Introduction
Family-based treatment (FBT), sometimes referred to as Maudsley Family Therapy, is a family systems therapy approach to treatment of adolescents with anorexia nervosa. It is effective and superior to comparison individual therapies such as CBT and adolescent-focused therapy (AFT).
Description
- FBT is an outpatient form of family therapy that consists of 10 to 20 family meetings over a 6- to 12-month treatment course.
- FBT empowers parents to take charge of the weight restoration of their child by taking action to disrupt symptoms of self-starvation and overexercise.
- Once the child's eating improves and weight is restored, the treatment briefly focuses on
developmental issues of adolescence. There is evidence that this approach is both highly efficient and likely decreases the need for hospitalization.
References
Lock, J. et.al. Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Eating Disorders. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2015;54(5):412–425
Lock J, et. al. A randomized clinical trial comparing family based treatment to adolescent focused individual therapy for adolescents with anorexia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67:1025-1032.
Eisler I. The empirical and theoretical base of family therapy and multiple family day therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa. J Fam Ther. 2005;27:104-131.