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Eating Disorders Program
Program description
For more than 20 years, The Menninger Eating Disorders Program has focused on providing a thorough assessment and treatment plan to address the needs of the whole person.
The program treats women and men, 18 and up, who are struggling with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, night eating, exercise disorder or binge eating disorder (more information follows) that may be further complicated by:
- Depression or bipolar disorder,
- Anxiety disorder,
- Substance abuse,
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Trauma
- Psychosis or
- Mild to moderate obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCD) including body dysmorphic disorder (patients with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder may be treated in Menninger’s OCD Treatment Program)
Menninger staff members are trained and prepared to treat individuals with binge eating disorder (formerly called compulsive overeating). Binge eating disorder involves binge eating but, unlike bulimia nervosa, no purging, exercise or other means of compensation for excess calorie ingestion is involved. Patients with binge eating disorder may range in weight from near normal to obese. As a result of hospitalization, patients who are overweight and have binge eating disorder can expect to stop binge eating, acquire an exercise program and lose a modest amount of weight related to stabilizing their eating. Major weight loss does not occur during the inpatient stay. Our programs give the patient the tools to lose weight after discharge.
The program is ideal for persons interested in having gastric bypass surgery and need to have their eating disorder treated before surgery can be scheduled. Most surgeons will not do gastric bypass surgery when the patient has an active eating disorder.
Eating disorders staff members provide a supportive and encouraging environment as the youth and adults face their illnesses. The treatment team’s goal is to form an alliance with patients that empower each individual to take responsibility for their recovery, to minimize relapse and to promote physical, emotional and social health and daily functioning.
The staff provides flexibility in treatment and strives to understand and meet the needs of adolescents and adults who have:
- Not responded well to previous treatment
- Experienced eating disorders over a number of years
- Difficulties from coexisting disorders
- A desire for early intervention
When a person is medically unstable due to the severity of her/his eating disorder, stabilization can take place at a Texas Medical Center hospital in Houston before the patient is admitted to one of the Menninger Eating Disorders Programs.
Qualified staff
The interdisciplinary treatment team includes the primary clinician, social worker, psychiatrist, dietitian, activity therapist, internal medicine physician, nursing staff and individual therapist. Additional specialists join the team as needed.
As a teaching hospital, Menninger treatment teams include psychiatry residents and other mental health trainees. The residents and trainees work closely with senior clinical staff and assist the treatment team rather than serving in a primary treatment role.
Informing family & other clinicians
Ongoing contact with family members while the patient is in treatment is a priority. The staff works closely with the patient and family to ensure effective communication.
Family members are encouraged to participate in educational and therapeutic activities for support and to facilitate the patient’s treatment process.
In addition, with signed consent from the patient/family, the primary clinician keeps the patient’s therapist or psychiatrist informed of treatment progress while at Menninger and collaborates on discharge planning.
Individualized treatment
A thorough diagnosis combines medical, psychiatric, nutritional, activity and family assessments. With the understanding gained from assessments and the goals for treatment, the experienced staff designs an individualized treatment plan that integrates therapies including:
- Cognitive-behavioral strategies
- Nutrition and exercise education, planning and management
- Individual and family therapies
- Activity therapies such as physical exercise and art
- A spiritual focus on values and personal identity
- Treatment for attaining a healthy body image, as well as healthy lifestyle choices
- Skill-building groups, including anger management and interpersonal effectiveness
- Medication
- Specialty groups such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Relapse prevention
For help & information
Please call our Admissions staff. They offer assistance with admission, insurance benefits and payment for services.
- 800-351-9058 and 713-275-5000
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