Inpatient Eating Disorders Care
Patients with disordered eating who are under 85 percent of their ideal body weight and have medical comorbidities may be candidates for inpatient treatment at Princeton Center for Eating Disorders. The center accepts patients of all genders ages 8 and older.
“If a patient is medically compromised or cannot control behaviors in the absence of 24/7 support, an inpatient eating disorders program is probably needed to disrupt the cycle of symptoms and begin stabilization,” says Janine Averbach, MSW, LCSW, Senior Primary Therapist at Princeton Center for Eating Disorders. “At this level of care, we provide intensive psychotherapy and psychoeducation, weight restoration support, medical monitoring, and immediate access to on-site specialists.”
While patients requiring inpatient eating disorders treatment often have co-occurring mood disorders or have experienced past trauma, an eating disorder is generally the primary diagnosis.
Outpatient Emotional Eating Treatment
Patients with mood disorders and disordered eating behaviors who are at least 90 percent of their ideal body weight and have a BMI of at least 18, with some exceptions, may be candidates for the Emotional Eating Track (EET) at Princeton House.
“Emotional eating is usually a maladaptive coping mechanism for an underlying mood disorder like depression or anxiety,” says Katie Gaffney, Registered Dietitian at the Princeton Women’s Program and Adolescent Program. “Patients may have similar disturbances in functioning as those requiring inpatient care, but they’re not as medically compromised.”
The Emotional Eating Track is available to women and now to teens of all genders ages 13 to 17 at Princeton House’s outpatient site in Princeton. It offers a traditional EET option as well as a more targeted dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) option for those who have suicidal ideation or the potential for self-harm. Both provide psychoeducation, psychotherapy, and practical eating strategies and are offered three days per week for three hours or five days per week for six hours, depending on acuity.