The Role of Families in Eating Disorders Recovery

How can families help with recovery from eating disorders?

Families and caregivers can be powerful and transformative allies in eating disorders recovery of their loved ones. Having a multi-dimensional team allows for a holistic approach, and allows the family to become the core influence of cultivating a healing environment at home that supports the child’s/teen’s recovery. 


Your registered dietitian will help to tailor your child’s/needs to your unique family dynamic and situation. In a previous post, we discussed FBT as an evidence-based treatment method. It’s important to note that FBT is not a good fit for all family dynamics, and not all families have the privileges, capacity, resourcing and/or ability to incorporate a FBT - informed approach into their child’s/teen’s care - and that’s OK. 

Even if FBT is not a good fit for your family dynamic, there are still many ways that you can offer active, compassionate participation to support your loved one in their recovery. 

Resources and Tips for Supporting Your Child During Eating Disorders Treatment:

Ways you can actively support your child include, but are not limited to: 

  • Research, resource, and learn about eating disorders and eating disorder awareness to have a deeper understanding of them. (Consult the Side By Side resource page for up-to-date information regarding eating disorders and their treatments.) 

  • Help create a nurturing, nonjudgmental, and stable environment for healing at home. This includes learning how to recognize, manage, and cope with triggering behaviors, language, and messages around food, eating, and bodies. 

  • Provide emotional encouragement and encourage transparent communication. Show your child/teen that they are not alone and that you are there for them. Practice (and/or learn) patience, compassion, validation and listening skills to deeply understand what your loved one is moving through and learn what they need in support as they navigate recovery 

  • Be proactive in getting your child/teen connected with an eating disorder care team. This includes, but not limited to, researching, resourcing for providers (preferably ED-specialized or ED-informed), making appointments, taking them to appointments, being a part of their appointments, and connecting them with eating disorder support groups.

  • Help to implement agreed-upon treatments, strategies, and goals by your child’s/teen’s care team 

  • Set up your own support system, such as going to eating disorder support groups for parents/caregivers, working with a therapist or family therapist, or other provider while you support your loved one in their recovery journey. Some parents/caregivers may also realize that they, too, need additional support in their own relationships to food, eating, and body to best support their loved one  

  • Eat together as a family or with individual family members for snacks and/or meals to support in developing social eating skills, support their meal plan, and provide helpful distraction during eating to reduce anticipated anxiety and stress (non-food-related discussion, playing games, watching TV/movies, etc) 

  • Advocate for your child’s/teen’s needs in all places, including within tricky family scenarios, as well as outside the home 

  • Help to support and implement any needed physical activity limitations recommended by your care team 

  • Help to model and encourage supportive eating behaviors that influence positive recovery, such as having balanced meals, snacks, and a variety of foods 

  • Provide consistent, recovery-supportive language and messaging that deepen recovery around food, eating, body sizes, and authentic identity expression 

  • Support in eating-related responsibilities such as planning, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, and cleaning

  • Build their confidence in celebrating and acknowledging all the wins, especially the small ones 

  • Do enjoyable and fun family-oriented activities that foster trust, love, and play to enhance family well-being and prevent the family from becoming the treatment team 

The FBT Team- Centered Approach for Eating Disorders Recovery

Due to the multifaceted ways that eating disorders impact overall health and well-being, no one person can (or should) support the healing of an eating disorder on their own. Instead, a multidisciplinary approach is required for the holistic treatment among all levels of care.

Family-Based Treatment utilizes a team-oriented approach, rooted in compassion and collaboration. In this treatment model, everyone is on the same team and same page - including consistent messaging and language around food, eating, body size and diversity, weight, and recovery goals. Imagine the child/teen is at the center of the approach, surrounded by the collaboration of the parents and care team. Examples include, but are not limited to: 

  • Physician/pediatrician - monitors overall medical safety and stability 

  • Therapist - educates, supports, and guides emotional and behavioral recovery strategies

  • Family-Based Treatment therapist - specializes and/or trained in Family-Based Treatment (can be an additional/separate from a traditional therapist) 

  • Registered Dietitian - provides nutrition expertise and meal guidance 

  • Family - integrates and implements strategies at home 

  • Others: psychiatrist, children trauma specialist, social worker, case manager, school supervision (counselors, nurses, teachers, etc), and coaches 

The Role of a Dietitian Nutritionist in Eating Disorder Recovery and the FBT Process: 

Historically, FBT was primarily carried out by a trained mental health therapist, particularly a 

Family-Based Treatment Therapist, without a registered dietitian, alongside the approach. Over the years, FBT has evolved into a more inclusive treatment team approach, which includes a dietitian, for more holistic, multidimensional care to support the best treatment outcomes. 

RDs don’t deliver the therapy itself, but rather support the therapist by providing specialized nutrition expertise. What can you expect working with an ED dietitian specialist from Side by Side?

  • We use a medical nutrition framework to support medical safety and stability. For example, we help support the awareness of refeeding syndrome and other medical risks during the renourishment process, such as monitoring nutritional labs, electrolyte imbalances, orthostatic vitals, nutritional deficiencies, and medical status alongside a physician. 

  • We track individualized weight trends to ensure your child continues to restabilize on their growth curve trajectory to reach their target weight goals for their age. 

  • We support individualized nutritional needs, such as appropriate energy needs for age, adjusting energy needs + monitoring when kids/teens are medically cleared for any level of physical activity, working closely in a team-based approach to reduce the risk of specific disordered eating behaviors, and adjustments for allergies, intolerances, and/or other medical comorbidities. 

  • We act as a resource to empower parents/caregivers with skills, tools, and resources throughout all three phases of FBT and beyond in the support of their child’s/teen’s recovery.

  • We work closely with parents/caregivers by offering concrete guidance in nutrition education and meal implementation skills. These skills include: meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking skills, problem solving for eating resistance, food insecurity resourcing, support in unique eating diversity, body image coaching, food + body language consistency, and offers strategies around everyday challenges such as eating at family events, friends’ houses, school, practice, holidays, and travel. 

  • We are also support systems for parents/caregivers by integrating individualized self-care practices, stress management techniques, support in resourcing needs, creating strategies to reduce burnout, and encouraging them to deepen community by connecting with supportive family, friends, localized gatherings, and eating disorder support groups.  

At SBSN, our philosophy uniquely focuses on cultivating a healthy relationship with food, eating, and our ever-changing bodies while navigating a world and culture that often reinforces and normalizes disordered eating patterns, behaviors, and relationships to food, eating, bodies, and overall health. We are committed to offering inclusive care for all identities and bodies using a holistic philosophy that encompasses trauma-informed nutrition care, compassionate counseling, self-compassion, empowerment, and sustainability for long-term recovery.

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.” - Dalai Lama XIV

Family-Based Treatment, Eating Disorders in Teens, Eating Disorder RecoveryJamie MagdicSide By Side NutritionComment