Family Therapy in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa
AVNER BARCAI M.D.1
1 Head, Department of Child Psychiatry, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
The author presents a technique for rapid, continuous weight gain in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, a syndrome often highly refractory to therapy. In two cases, crisis-induced family therapy enabled the family to change its habitual interaction patterns, thus freeing the patient to regain her original weight. Patients' small, regular weight gains allowed therapy to proceed without the threat of food refusal potentially handicapping the therapeutic process. Some of the dangers and advantages inherent in this approach are reported.
