We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. By using this website, you consent to our Terms and Conditions.

XClose

How the Best Eating Disorder Treatment Centers Support Their Alumnae

As clients near the end of their journey in becoming fully recovered, they will need to prepare to transition out of the eating disorder treatment environment. The best eating disorder treatment centers aid in this transition by offering a full range of support services. Through these alumnae services, clients can remain connected to the treatment center staff and peer groups. Their family members can even acquire support services to continue their journey by their loved one’s side as they remain recovered outside of treatment.

Clients can work through the transition from the treatment center to home much easier if they spend some time becoming familiar with the available alumnae services. Clients can begin this process with confidence by learning about the types of services available and their full range of benefits.

Types of Alumnae Support Services for Treatment Graduates

As people with eating disorders work toward graduation, they may discover many different alumnae support services offered by the treatment center. The most common types of support they may find includes:

Structured Groups

Many obsessive eating disorder treatment centers regularly offer scheduled therapy sessions for alumnae. These sessions are structured so that alumnae can attend on their own or with family as challenges arise in recovery or to celebrate their successes. The alumnae therapy sessions have many different structures and attendees to accommodate all involved parties. For example, the therapy sessions may include just the client and their family or many other families as a group. Past clients can also attend sessions that consist of just alumnae or all the community members at the treatment center.

Peer Support

Through social media platforms, eating disorder treatment centers can offer their alumnae a way to connect with their peers and acquire support. The creation of groups on these sites gives alumnae access to like-minded individuals whenever they need advice and support. The connections they build and maintain after graduating from eating disorder treatment programs can serve them well in remaining recovered. These connections give clients a way to mitigate stress and stop from feeling so alone in their journeys. By sharing their challenges, hopes, and successes with their peers, people with eating disorders can gain new perspectives that help them remain fully recovered for life.

Educational Opportunities

Through educational opportunities, clients can gain the understanding and compassion they require to delicately handle their own needs. Alumnae have access to many different educational opportunities from their treatment centers. These opportunities may come in the form of online educational materials, including webinars, which help promote the development of healthy coping skills. They may also help alumnae better understand the reasons behind why they feel, think and act certain ways in many different situations. With a better understanding of their inner self and motivations, people with eating disorders can overcome the challenges that could otherwise complicate the process of remaining recovered.

Importance of Staying Connected to the Eating Disorder Treatment Center

After clients graduate from the eating disorder program, it might feel like they are on their own, making building a connection to the treatment center more important than ever. They still have the full support of their care team at the obsessive eating disorder treatment center by tapping into the available resources. They can maintain their connections to those individuals and the center as a whole with alumnae services. Maintaining close connections to the treatment center and the fully recovered staff can give alumnae the confidence to face daily life without returning to disordered thought patterns and behaviors.

If alumnae start to have trouble with these areas, their close connection to the treatment center can help ensure that they always know where to go to acquire additional support. The treatment center staff can help them find outside resources and other services that can assist in staying on track in remaining recovered. Clients can attend the webinars and onsite therapy sessions, for example, to renew their motivations and overcome the challenges they encounter on their journey toward recovery. Therefore, immediately after graduating from their programs, clients are given access to the leading ways to remain connected with the treatment center and its staff.

Ways Alumnae and Their Families Can Stay Connected

Alumnae can stay connected with the treatment center staff and their peers through the center’s official blog, newsletter and social media groups. A well-maintained and regularly updated blog provides immense information about eating disorders, their symptoms, and the leading treatment options. The blog content may also explore every facet of becoming and remaining recovered from eating disorders of all kinds. Through these stories, clients can retain their connection with the treatment center philosophies and care approaches. The alumnae newsletter provides similar benefits in helping past clients remain connected.

Social media groups give alumnae a place to have real-time conversations with their peers. They can engage in lively discussions about life skills, self-care and other areas that pertain to remaining recovered. Through these connections, they can obtain the social support they need to tackle the day to day challenges that arise. No matter how alumnae choose to stay involved, actively maintaining these connections can only serve to help them remain recovered through the toughest challenges that life brings.

Educational Opportunities for Alumnae and Their Importance in Remaining Recovered

Educational opportunities provide perspective and motivation that can wane as alumnae return to daily life outside of eating disorder treatment near me. These educational opportunities give alumnae the information and tools they may need to overcome tough problems without relying on destructive habits. If they prefer to digest the information at home, they can often access educational resources through a secure online portal. The treatment center portal may be filled with exceptional content that provides all the info needed about eating disorder symptoms and treatment approaches.

