Cadence Child & Adolescent Therapy specializes in eating disorders. Based in Bellevue and serving the Greater Seattle area, Cadence provides therapy and support for those struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and other food and body related challenges. If you are working to identify an eating disorder program for yourself or your child, please contact us at (425) 658-3200 or use our contact form to get in touch.
We know that families seeking treatment for eating disorders are often scared and overwhelmed. They may find themselves with questions like:
Our team of child & adolescent psychologists here in Bellevue, WA will support your family with compassion, guidance, and state-of-the-art eating disorder treatment options based on scientific research. Treatment plans may include a combination of individual therapy, skills groups, and nutrition services. As part of an interdisciplinary clinic, we are able to take on complex cases and engage expertise across our DBT and Anxiety & OCD programs to target co-occurring diagnoses.
Our primary approach to treating eating disorders is a therapy modality known as Family Based Treatment or FBT (sometimes referred to as the Maudsley approach to treating adolescents with eating disorders). Research shows that FBT is the most effective treatment path for adolescent eating disorders in an outpatient setting.
While traditional eating disorder treatments often focus on the family’s role in causing the eating disorder, studies show that eating disorders have a strong biological component. Genetic predisposition to anxiety, perfectionism, and obsessive traits can play a role in developing eating disorders. As a result, FBT does not focus on why the eating disorder developed or who is to blame, and instead focuses on how to move forward.
Nutrition and weight restoration are viewed as a critical first step in recovery. FBT maintains that adolescents suffering from an eating disorder are not in control of their eating behavior, so parents must take control over their child’s eating. Parents may be paralyzed with guilt or uncertainty around how to effectively support their child’s eating in the context of a child who is low weight, failing to gain weight at the rate normal to their development, or is engaging in extreme measures for managing weight. FBT equips parents to move through indecision and, alongside the support of an eating disorder therapist, serve as the child’s best resource to overcome their disordered eating. Parents learn to separate the illness from the patient and take action against the eating disorder rather than their child.
As parents focus on feeding their child, the child is freed from the control of the eating disorder. Once the eating disorder is under control, parents return control over eating back to their child and encourage age appropriate independence and autonomy over eating practices. Once the child’s weight has been restored, an eating disorder therapist will address any other mental health conditions that may co-occur with the eating disorder. FBT is a time-limited treatment and as such, teaches relapse prevention strategies to allow children to graduate from eating disorder treatment. A summary of the 3 phases of FBT is below:
Our goal at Cadence Child & Adolescent Therapy is to achieve recovery and prevent future relapse while also graduating clients out of treatment in a timely manner. The duration of treatment depends on severity of eating disorder and comorbidities, medical stability, weight restoration goals, and family factors.
While FBT is the leading treatment for adolescent eating disorders, it does not work for everyone. For patients and families who do not respond to FBT, we integrate other forms of evidence-based treatment, such as dialectical behavior therapy or “DBT”. DBT teaches coping skills for unwanted emotions that help clients avoid self-destructive behaviors to control their emotions.
Since every eating disorder is different and may reflect varying degrees of emotional regulation, be it too little or too much impulse control, our eating disorder therapists will make an assessment to ensure intervention is tailored to the patient’s needs.
While it is common for children and teens to feel unhappy with their body shape and size, for some, these concerns may lead to behaviors that pose serious medical consequences. These behaviors include:
These behaviors can be a part of a number of different diagnoses, but some of the common eating disorder diagnoses we treat include:
We have a team of highly trained clinicians. There is a national shortage in clinicians that are professionally trained in eating disorder treatment. The number of eating-disorder specialist clinicians who report adhering to evidence-based protocols and manuals is between 6 and 35 %. We are committed to combatting this reality and developing a generation of therapists that are 100% trained in the most effective and evidence-based treatments. As such, our team engages in rigorous training, supervision and oversight on a weekly basis under the leadership of a psychologist with 20 plus years of clinical experience in our clinic located in Bellevue.
We are accountable to results. Our providers track weight at each session, and we utilize routine outcome monitoring, as well as interdisciplinary outcome data from medical and nutritional providers, to assess age-appropriate independence around food. Treatment efficacy is evaluated in 3 month intervals to determine appropriate levels of care.
We create a respectful and supportive environment for patients and their families that is tailored towards your individual needs. We are conveniently located near I-405 and SR-520 in Bellevue. We commonly see patients from Seattle, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Redmond.
Cadence Child & Adolescent Therapy providesa safe and supportive environment for you, your child, and your family. Our mental health specialists have many years of experience helping patients of all ages who struggle with eating disorders and other mental health conditions. If you have additional questions or would like to schedule a consultation, you may call our Bellevue office at (425) 658-3200 or fill out our online form.
