Treatment Options

How are eating disorders treated?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating eating disorders, but we know that early detection and treatment can ultimately lead to higher rates of recovery. It takes time, rigorous treatment programs, ongoing support and unconditional love – but recovery is possible, and individuals can go on to lead healthy, fulfilling lives. Most treatment programs include a combination of psychological therapy (psychotherapy), nutrition education, medical monitoring and sometimes medication.

A priority in the early phase of treatment is to establish some degree of normalcy with eating and weight. Restoration of weight is especially crucial with children and adolescents, whose growth and development could be stunted or compromised. Equally important is addressing underlying psychological issues as part of the treatment process.

A wide range of therapies can be used to
help an individual on the road to recovery.
These include:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is based on the assumption that thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are interconnected and can be restructured to support new, healthier thoughts and actions.

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

DBT is based on the assumption that self-destructive behaviours are caused by the inability to manage and regulate intense emotion. DBT combines cognitive behavioural techniques with mindfulness and acceptance strategies.

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

In EFT, individuals learn how to manage their maladaptive emotions, as opposed to controlling what they eat as an outlet for the emotions.

Family-Based Treatment (FBT) or the Maudsley Model

In FBT, parents of children and younger teens are empowered to take responsibility for managing their child’s eating disorder symptoms, with the goal of restoring their child’s health.

Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT)

In EFFT, emotion coaching is integrated into a Maudsley model. A parent or caregiver helps their child to identify and process emotions that come up in the process of eating disorder recovery, allowing the young person to feel the compassion and understanding of their parent. The parent also learns to recognize when their own actions are being controlled by maladaptive emotions. New and healthier choices and directions can then be taken.

Peer Support Groups

Group members are all going through similar struggles and come together to support and empower each other.

Stepped Care Model

What is Stepped Care?

Stepped care is an evidence-based, staged system involving a series of interventions, from the least to the most intensive, that can be matched to a person’s needs. This model of care allows people to ‘step up’ or ‘step down’ the intensity of treatment based on people’s needs and preferences.

A general guideline in eating disorder treatment is that the right level of care for a person is the one at which they can stop the eating disorder behaviors for a sustainable period of time. Requiring more support is not negative, it simply means that is the stage where one is at in their recovery. The stepped care journey below shows an overview of typical care pathways for eating disorder recovery.

Ontario Service Providers by Step

This information was collected by Body Brave via NEDIC’s Find a Provider Tool, for the purpose of separating supports into stepped care sections. This list is not exhaustive and may be subject to change. Please note that many of the hospital-based programs listed below only serve residents of a specific region of Ontario (their “catchment areas”). For more information about NEDIC, go to https://Nedic.ca

Note: Providers noted with an (~) consider themselves ‘Inclusive and affirmative of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people’ and ‘Inclusive and affirmative of trans*, Two-Spirit and non-binary people’ within NEDIC’s Find A Provider Tool filters.

Intensive Inpatient Programming

Toronto General Hospital~ – Eating Disorder Program (ages 17+) – Toronto
Credit Valley Hospital – Eating Disorders Program (ages 18+)- Mississauga
The Hospital for Sick Children (children & adolescents) – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) Toronto
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) – Regional Eating Disorders Program for Children and Adolescents (ages 8-17) – Ottawa
Ottawa Hospital – Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders (ages 18+) – Ottawa
McMaster Children’s Hospital – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) – Hamilton

Residential Programming

*limited OHIP coverage

Bellwood Health Services~ – Eating Disorder Program (ages 17+) – Toronto
Homewood Health – Guelph (private in-person treatment, age 16+)
Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences – Eating Disorders Unit (ages 12-17) – Whitby
London Health Science Centre – Adult Eating Disorder Service (ages 17+) – London

Day Hospitalization

Credit Valley Hospital – Eating Disorders Program (ages 18+)- Mississauga
The Hospital for Sick Children (children & adolescents) – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) Toronto
North York General Hospital – Eating Disorders Program ages 12+) – Toronto
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) – Regional Eating Disorders Program for Children and Adolescents (ages 8-17) – Ottawa
Ottawa Hospital – Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders (ages 18+) – Ottawa
London Health Science Centre – Adult Eating Disorder Service (ages 17+) – London
McMaster Children’s Hospital – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) – Hamilton

Hospital-Based Intensive Outpatient Programming

Toronto General Hospital~ – Eating Disorder Program (ages 17+) – Toronto
William Osler Health System – Eating Disorder Clinic (ages 12+) – Brampton
North York General Hospital – Eating Disorders Program ages 12+) – Toronto

Hospital-Based Outpatient Programming

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton – Eating Disorders Program (ages 16+) – Hamilton
The Hospital for Sick Children (children & adolescents) – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) Toronto
Health Sciences North – Regional Eating Disorder Program (ages 8+) – Sudbury
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) – Regional Eating Disorders Program for Children and Adolescents (ages 8-17) – Ottawa
London Health Science Centre – Adult Eating Disorder Service (ages 17+) – London
Ottawa Hospital – Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders (ages 18+) – Ottawa
McMaster Children’s Hospital – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8-18) – Hamilton
South Lake Regional Health Care (adolescents & young adults) – Newmarket
Lakeridge Health Network – Eating Disorder Program (adolescents & adults) – Oshawa
Woodstock General Hospital – Eating Disorder Program for Youth and Adults (ages 12+) – Woodstock
Health Sciences North – Regional Eating Disorder Program (ages 8+) – Sudbury
Peterborough Regional Health Centre – Eating Disorder Program (ages 8+) – Peterborough
Alexandra Marine & General Hospital – Huron Outreach Eating Disorders Program (ages 12+) – Goderich, Wingham, Clinton, Exeter, and Seaforth

Community-Based Group Programming

*including Peer Support

Body Brave~ (ages 17+)
Sheena’s Place (free group support, age 17+)
Eating Disorder Support Network of Alberta~ (reduced cost group support, age 18+)
Silver Linings Foundation~ (reduced cost group support, adolescents & adults)
Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre (ages 17+)
Danielle’s Place (ages 8-17)
Eating Disorders Nova Scotia~ (free peer support, age 18+)
The Looking Glass Foundation (free peer support, age 14+)
Fighting Eating Disorders in Underrepresented Populations (FEDUP) (free peer support for gender-diverse folx & QTBIPOC folx)
Nalgona Positivity Pride (free peer support for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) age 18+)

Many thanks to Body Brave for allowing us to use this content about Stepped Care. For more information about Body Brave, go to https://bodybrave.ca