Re:Eating disorders

Dear Patrick,
Thank you for your prompt and interesting reply. I would indeed be particularly interested in some examples of Ericksonian techniques used with adolescent (and adult anorexics). (Perhaps as email attachment to Bruce.Kirkcaldy@t-online.de or my clinical practice at Haydnstr. 61, 40593 Düsseldorf, Germany).I am usually creative in my work but find this a particularly frustrating ailment. I am also trying to get support from teachers by getting them to deal with peer group pressures and concepts of self- and body image perceotion among adolecents, because schools in Germany report high incidences of the disorder. Ive spoken to a colleague of mine who leads one of Germanys largest adolescent psychiatric clinics who also does a lot of peer group work, and perhaps surprisingly as a psychoanalyst, using much which could be described as behavioural.
I cannot help but visualise early physiological experiments when we had hungry frogs who would starve to death rather than pick up the "stationary" flies in their cages. They require a perceptual filter of movement to recognise their food. I have used this occasionally in the past as a guessing game with children. e.g. Which animate object will not eat even when confronted with the nutrition it needs. They provide answers like "do they not like the food?" "Are they tired and exhausted?" "is the food old?" "is it fatty?". I can only answer "yes" or "no". I get lots of ideas of perception of food and meaning of eating from this method. I try and understand the "mind set" that may be prevalent in the child.
Of course the bottom line of success is getting them to eat.
Best wishes,
Bruce

Replies:

Re:Eating disorders, by Conservative, 11/30/02

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