St Paul's Eating Disorder ClinicEating disorders are a very serious problem, and those suffering from them need to get the proper treatment in order to be able to resume leading normal, healthy lives. Depending on where you live and the severity of the eating disorder, there are various options available for treatment. Those suffering from severe anorexia or bulimia will most likely find an inpatient treatment most beneficial. For those living in British Columbia, one of the well known programs for treating eating disorders such as these is St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic. St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic only accepts physician referrals, so if you are interested in getting treatment here you will need to go to your doctor and get your doctor to refer you to the program and send on all the necessary paperwork required by the program. This clinic only treats a few patients at a time in each of its programs in order to ensure the best treatment. This means you might have to wait a short while in order to be admitted to the St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic programs. There are a few different programs available at St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic, and depending on the needs of the patient the professionals at the clinic will decide which is the most appropriate treatment program and place them in that program. Patients are not allowed to self refer into the program of their choice. For those with very severe eating disorders that make it so that they need to be hospitalized, there is the Extra Care Program, which consists of a three week hospitalization to stabilize a patient and begin treatment with supported meals and individual and group counseling. Patients at the St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic who have other problems that need to be resolved as well might be admitted into the longer term Quest Program, where they can get the extra support they need to try to deal with these other issues that might be contributing to the eating disorder. Patients might have drug problems, trouble dealing with stress, or problems with life skills that need to be addressed. Patients who are mentally stable and interested in making healthy eating changes might be admitted into the Discovery/Vista Day Program. This is a 12 to 15 week program where treatment is offered during the day at St Paul's Eating Disorder Clinic and patients live at Vista House where patients can practice the recovery focused skills they are learning. |