Family Based Treatment (FBT) is a treatment method that utilises all members of a family to assist their loved one in restoring their health. FBT has been shown to be most effective with children and adolescents, who have been ill for less than three years and are under age 18, with between 50-70% of patients achieving recovery after 12 months’ treatment and is recommended in international treatment guidelines as the first line of treatment for this age group.
FBT takes an agnostic view of the development of eating disorders and is non-blaming of parents or families. It is inclusive of all family members recognising that each can play an important role in the recovery process.
Treatment duration on average is about one year and is divided into three distinct phases.
Phase 1: Parental management of weight restoration and extinction of eating disorder behaviours with parents co-operating on finding ways to re-nourish their child and support their emotions which come with making the difficult changes. The therapist facilitates this process by supporting both patient and parents through therapeutic skill and sharing of expert knowledge.
Phase 2: Parents gradually reduce their management of their child’s eating and weight recovery, supporting and guiding them to increase their own responsibility for food and eating. This phase also places strong emphasis on normalising all food and eating related activities (e.g., eating socially, eating with flexibility and spontaneity).
Phase 3: Once eating disorder symptoms have resolved, and full weight recovery achieved, the focus shifts to addressing any developmental issues of the adolescent in preparation for completion of treatment.
Although tailored originally to the treatment of anorexia, FBT has also been shown to be effective with clients presenting with bulimia nervosa and now also ARFID.