Nutrition therapy is a vital part of eating disorder recovery. Without consistent and adequate nutrition, both the brain and body cannot function optimally—and recovery remains out of reach. That’s where our dedicated team of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) come in.
Working closely with clients and their families, our RDNs explore the complex dynamics of how, what, when, and why individuals eat—or don’t eat. The dietitians at Bay Area Nutrition are not your typical RDNs, we bring specialized training, advanced certifications, and years of experience in treating eating disorders.
Our RDNs dive into the nuances of eating patterns, restriction, and compensatory behaviors. We help clients and families develop sustainable eating plans, break down barriers to adequate nutrition, and rebuild supportive, healthy relationships with food and body. Our RDNs collaborate seamlessly with the broader treatment team at BAED to ensure integrated care.
The BAN RDNs practice in a trauma informed, neuro-affirming way and are trained in evidence-based approaches such as Family-Based Treatment (FBT), Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), Intuitive Eating, Responsive Feeding Therapy, and other modalities tailored to support recovery at every stage.
The purpose of Meal and Snack Support is to develop and practice recovery based nutrition and eating behaviors in a variety of settings. Meal Support is also helpful in coaching parents and loved ones on strategies to support and improve nutrition intake and status of the client. It can also give parents and loved ones a break from the demand of meal/snack supervision.
Food and Eating Exposures allows clients gradual exposure to challenging or avoided foods in a supportive environment. The goal is to appropriately reduce food-related anxiety and increase tolerance to a wider variety of foods and eating environments.
Choose from one of Campbell Teen & Family Therapy’s Inc. highly qualified therapists with specialties designed to meet the needs of their patients. CTFT offers several different therapy modalities in order to provide individualized treatment.
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
- DBT (Dialectic Behavior Therapy)
- ERP (Exposure Response Prevention Therapy)
- Family Systems
Family Therapy (via Campbell Teen & Family Therapy)
Parent involvement in therapy is crucial to a successful outcome in eating disorder treatment. We will work with parents and families to restore balance so families can thrive. Family therapy can range from everyone in the family attending to parent/child, siblings or to just parents attending depending on the needs of the family. Sibling support can be vital if one child has high needs that take up the attention in the family.
Medical Monitoring During Eating Disorder Treatment
Medical evaluation and follow up is essential in eating disorder treatment. Not only do want to make sure you are stable and progressing in your treatment, we use the medical information to help guide nutrition recommendations and changes.
Weight and Temperature Checks
Your medical provider will check weight and temperature regularly.
Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Checks (Orthostatic)
The medical provider will check your teen or adolescent’s blood pressure and heart rate while lying down and then standing up. This helps us see if they are undernourished, dehydrated or if their heart is under stress.
Lab Work
Blood and urine tests help us check for:
- Malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies.
- Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances (such as low potassium or phosphorus)
- How the kidneys and liver are working
- Hormonal concerns
- Anemia or low white blood cell counts
- General health status
Why This Matters
Eating disorders affect the body and brain in many ways, a person can “look fine” and still have serious medical, physical and nutritional problems. Regular medical monitoring helps the dietitian navigate and adjust nutrition recommendations as well as catch problems and intervene early, improving outcome and allowing you to continue with recovery.
One thing that sets the BAED program apart from general out patient care or other programs is our commitment to good communication and collaboration. Communication is a vital aspect for a successful response to treatment. One of the problems we run into is that providers do not communicate important information affecting treatment. Our program providers are committed to sharing communication after every session to ensure that all providers are on the same page. All recommendation for treatment are made at a team level including the individual therapist, family therapist, registered dietitian, medical provider and psychiatrist (if needed).
Tracking progress helps us ensure clients are getting the support they need. At the start of treatment, a baseline assessment tool called the EAT-26 will be completed to understand your thoughts and behaviors around eating.
We provide progress updates to families every 4 weeks, so you know how treatment is going. At the 4-week mark, we review progress to see if treatment goals are being met and adjust the plan if needed. At 8 weeks, we will complete another progress review and discuss next steps together, including recommendations for ongoing care after the program if needed.
We use several tools and check-ins throughout treatment to make sure the care we provide is both meaningful and measurable, supporting your recovery in a clear and structured way.
This program provides a supportive bridge between weekly outpatient therapy and higher levels of care.
