Press
Release
New Book Publication
Doing What Works: An
Integrative System for
the Treatment of Eating
Disorders from Diagnosis
to Recovery
November, 2009
Anorexia nervosa and
bulimia nervosa are not
only the most lethal of
all the mental health
disorders, but also
carry the dubious
distinction of being
amongst the most
tenacious,
misunderstood,
under-diagnosed and
difficult to treat.
Early diagnosis and
timely sustainable
recovery all too
frequently evade
patients and families,
as experts in the field
struggle to reach
consensus about much
contested "best
practice" protocols. In
Doing What Works: an
Integrative System for
the Treatment of Eating
Disorders from Diagnosis
to Recovery, author
Abigail Natenshon
combines the best of
diverse treatment
approaches… including
linear, evidence-based,
cognitive-behavioral
techniques, as well as
mindful/relationship-based
and holistic
practices…into a
practicable,
reader-friendly and
innovative system of
care "that works."
Natenshon's seasoned,
compassionate and
optimistic voice
advocates for an
action-based and
change-oriented pursuit
of innovative solutions
for familiar treatment
challenges. Having
specialized in the
treatment of eating
disorders for four
decades, the author
systematically shepherds
clinicians through the
treatment process from
start to finish,
speaking with expertise
and authority to all
members of the eating
disorder
multi-disciplinary
treatment team,
including
psychotherapists,
nutritionists,
physicians, and
educators, as well as to
parents and families
advocating for their
loved ones in recovery.
Simultaneous attention
to all aspects of eating
disorders… biological,
physiological,
nutritional, emotional,
cognitive, behavioral
and social… results in
comprehensive recovery
changes that facilitate
effective functioning in
every life sphere.
Doing What Works
highlights the eating
disorder clinician's
uniquely versatile use
of self in managing
counter transference,
patient resistance, the
complexity of
co-occurring conditions,
and the fluxing demands
of the ever-changing
treatment moment and
therapeutic connection.
Natenshon makes liberal
use of actual case
examples to illustrate
teaching points,
inviting the reader to
assess and upgrade the
quality of his or her
own personal
responsiveness to
challenging professional
demands. By providing
clinical applications
for the proliferation of
evidence-based eating
disorder research, the
book bridges the chasm
that exists between
proponents of treatment
based on the "pure"
evidence-based science
versus the relational
"art" of clinical
practice. Though the
quality of the treatment
relationship has
traditionally been
considered by
researchers and
academics to be too
random, unquantifiable
and unteachable to
qualify as a legitimate
intervention, Natenshon
points to evidence from
recent brain research
demonstrating that the
therapy relationship is
the most significant and
predictable (and now
evidence-based) factor
in the creation of
personal change, a
phenomenon which applies
across the board to all
types of treatment
methodologies. In
conjunction with
knowledge and skill
mastery, it is the
right-brain to
right-brain
therapist/patient
connection, created
through mindfulness in
practice, which evokes
and enhances the
patient's capacity for
self- regulation and
well-being.
Bringing the eating
disorder field into the
21st century, Doing What
Works not only discusses
brain neuroplasticity as
it impacts human change
within eating disorder
recovery, but offers
holistic
non-traditional/adjunctive
treatments such as the
Feldenkrais Method and
EMDR among other mind/
body connection
techniques that address
and heal body image
concerns and sensory
processing distortions.
Another significant
contribution of this
book to the field is an
in-depth discussion of
the increasingly
prevalent and typically
unrecognized,
under-diagnosed, and
misunderstood trauma of
early childhood feeding
and eating disorders,
along with
recommendations for
response.
It has been said that
"eating disorders are
not about food;" never
has there been a book
that describes more
explicitly the breadth
and profundity of this
statement. Fortunately,
most generalist
psychotherapists have
already mastered the
skill sets required to
treat eating disorders;
they simply need to
learn which to use,
when, and how. Doing
What Works trains
practitioners to
utilize, integrate and
expand their existing
skills, through
knowledge and intention,
to accommodate the
unique requirements of
eating disorder care. By
offering a treatment
model that taps existing
strengths and resources,
and by enlisting these
assets to inspire a
vision of possibility,
the author does for the
reader and for the
eating disorder field
what clinical
practitioners seek to do
for their patients.
Abigail Natenshon, MA
LCSW, GCFP is a
psychotherapist who has
specialized in the
treatment of eating
disorders with
individuals and families
for the past 37 years.
Natenshon is the founder
and director of Eating
Disorder Specialists of
Illinois, and the author
of the book When Your
Child Has An Eating
Disorder: A Step-by-Step
Workbook for Parents and
Other Caregivers. As a
Guild Certified
Feldenkrais
Practitioner, Natenshon
pioneers in using
body-centered techniques
to augment and promote
body image awareness,
acceptance and healing.
For free articles and
resources, to have
Abigail speak at your
next parental or
professional group, for
information about
Abigail's new 6-part
audio CD "workshop" for
parents of children with
eating disorders, and/or
to sign up for her live
educative/support
Internet "webinars" for
parents, go to
http://www.empoweredparents.com
