Brief Therapy and Eating Disorders

In straightforward, clear, and pragmatic language, McFarlandpresents a model that focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses,on solutions rather than problems, and on hope rather than despair.Her book should be on the shelf of every clinician who works withclients who have eating problems.
--Scott D. Miller, Brief Therapy Network

Drawing from her own clinical experience, Barbara McFarlanddemonstrates how solution-focused brief therapy is one of the moreefficient approaches in treating eating disorders. Her practical,hands on strategies and interventions guides you through each stepof the treatment process. Introduction: Using Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with EatingDisorder Clients.

Shifting Paradigms: Beyond Sickness.

Transforming Clinical Assumptions: Becoming Mindful.

The Changing Therapeutic Relationship: The Art ofCollaboration.

The First Sessions: Key Interviewing Questions.

Working with Challenging Cases: Useful Interventions.

Solution-Focused Group Therapy: A Program Description.

Epilogue: Through the Looking Glass.

Resources: Self-Reporting Forms.

Appendix A. Assessment Tools.

Appendix B. Working with the Miracle Question.

Appendix C. Progress in Treatment.

Appendix D. Goals.

Appendix E. Aftercare Planning.

Appendix F. Progress in Recovery. "Using a wealth of clinical examples, and offering a creative arrayof techniques and strategies, McFarland has put together apractical, hands-on manual for dealing, in a time-effective manner,with clients struggling with eating disorders. This book will be auseful resource for clinicians in the trenches!" --Steven Friedman,Harvard Community Health Plan

"With this book, the eating disorders field has finally maturedpast describing the problem and developed a solution orientation.Traditionally, bulimic and anorexic clients have been viewed asdifficult to help and long-term treatment candidates. McFarlandshows there are ways to treat these problems efficiently andeffectively.... Having treated eating disorders with traditionalpathology-based and long-term approaches for many years, McFarlandis a credible advocate of this new, more brief, and managed-carefriAndly method. Extremely well-written and readable." --WilliamHudson O'Hanlon, coauthor, In Search of Solutions and A Brief Guideto Brief Therapy

"Barbara McFarland's book will empower clinicians and clientsalike. With a masterful grasp of therapy trAnds, she distills herwisdom in years of treating this difficult problem and describesher own journey to more effective treatment. Clinicians will find agreat deal of specific help and potent concepts." --Lynn D.Johnson, director, Brief Therapy Center, Salt Lake City

"In straightforward, clear, and pragmatic language, McFarlandpresents a model that focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses,on solutions rather than problems, and on hope rather than despair.Her book should be on the shelf of every clinician who works withclients who have eating problems." --Scott D. Miller, Brief TherapyNetwork

"An encouraging work that offers more realistic hope for theclients and recognizes and builds on their strengths. This book isrecommAnded reading for anyone who has an interest in the treatmentof eating disorders." --Maren Engel, Canadian Journal ofOccupational Therapy BARBARA MCFARLAND is a psychologist in private practice and founded The Eating Disorders Recovery Center in Cincinnati in 1984. She also is the founder and president of Creative Therapy Associates, Inc., which develops educational materials that are psychologically-based. She has published numerous articles on eating disorders and is the coauthor of several books on eating disorders, including Shame and Body Image (1991) and Feeding the Empty Heart (1988). In addition, McFarland conducts training programs nationally on solution-focused therapy for clinicians and mental health agencies. Eating disorders, a prevalent health issue especially for women, have long been viewed by most clinicians as particularly challenging to treat and a syndrome that requires extensive long-term therapy. However, given the advent of managed care and health care reform, clinicians are being pressured to become more efficient in their treatment of these clients.In Brief Therapy and Eating Disorders, Barbara McFarland offers practitioners the necessary tools to provide brief, clinically sound eating disorders treatment. Drawing from her own clinical experience as founder of the Eating Disorders Recovery Center, she demonstrates how solution-focused brief therapy, as developed by Steve deShazer, is one of the more efficient approaches in treating eating disorders.Instead of focusing on client pathology and characterological deficits, this approach operates on the assumption that eating disorder clients have the necessary internal resources to create unique solutions to their problems. The author believes that clinicians must begin with the least intrusive treatment interventions and work diligently with clients to determine treatment goals that are salient to them.The author offers clinicians an opportunity to expand their vision not only in terms of their beliefs and attitudes about eating disorder clients but also in terms of their clinical focus. She describes practical, hands-on strategies and interventions designed to guide therapists through each step of the treatment process. Not only does the author present a framework for conducting the first and second sessions, but she also details specific strategies and techniques for working with more clinically challenging cases. Throughout the book, actual case examples and transcripts of interviews are included to illustrate the process.The book concludes with a detailed description of the out-patient group program at the Eating Disorders Recovery Center in Cincinnati, which includes a summary of the solution-focu Drawing from her own clinical experience as founder of the Eating Disorders Recovery Center, McFarland demonstrates how solution focused brief therapy is one of the more efficient approaches in treating eating disorders. She offers practical, hands on strategies and interventions designed to guide therapists through each step of the treatment process.