Doing
What Works:
An Integrative System for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis
to Recovery
What Readers are Saying
Testimonials
A Comprehensive and Compassionate Guide
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As the Director of The New York Center for Eating Disorders, I have read every book on eating disorders!
Doing What Works is a beautifully written. This comprehensive guide to the treatment of eating disorders
is a masterful book for both experienced clinicians and those new to the field. Ms. Natenshon, a
psychiatric social worker, weaves together the "neurological, physical, nutritional, behavioral, chemical,
emotional, developmental, psychological, and relational issues" which richly illuminates the depth,
breadth, and complexity of eating disorders. In this sophisticated exploration, Doing What Works also
describes a wide range of treatment strategies including guidelines for family therapy, group therapy,
child therapy, hospitalization, medication, and mind-body techniques (Feldenkrais and Anat Baniel
methods) so the therapist can formulate an individualized and integrated approach for each client.
Ms. Natenshon encourages the therapist to actively reach out to connect with "the client's core self, which
has been imprisoned by the impenetrable armor of the eating disorder." The growth-promoting safety of
the therapy relationship enables the client to "reintegrate the 1000-piece puzzle of the client's holistic self
that has been exiled."
The author's enthusiasm to leave no stone unturned in helping her clients recover lends a vitality and
energy to this book. In these times of managed care, where treatment results are often measured
numerically for effectiveness, the human dimension of the therapy relationship can get undermined. But it
is this human dimension that forms the key and most crucial intervention that Ms. Natenshon draws on to
heal her clients; she is not afraid to show her affection and her authentic self to foster the growth of the
client's most authentic self.
In Doing What Works, Ms. Natenshon illuminates her commitment to teach, heal, and to inspire hope for
both the client as well as clinicians eager to deepen their knowledge of the eating disorder field.”
Amazon Customer Review
Hi Abigail,
I wanted to
let you know how much I have enjoyed and learnt
from your bookDoing
what works: an integrative system for
the treatment of eating disorders.
I spend most
of my time these days
working at the University of Tasmania,
but still run a small private practice.
Services are extremely limited here
in Launceston, Tasmania;
although children and adolescents
have access to treatment which is free
via a Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Service (CAMHS). It
must be great to be able to access
appropriate levels of care and services
for clients of all ages! Often my
job is to pull together a team of GP and a
nutritionist (dietician over here), and we
try to offer the best service we can
with limited resources
and no
inpatient service for ED adults, unless
they are ill enough to require medical
hospitalization (general medical ward)
or psychiatric services, via the public
system.
It is uplifting to read about
your stories of recovery and the
cautions around this.
So often clients are not fully recovered and their
lives remain compromised anddriven
by their disorder, despite
‘close enough’ weight gain. I will definitely
be guided by
your approaches to this issue.
Thanks again for your great book…and best
wishes,
Lesley
From a supervisor of social work interns and
practitioners in a school setting
"I truly believe that this book should become integrated as a mandatory
reading for ALL beginning therapists because in their quest to use as many
theoretical models as possible from their classes in daily practice, they
often forget the most important contributor to positive outcomes in
therapy... The integrative use of self. I myself, am learning more and more
with every page I turn, and feel inspired by having read this book."
-KI
From the director of a social work clinic, Ann Arbor
Michigan
"Doing What Works is packed with invaluable information about the complex
layers of eating disorder treatment, making it an important contribution to
the eating disorder treatment field. It is truly an invaluable guide for
therapists new to the field, and even those with substantial experience will
find tools and resources they can add to their repertoire.
The way you write is great---it seems like part clinical wisdom and part
academic review, and most of the references are current and scholarly.
You are so generous with what you have learned over the years in providing
such important information and guidance for readers …this is clearly a labor
of love."
From Psychotherapists
"I am just getting into the field of eating disorders and
this book has been a perfect introduction for me. It has also gone further,
going into great deal about the various treatment options that have proven
effective with this population. I think this book will prevent a lot of
reinventing the wheel for clinicians working with eating disorders. I would
definitely recommend it."
- By H. Mihaescu, San Francisco, via Amazon.com
“Your book captures a point that seems difficult for
many to grasp: eating disorders are both brain disorders
and mental disorders (which includes identity and
attachment). In its focus on the unique use of the
therapist’s self in the ED treatment
relatonship, the book describes one of the most
significant aspects of attachment theory as it relates
to ED recovery.”
-Larry Harris
"I have been counseling girls with eating disorders for
about a year, but I feel extremely inadequate. I tend not to treat the
eating disorder, but rather to just treat them as teenage girls with
problems. It is such a challenge to get them to believe they should eat when
everything in them says food is the enemy. I just want to say to them, "Eat
anyway. You're not thinking straight right now and you're starving yourself
to death." Eventually, I can usually say that, but I really need your book.
Thanks for writing it."
-Linda B.
"It made me realize how proud I am to be a therapist and
how excited I am about doing this work. The writing was so personable,
clear, and easy to read…it was like sitting in the same room with you and
your patients, as if you were speaking to me, personally."
"This book has accomplished what the eating disorder
treatment field has been needing… a workable meld of scientific research and
clinical practice. In bridging this gap, it offers strategies and
applications that are practicable and make sense not only to clinician son
the front lines of treatment, but to their patients in recovery."
"All too many of us doing this work have been essentially
on our own; we are doing what we know how to do. It is apparent that such
efforts have not been sufficient. It is high time that we have access to a
resource that offers clarity in describing what aspects of this treatment
differ from general practice, better preparing us to manage these cases
towards successful and timely outcomes."
"I
loved your book, and think it would make a
splendid text in the classroom at many levels.
Your command of this wide field is masterful."
C.L.
From Nutritionists, Registered Dieticians
"I wanted to let you know that I have started reading
Doing What Works and love it so far. It is refreshing to read your thoughts
that healing occurs partially through relationship, which feels very
inclusive for me as a dietitian. A psychotherapist recently accused me of
working outside of my scope of practice simply by taking on patients with a
mental illness, saying that nutritionists do more harm than good and have no
business within eating disorder treatment. It is helpful and legitimizing to
read in your book about the importance of the nutritionist's relationship
with the eating disordered client, and of fully understanding the disorder
and how it heals. I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying your
book."
"As a nutritionist working in the field of eating
disorders, I applaud this greatly needed resource. Eating disorders is a
separate and challenging specialty in the field of nutrition. Often
puzzling, frustrating and ultimately so very rewarding, this is a field that
hasn't been thoroughly explored in such a manner...until now.
The eating disorder nutritionist is more than an educator of scientific and
nutritional facts. The emotional component of these complicated disorders
requires a thorough understanding of the underlying issues as well as an
ability to handle them as they impact the individual's recovery process. As
a significant member of the eating disorder team, the nutritionist
collaborates with other team members, facilitating the exchange of
information to provide the most comprehensive standard of care.
Treating eating disorders requires unique education, training and
interpersonal skills which are often not adequately taught in college or
graduate school. Therefore, the nutritionist is often left to search for
manuals, methods, and mentors to hopefully fill the gaps in education. The
search is over. This book has it all and more.
Doing What Works is filled with
critical information presented in a clear, empathetic manner while also
covering all aspects of the integrative system for the treatment of eating
disorders. It's a must read for any nutritionist working in the field of
eating disorders because it finally is what really works.
Highly, Highly Recommended"
From graduate students
"What a delightful surprise that a professional book about
treatment could be so engaging and actually fun to read. I found that it had
such flow and was so interestingly written that I didn't want to put it
down."
"The information is wonderful...clearly a never been
written addition to the field. I am engaged and enlightened."
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