. We work with each client to develop an individualized  treatment plan that will address underlying anxiety, depression, family dynamics, or other co-occurring addictions.

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