The Power of Family Involvement in Eating Disorder Recovery: How Loved Ones Can Make a Difference

ViaMar Health Highlights the Transformative Role of Family Support in Healing

WEST PALM BEACH, FL / ACCESS Newswire / February 20, 2025 / ViaMar Health, a leading eating disorder treatment center, was recently featured in an exclusive online blog exploring the crucial role of family involvement in recovery. Titled "The Power of Family Involvement in Eating Disorder Recovery: How Loved Ones Can Make a Difference," the blog highlights how families can provide essential support, foster connection, and contribute to the recovery journey.

At ViaMar Health, family involvement is considered a cornerstone of treatment. Individuals who suffer from eating disorders often live in isolation from others, suffering in silence out of fear and shame. Recovery requires a connection to loved ones while also building a strong personal support system.

Families play a pivotal role in breaking this cycle of isolation by providing emotional support, providing encouragement and participating in therapy.

As detailed in the blog, ViaMar Health focuses on educating families about eating disorders and equipping them with tools to better understand and assist their loved ones.

"When families participate in the recovery process, it sends a powerful message: you are not alone, and we're in this together"

Key Highlights of the Blog
The blog breaks down practical ways families can contribute to recovery, including:

● Educating Themselves:

Understanding the emotional, psychological, and physical nuances of eating disorders that are essential for offering effective support. ViaMar Health provides programs to help families gain this critical knowledge.

• Weekly Adolescent Family Program helps to educate parents on eating disorders, equip parents with tools to support their loved one and the family system and how to navigate the recovery process with particular attention to the adolescent developmental stages and co-occurring mental health issues each adolescent might be experiencing to support continued recovery.

• Weekly Adult Family Program provides education for loved ones on boundaries, nutrition, healing resentments and fears, and the fundamental ingredients to support their adult loved one in recovery, tools on communication with boundaries and understanding what their loved one will need to do in recovery.

• Weekly open family support group: for families outside of the structured weekly family programming to provide a space to share up and coming issues and gain a source of strength and encouragement from other family members who have walked in their shoes.

• Weekly Spanish Speaking Family SupportGroup: This group offers ongoing support and education for Spanish speaking family members.

• Family Therapy: Setting aside important time for private sessions with a therapist to explore more personal and individualized issues to share with family members and loved ones that will help open the lines of communication, build stronger relationships with loved ones to ultimately support ongoing growing recovery.

Ingredients to Family Recovery are explored with patients and their loved ones such as:

● Communicating with Empathy: Families are encouraged to approach conversations with compassion, create safe spaces for open dialogue, and avoid judgment or blame.

● Setting a Positive Example: Learning alternative and improved approaches to support nutrition and the relationship with food and self-care with their loved one can significantly impact a loved one's recovery.

● Practicing Patience: Recovery is a nonlinear journey, and families are reminded to celebrate progress, no matter how small, while offering encouragement during setbacks.

● Participating in Therapy: Family therapy is integral to rebuilding trust, resolving conflicts, and strengthening relationships strained by eating disorders.

The blog also discusses the importance of evidence-based approaches to where families actively participate in recovery. Through meal support, emotional support, understanding eating disorders and the recovery process loved ones can be a strong integral partner in the healing process.

The blog shares powerful stories of patients whose recovery journeys were strengthened by family involvement. One patient reflected on how family therapy helped her parents understand her struggles: "It felt like we were finally on the same team."

"Another patient's sibling shared how attending the Family Program helped them to become their sister's strongest advocate."

These testimonials underscore the idea that recovery is not just about the individual with the eating disorder-it's about the entire family system. Individuals do not come into treatment in a vacuum. Eating disorders impact everyone in the family system.

Families who participate in the healing process often experience stronger bonds and greater resilience, making recovery a win-win for everyone involved.

About ViaMar Health
Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, ViaMar Health specializes in holistic eating disorder treatment. The center's compassionate approach integrates evidence-based therapeutic approaches, learning how to embrace recovery with family involvement to create a sustainable path to recovery. With focus on education, open communication, and community, ViaMar Health empowers individuals and families to embrace a hopeful future in recovery.

To read the full blog, click here.

Contact: info@viamarhealth.com

SOURCE: Viamar Health