Family Based Therapy Paper

Great treatment plan to help out your clients! I like how you focus on a variety of techniques to approach the needs of your clients and strategize to respect their decisions, however you still implement some of the requirements of your treatment. For example, you said that your patient “will not be forced to eat but will be required to sit at the table for regular breakfast, lunch and dinner hours”. I believe this is a good approach to expose your client to a support group because it will allow them to slowly start to change their eating habits and if they see other patients doing it as well they will most likely do it. It gives them the sensation that they are not alone and that they are given an option to start addressing the problem. Being

able to recognize that they have a condition on their own is a big part of the process I believe, because you can provide all the resources in the world but if the person does not do it willingly then there is no point. Allowing them to feel comfortable enough to make their own decision definitely builds trust and that way your client will most likely cope with the different approaches that you propose. I guess that in the more extreme cases, your alternative for medication will be the best approach.

The fact that your treatment plan will allow them to leave the house on certain periods of times serves as a positive reinforcer, for it works in their favor to show progress and good behavior. It gives them a motivation to get better and to work towards progress. The proposed family-based therapy session would be such a great enhancer to the overall process because it gives the patient an opportunity to work with its own family and as a unit identify how family behaviors can affect the patient and learn new ways to resolve any conflict. Maintaining a healthy family interaction will definitely be beneficial for the patient because it will allow the patient to feel comfortable around their own family and most of all, be able to rely on the family when dealing with different issues that come with the disorder such as depression and anxiety. For example, being able to understand how a person diagnosed with bulimia feels may help that family member provide better assistance and understanding to the situation. One of the key factors when working with anyone dealing with any condition that brings forth mental stress is definitely patience, and the family should be able to at least minimize stressors for the

client. Also, you said that the “goal is to reinstate good eating habits by targeting an eliminating triggers along with bulimic patterns” and I totally agree with this because being able to control what your client eats will eliminate the binge eating which will eliminate the compensatory behavior that are absolutely damaging to the body. I appreciate that you acknowledge the fact that treatment may not be effective for all clients, and so proposing different approaches for different types of clients will make you a great therapist. Towards the end of your proposed treatment plan you said that “patients who are not in a severe bulimic state will benefit from the exposure to individuals who are and that exposure to severe cases can prevent the escalation of their bulimia”. Is interesting that you say this because I never thought of this. After reading your post I can see how witnessing someone at a worst state can make you realize how you need to change or else you would end up the same way and possibly worst. This may be a wakeup call and this may make them realize that their condition can get worst if they don’t put effort towards changing their behavior. Someone who deals with an eating disorder experiences a rough time, and so a treatment plan that gives them various alternatives and chances to finding what works best for them is sure awesome!