Eating disorders like anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED) are serious conditions that can have a devastating impact on someone’s mental, physical, and emotional health. It’s important to seek out treatment as early as possible to help decrease the effect these conditions might have.
Thankfully, if you live in Utah, you have options of where and how to find eating disorder treatment. Below are some treatment centers and other resources for anyone seeking this help.
Types of Eating Disorder Treatment in Utah
All eating disorders are serious, but not all eating disorders manifest the same way. Some symptoms or cases can be more severe than others.
To cater to these varying degrees of symptom severity, there are several levels of eating disorder care designed to help people at different points on their recovery journey.
Virtual Treatment
Telehealth is a growing phenomenon in the mental health and eating disorder treatment industries, proving to be a great alternative for those who have challenges around transportation or mobility or who don’t live near in-person care options.
While the method is still relatively new, studies have shown that it can be equally effective as in-person care in many cases. [3]
Still, it’s important to note that virtual care may not be for everyone. Those with especially severe disordered eating symptoms may still benefit more from traditional in-person care. Before starting a virtual program in Utah, you should be asked to fill out an intake form to help determine if the program is best for you.
Who Offers Virtual Treatment in Utah?
In the world of virtual care, Within Health has quickly become one of the premier programs, offering robust online courses akin to a partial hospitalization program, family therapy, outpatient care, and more. Plus, with medical supplies and meals mailed to you, the company works to bridge the gap between online and in-person care.
Inpatient and Residential Treatment
Utah inpatient treatment is the most intensive care for eating disorders and is generally reserved for the most critical cases, particularly when someone’s life is in immediate danger. [1] This type of care involves 24/7 support from a team of medical professionals and focuses primarily on medical stabilization and helping someone start the journey to weight restoration.
Once a patient is considered medically stable, they can move on to a residential treatment center located in Utah. These facilities are also for severe cases when someone is medically stable but has great difficulty controlling their eating disorder symptoms.
Residential treatment is a longer-term therapy, requiring patients to live and sleep at the treatment facility for several weeks up to several months. While there, patients generally follow rigorous schedules which often include individual and group therapy sessions, nutrition counseling, meal monitoring, medical check-ins, and possible medication consultations.
Residential Treatment in Utah
Utah’s Center for Change is one of the state’s primary full-service eating disorder treatment centers, offering inpatient programs for adults and adolescents at three locations.
Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs)
Partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) are highly structured day programs. While patients live and sleep at home at this stage of recovery, they commute to treatment up to 6 days a week, for up to 10 hours a day. [1]
The types of care administered during a PHP are usually similar to those that take place in a residential treatment facility. Patients will usually attend individual and group therapy sessions and meet with a nutrition counselor while having several meals or snacks at the facility throughout the day.
If a patient is stepping down from a residential program, they may even keep the same treatment team through their PHP. Otherwise, patients entering treatment at this level of care will be assigned a treatment team, which can consist of psychiatrists, psychologists, nutritional counselors, nurses, and other medical professionals.
PHPs or Day Programs in Utah
The Center for Change‘s campus in Salt Lake City offers partial hospitalization programs for patients age 15 or older, with a program that features meal support and individual therapy, among other treatment options.
Outpatient Treatment
Outpatient care is usually the first or last level of treatment a patient will receive. That’s because it’s the least intensive type of eating disorder treatment, usually just consisting of a regular meeting with a therapist or nutrition counselor (typically once or twice per week).
Many people in outpatient care choose to supplement their regular meetings by attending support groups throughout the week or month. It’s also possible to participate in an intensive outpatient program (IOP).
Intensive outpatient programs usually run anywhere between three to five days per week, for three to five hours per day. Like a PHP, they can include individual and group therapy sessions, nutrition counseling, and meal monitoring. Essentially a hybrid form of care, IOPs are good for those who are ready to start incorporating social responsibilities like work and school back into their life, but still need some additional support with their eating disorder recovery.
Who Offers Outpatient Treatment in Utah?
Like the Center for Change, Avalon Hills has a number of treatment options, including a robust outpatient program. However, the facility also offers PHP treatment for eating disorders.
Additional Eating Disorder Resources in Utah
Aside from programs targeted specifically at treating eating disorders, Utah has some resources that can offer more general help.
The Huntsman Mental Health Institute is a program at the University of Utah, dedicated to providing information and resources for the treatment of eating disorders.
The state also hosts a number of eating disorder support groups. These regular or semi-regular meetings can help people struggling with an eating disorder or the friends or family of those struggling, offering a sense of community and a safe space to express fears, doubts, victories, and advice.
Support groups are generally run on a local level and are prone to changing schedules and locations. An internet search of your area will likely yield the most accurate and up-to-date results.
What to Look for in a Utah Eating Disorder Treatment Center
Seeking out treatment as quickly as possible is an important way to help reduce the amount of damage an eating disorder can do.
However, deciding which program to seek treatment from should be thought through, with a number of considerations that can impact the experience.
While a number of Utah and national laws work to ensure staff members at treatment centers are qualified to help, ensuring a treatment facility is accredited provides an extra layer of assurance that the care there can be trusted.
Approval from the Joint Commission or CARF International bodes well for an eating disorder treatment center. This means the program has been reviewed by experts and determined to meet or exceed industry standards.
You can also verify a facility’s license to treat eating disorders by contacting your state’s licensing board for mental health professionals.
Eating disorder treatment is unfortunately often very expensive. Higher levels of care, in particular, can be costly. That’s why it’s important to make sure that your insurance company is willing to cover the eating disorder program you choose.
To avoid confusion or disappointment, you can start your search by contacting your insurance company directly, to ask if there are any nearby programs in their coverage network.
If you’ve already found a center you like, you can also call the program directly. Many treatment facilities have staff members who are experts in insurance and can help you iron out the details.
It may feel like an extra, burdensome step to deal with insurance before even entering treatment, but knowing your care will be covered can help prevent future issues like big surprise bills or having to change programs in the middle of treatment.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell the difference between eating disorder treatment programs or figure out which one will be best for you or your loved one.
These questions can help you start determining the differences or understanding what your priorities are in choosing the best course of care.
- What kind of professionals will be involved in your treatment? Who will coordinate your care?
- What is the philosophy of care at the center? Are there any religious affiliations?
- How long has the center been in operation?
- What role does the family play in a patient’s treatment?
- What is the patient-to-staff-member ratio?
- What’s the average length of time the staff members have worked at this center?
Finding Help for an Eating Disorder in Utah
If you or a loved one are struggling with an eating disorder, it’s imperative to seek out help.
Utah thankfully has several treatment options for residents, but if you’re still unsure where to start, your primary care physician or therapist can be a good source. These medical professionals can help you secure an eating disorder diagnosis and determine your best next steps.
A number of eating disorder hotlines may also help. These free services allow callers to remain anonymous while getting needed information and resources.
Regardless of where you look for help, however, the decision to seek it out is an important one. It’s the first step to recovery and what can be a healthier and happier future.
Resources
- Levels of Care. (n.d.). University of California San Diego. Accessed August 2023.
- What is Intensive Outpatient Treatment for Eating Disorders? Center for Discovery Eating Disorder Treatment. Accessed August 2023.
- Bulkes NZ, Davis K, Kay B, & Riemann BC. (2022). Comparing efficacy of telehealth to in-person mental health care in intensive-treatment-seeking adults. Journal of Psychiatric Research; 145:347–352.