Carolyn Costin

About the author: Carolyn Costin, a recovered anorexic, is the author of The Eating Disorder Sourcebook and Your Dieting Daughter. She has directed several inpatient eating disorder programs.

Those who suffer from bulimia and other eating disorders should be informed of available treatment approaches and practices and choose what is best for them. There are three approaches, which may be used by clinicians individually or in combination. The first seeks to understand and treat the cause or causes of the eating disorder. The second, the most widely used so far, involves replacing distorted thoughts and behaviors with more positive ones. The third considers disordered eating as an addiction and applies practices that have been found effective in treating drug and alcohol addiction.

Depending on how clinicians view the nature of eating disorders, they will most likely...