Eating Disorder Awareness is very important to us at Galen Hope. The intersection of mental health and eating disorder treatment is central to what we do, and we both applaud and stand with our colleagues across the eating disorder community to help ensure that we go all that we can to help meet the goal of “Not One More.”
Our friends at the National Alliance for Eating Disorders invite us all to join this annual, global movement as we kick-off Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and ensure that NOT ONE MORE life is lost, NOT ONE MORE child is taken, and NOT ONE MORE precious moment is destroyed by this insidious disease.
At Galen Hope, we are proud to join this movement. And we are working towards our own unique version as well. This year, we are working on the goal of Not One More person being bounced around treatment centers, between treatment centers, or out of treatment centers because they don’t fit within the limits of diagnoses that the center offers. We work to ensure that nobody’s treatment gets interrupted because they are viewed as only the totality of whichever cluster of symptoms is most ‘primary’ or high risk at any given moment.
Not One More Disruption
Galen Hope works very hard to be able to address an eating disorder and a primary mental health diagnosis in the same setting, regardless of fluctuations in symptoms. Wherever possible we strive to ensure that there are no more treatment disruptions as a result of clients needing to leave one program and admit to another when one set of behaviors stabilizes. We believe wholly in the power of being able to stay with the same team and peer group in treatment.
We know that consistency in treatment is key to creating a sense of belonging that can lead to true healing. But it is also vital that we look and see BEYOND the diagnosis to see every client as a whole person in all of their complexity.
As we explain on our website, healing does not occur in isolation. In fact, isolation is known to sabotage recovery. Our services are designed to create cohesion and interaction among all those who attend and work at Galen Hope. That’s one reason why belonging is at the core of our mission.
Not One More Treatment Need Unmet
Within the industry, attunement to diverse mental health, as well as the needs of non-neurotypical clients, are not always the norm. Research shows that premature termination of eating disorder treatment all too often stems from an array of factors including:
- age
- treatment modality
- illness chronicity
- eating disorder sub-type
- psychiatric co-morbidity
- poor therapist alliance
- service-related factors
We fundamentally believe that we can overcome these factors. We have designed our programming to be highly flexible, deeply personal, and affirming. This investment in seeing our clients as a whole person and not just their symptoms provides the space to listen and learn what accommodations and shifts are required to make the “standard” treatment paradigm more accessible to all. In turn, this helps to ensure that not one more person gets told they cannot get care because the presumption is that they cannot participate in treatment due to their autism, or that they are “treatment resistant” because their team isn’t attuned to the presentation of their ADHD.
We want everyone struggling with an eating disorder to hear a very different message:
- You are a person.
- You may have one or multiple diagnoses, you may need accommodations to make treatment more accessible to you.
- We want you to find that place that sees you. We want you to find a treatment program that is attuned to your needs, and is willing to work with you.
In other words, at Galen Hope, we aim for not one more square peg trying to force themselves into a round hole of formulaic treatment.
And this Eating Disorder Awareness Week, we want you to join us in our mission.
THE ROAD TO WELLNESS STARTS BY SEEKING HELP. TODAY.
Built on the principles of assertive community treatment, Galen Hope is an eating disorder and mental health treatment center offering individualized treatment options that include Intensive Outpatient (IOP), supported housing, and Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP). As a “Community of Integrated Wellness,” we pride ourselves in fostering a thoughtful and meaningful care experience that can guide our clients on their road to recovery and increased quality of life, regardless of diagnosis. Galen Hope currently offers separate, age-specific programming for adolescents ages 12-17 and adults 18 and up, of all genders.
To learn more, or to join our community for integrated wellness, please contact us today.