Eating Disorders and Dissociation: Unlocking Effective Treatments for Severe Cases

Abstract
Introduction
Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions that often become chronic when symptoms persist despite treatment. The most severe cases involve persistent behaviors related to food and body image that resist conventional treatment. These cases pose significant challenges to mental health professionals.

Method
Traditional treatments for eating disorders typically focus on behavioral and cognitive aspects. However, these methods often overlook the role of dissociation, which can be crucial in the persistence and severity of these disorders. Dissociation refers to a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness, and memory, manifesting in various forms in individuals with eating disorders.

Clinicians need to identify and understand the most frequent type of dissociation and dissociative parts in severe eating disorder cases. This involves detailed clinical assessments to uncover how dissociation influences food and body image behaviors. Clinicians must recognize which dissociative parts refuse to eat or engage in overeating, the nature of phobias between these parts, and how these phobias focus on food-related symptoms. Additionally, understanding the transitions between different dissociative parts and how these transitions impact the eating disorder is essential.

Findings
Analyzing dissociation in eating disorders reveals that these behaviors often express the individual's inner world. Both restrictive and overeating disorders can serve as clues to the underlying dissociative parts, their characteristics, and the traumas or adverse life experiences associated with them. By identifying these dissociative parts and their roles, clinicians can better understand the disorder's dynamics.

Conclusion
Incorporating an understanding of dissociation into the treatment of eating disorders provides a key to resolving the most difficult and chronic cases. By conceptualizing the disorder through the lens of dissociation, clinicians can develop more effective and targeted treatment plans. This approach offers additional tools and resources to address the severity and persistence of eating disorders that have previously confounded treatment efforts. It highlights the importance of addressing the internal conflicts and traumas that contribute to the disorder, paving the way for more sustained and meaningful improvements in patients' lives.

Timed Outline
90 Minutes - How recognize dissociation in EDs
30 Minutes - Break
90 Minutes - Rejected self and understand EDs inner world