Balancing Thoughts and Feelings about Food: A Mental Health ProfessionalÕs Creative Idea Guide to Treating Adolescent Eating Disorders in Individual or Group Settings

Book excerpt: Social workers and others conducting group and individual therapy and counseling with adolescents battling eating disorders will find a treasure trove of useful information in Balancing Thoughts and Feelings about Food. Therese Tuski Scarpace, a longtime social worker, draws on her years of experience to share methods and techniques to engage adolescents, keep their interest, and help them overcome obstacles. The strategies she shares are based on cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectal behavioral therapy techniques-and they are expressed in creative formats. Scarpace begins by sharing foundation information, such as the research and assessment processes she relies on for best practices, and follows that up with practical ideas for preparing spaces for individual or group therapy sessions. She explains how to create a supportive team to help adolescents, ways to improve self-image, and how to implement various strategies to help young people succeed.