Alumnae can also attend regular webinars that explore eating disorder topics in great detail. These topics may introduce helpful life skills and techniques clients can use to move through their daily lives with confidence. As these webinars are led by fully recovered staff members, they provide immense value to alumnae looking for the strength to remain recovered outside of treatment. They can take the actionable skills presented during these webinars and apply them to their own lives to make everyday situations much more manageable and enjoyable.

If alumnae are not able to attend the live webinars or simply want to review the information again, they can sign in to the online portal to view them at their leisure. With each webinar, it is possible to explore a different topic, making this an important part of the toolbox alumnae can use in remaining recovered. They can save the videos that help them the most, for example, and return to those recordings as needed to remain on track in staying recovered.

Attending Individual and Family Therapy Sessions After Eating Disorder Treatment

As clients venture out on their own after graduating from the best eating disorder treatment centers, it is important that they to continue to make progress in addressing their mental and physical health. Alumnae can verify they are on the right track by checking in on a regular basis at individual, group and family therapy sessions. There are many different therapy types to choose from, so alumnae can use each one as a tool in promoting their continued recovery.

Eating disorder treatment centers offer individual and multi-family group therapy sessions to their alumnae and current clients. The individual family sessions give these individuals a chance to bring together their loved ones and have a private chat with the therapists. These sessions can focus on the aspects hindering continued progress or general topics that help alumnae share and assess their current mindsets.

Alumnae and community groups exist as well for another layer of support. In these groups, alumnae can come together with their peers to collaborate on recovery techniques of all kinds. They can share their challenges and successes with their peers to gain insights and celebrate the progress they have made in this journey. They can reach out to the eating disorder treatment center anytime therapy session might be beneficial. They will schedule their past clients and any family or friends who want to come too, into the sessions to ensure everyone has the support needed to remain fully recovered.

Benefits of Receiving Alumnae Support from Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

Alumnae support just plain makes it easier to face the challenges that naturally occur throughout the day and night. Past clients can easily reach out for help and gain support when they maintain close connections to the treatment center staff and their peers. The support they receive can go a long way in restoring their motivation levels and helping them overcome the key challenges in their lives.

Alumnae can return for support anytime, making it easier than ever to navigate the twists and turns of daily life. As they encounter difficult situations that overpower the tools in their toolkits, they can turn toward their peers and the fully recovered staff at the treatment center for dedicated support. Knowing that they have support available when they need it can help ensure that they feel comfortable reaching out when challenges loom ahead.

The eating disorder treatment professionals moderate all group activities and present educational materials to give all their alumnae the support they need. They can rely on their knowledge and expertise whenever they need to brush up on their skills and add to their toolkits. Eating disorder therapists will provide guidance on navigating the issues clients face as they remain recovered while outside of eating disorder treatment near me.

How to Acquire Additional Support Services to Overcome Their Challenges

Each treatment center for eating disorders offers a different range of alumnae services. They can explore their options by speaking with their treatment team about what is available. The fully recovered staff will guide clients to the support resources that they can access after leaving the treatment center. They may receive web links, login information and peer group invites from their care team to start.

The care team is always available if alumnae need additional treatment services while out in the community. As clients near graduation, the treatment team will provide an effective aftercare plan for them to follow. This plan will include the different types of skills that clients can use to remain recovered outside of treatment. They will also receive information about aftercare providers they can go to if they need extra support.

If their needs go beyond the services offered by their aftercare providers, they can contact the eating disorder treatment center’s admissions specialists to talk about their options. Through the assessment of each client’s needs, care providers can determine the best level of care to provide at that time. Alumnae can return as many times as they need to acquire the support that helps them remain recovered.

When clients graduate from eating disorder treatment, they do not set out on their own, though it may feel like it at first. They have their aftercare providers, the fully recovered staff and their peers standing behind them and providing their endless support. By maintaining close connections with these groups, they can reach their personal recovery goals and continue to follow their aftercare plan to remain recovered.

Melissa Orshan Spann, PhD, LMHC, RTY 200, is Chief Clinical Officer at Monte Nido & Affiliates, overseeing the clinical operations and programming for over 50 programs across the U.S. Dr. Spann is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and clinical supervisor as well as an accomplished presenter and passionate clinician who has spent her career working in the eating disorder field in higher levels of care. She is a member of the Academy for Eating Disorders and the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals where she serves on the national certification committee, supervision faculty, and is on the board of her local chapter. She received her doctoral degree from Drexel University, master’s degree from the University of Miami, and bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida.