Frequently Asked Questions
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What is this book about?
Take Charge of Your Child’s Eating Disorder is a practical, step-by-step guide to help parents recognize, understand and then effectively manage their child’s eating disorder. Unlike many other diseases, eating disorders require a complex combination of psychological, medical and nutritional treatment. Coordinating these elements often becomes a parent’s responsibility, which often puts them in the position of managing their child’s treatment but not knowing what to do. This hands-on, medically-based guide begins from the point of recognizing that there is a problem and then covers getting a professional evaluation, understanding treatment options, putting together and managing a child’s treatment team, and even getting insurance companies to cover the costs. It teaches parents how to be proactive and lead their child’s treatment team, if and when it’s necessary.
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Who should buy this book?
If you suspect your child may have an eating disorder or if your child has been diagnosed with an eating disorder, this book will answer your questions and help you develop an effective treatment strategy. Take Charge of Your Child’s Eating Disorder is written for parents and other family members as well as caregivers of children and adolescents. It is also a valuable resource for school nurses and counselors, coaches, and pediatricians.
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How does this book help a parent whose child has been diagnosed with an eating disorder?
The book helps parents work with professionals to develop a specific treatment plan that is appropriate for their son or daughter. It provides a detailed roadmap to help parents navigate through the confusing maze that surrounds the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders and it empowers them to take an active role in their child’s treatment. Having counseled hundreds of parents, Dr. Carlton presents specific strategies for what to say to a child suffering from an eating disorder as well as advice on how to handle difficult situations at home and at school. The book also includes a comprehensive list of resources.
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How can this book help parents who suspect their child might have an eating disorder?
Because people suffering from eating disorders often try to hide what’s going on, it’s easy to miss critical signs until the disease is in the advanced stages. Even after medical complications have set in, a pediatrician may not realize that the cause of these complications is an eating disorder. This book gives parents lists of signs and symptoms to look out for and then offers specific strategies for discussing concerns about a possible eating disorder with their child. It also to gives parents guidelines on how to get their child medical, nutritional and psychological help.
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What differentiates this book from other books about eating disorders?
This is the only hands-on, medically-based book that specifically tells parents what they need to know to help their child recover from an eating disorder. No other book about eating disorders provides detailed information about how to compile and coordinate a multidisciplinary treatment team, which the medical community agrees is the most effective approach to treating eating disorders.
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Why did Dr. Carlton write this book?
Dr. Carlton speaks to groups of parents and professionals around the country about the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorder and how to put together an effective treatment team. Every time she gives a lecture, parents ask her to recommend a book that will give them strategies and tips similar to those she discussed. Unfortunately, no book existed, so she decided to write one.
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What are Dr. Carlton’s qualifications?
Dr. Carlton, a specialist in adolescent eating disorders, is the founder and director of Stanford Medical Center’s Adolescent Eating Disorder Parent Education and Support Program. A physician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Carlton is invited to speak at major eating disorder conferences and also consults with eating disorder programs across the country. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Medicine and did her pediatric and adolescent medicine training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Over the last decade, Dr. Carlton has treated hundreds of children and adolescents with eating disorders as well as guided parents through the maze of eating disorder treatments.