A team approach is most effective. For an adolescent with this disease, a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy are the most effective. Cognitive therapy helps individuals identify and question the reality of their beliefs about eating and their weight. For instance, the belief that it is healthy to be very thin. The therapist would help the individual understand that by staying so thin he or she is actually damaging the body.
Behavioral therapy is designed to help change the behaviors that keep the illness going.
For instance, being around food may make the person anxious and he or she may avoid food or leave the dinner table after only a few minutes. A therapist may recommend sitting at the dinner table with food in front of the individual for several hours. This may help overcome the fears about food. While in treatment, the individual will be asked to sign a food contract and to comply with this contract or lose privileges. A person who becomes dangerously thin will need to be hospitalized.