You are cordially invited to listen in on this interview between Jim Gragtmans and Abbie Natenshon.

Jim is the father of a young woman who is recovering from an eating disorder. He conducted this phone interview as part of the research he was gathering for a book his family is writing about their eating disorder recovery experience.

I believe there is a great deal to be learned from listening to this conversation in its entirety. You can easily focus on specific topics by using the program guide below.

The interview has been broken down into two separate parts for easier downloading.

Part 1 (aprox. 23min 9.56MB)

Part One
Locate discussion of the following topics based on time

00:05  Profiling the eating disordered family 
03:15  Profiling the family of the child with the best prognosis for recovery
04:24  Situations in families that might predispose a genetically
          susceptible child to developing an eating disorder
05:25  What families can do to prevent eating disorders
06:25  What factors trigger disease onset?
07:20  Is an eating disorder a disease or a symptom of something else?
08:47  The challenges of diagnosis for families
11:00  When controlling food leads to losing control of the self
11:56  The healthfully functioning family: Stages of acceptance and taking action
14:30  Parents need to find help for themselves
11:57  When professionals do not understand, parents need to hold a clear vision
15:34  "When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder" The Workbook’s benefits to parents
15:57  Relationship challenges within the family of the eating disordered child
16:30  The eating disorder dissociates the child from Self, and from others
17:30  Recovery benefits; “We have our child back!”
18:14  The eating disorder’s effects on siblings
20:15  How siblings can contribute to healing
21:07  The role of extended family members in recovery
23:10  Whether and how to inform/ include members of the extended family

Part Two
Locate discussion of the following topics based on time

00:03  Families grow and heal from the treatment process
02:20  The family’s response to the child’s expression of newly found feelings
04:33  How can families remain supportive to their healing child?
06:49  Parents are role models and teachers
07:12  Things to avoid when dealing with the eating disordered child
08:50  Don’t be taken in by commonly held myths about eating disorders, etc.
09:50  Your child wants precisely what you would like to see for her/him
10:32  Don’t take “No” for an answer….when professionals tell parents
          to “Butt out” of their child’s treatment, when insurance companies
          say “No” to coverage
11:26  Several things families can do to help themselves
11:55  Learning to listen actively
13:05  Finding the right professionals; Evaluating professional care
14:30  Treatment protocols; creating the multi-disciplinary treatment team 
16:00  How to interview prospective health professionals on the phone
17:37  Coordinating the professional team with parents as partners/case managers
19:23  Making sure that the treatment team works
20:40  Parents: Do not blame yourselves for causing the problem
22:10  Family therapy is central to a successful recovery where child lives at home
23:27  Healthy eating is key to prevention