A Nutrition and Culinary Skills Training Program Using Exposure Response Prevention

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Hidden River Eating Disorder Residential Treatment

Jul 13, 2023, 12:46 ET

Learn More About Hidden River's Residential Eating Disorder Programs

CHESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J., July 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eating disorders are known to be complex mental health disorders requiring a well-trained and sophisticated multidisciplinary team approach. There are five levels of care that a patient may receive based upon their ability to effectively consume and retain a reasonable amount of nutrition. The levels of care include inpatient, residential, partial hospital, intensive outpatient, and outpatient.

Take a tour of Hidden River Eating Disorder Residential Treatment in Chester, NJ.

The residential level of care is engaged when a patient is medically and psychiatrically in a stable position that does not qualify them for the higher inpatient level of care. Simultaneously, the individual is lacking the ability to effectively remain stable while residing in the family home and attending a lower level of care, such as a partial hospital, intensive outpatient, or outpatient program. The residential treatment option provides a uniquely suited, multidisciplinary team approach and 24-hour support for the patient while they develop the personal fortitude and resilience necessary to manage the experiences of daily living. One of the central treatment goals at the time of making the transition from an eating disorder residential treatment center to any one of the lower levels of care is that the patient can effectively consume and retain the necessary nutrition to support medical and psychiatric stability with some level of independence.

The treatment programs at Hidden River have taken these important features into account when designing the nutrition education and culinary skills training programs.

A patient's anxiety regarding nutrition is real and often debilitating. Anxiety presents as an irrational mind state of terror, which is inadvertently misdirected towards the consumption and retention of nutrition. This maladaptive behavior destabilizing nutrition consumption, in turn, facilitates physical malnutrition, which together become known as an eating disorder.

The multidisciplinary treatment team at Hidden River has developed as an enhancement to the nutrition education and nutrition consumption program: an advanced culinary skills training program designed using Exposure Response Prevention therapy. By implementing culinary skills training with the use of exposure response prevention protocols, patients can effectively reduce fear from their perceptual equation. The culinary skills training program originates with the use of several assessment quizzes to reveal a patient's knowledge of meal preparation and the kitchen environment. These quizzes consider the patient's incoming understanding and use of menu planning, grocery shopping, kitchen appliances and utensils, the kitchen's organization, safe food storage, effective cleaning techniques, meal preparations and much more.

The Registered Dietitians design a patient-specific intervention plan that will improve the patient's confidence to prepare and consume their nutrition by implementing an Exposure Response Prevention program tailored to overcome their specific fear. Following the education sessions, the patient then engages in guided therapeutic experiential training, which gradually exposes them to effectively use the appliances, safe handling of sharp utensils, and basic food preparations. Patients learn to design meal plans, read recipes, shop ingredients, and prepare meals to completion. To accomplish a completed meal, they may use a stove top, oven, crock pot, toaster, blender, knives, microwave, pots, pans, utensils, and a dishwasher. The skills required to properly spice food products, boil, bake, baste, fry, and roast may also be included within their experiential training.

Thanks to the nutrition and culinary skills training program at Hidden River, patients gain so much more than expertise in the kitchen.

Hidden River recognizes that, when a patient completes the residential eating disorder treatment program and effectively prepares their meals and snacks from conception to consumption, they experience a reduction in anxiety, increase their confidence to manage nutrition, and ultimately succeed at moving towards the resolution of the eating disorder. The Hidden River nutrition and culinary skills training program has proven to be a central feature of the residential program, designed to support patients in their journey to achieve a functional level of independence.

For more information, please go to www.hiddenriverhealing.com.

About Hidden River:

Hidden River, located in Chester Township, New Jersey, is a residential eating disorder treatment center for girls and women ages 11 to 20 that utilizes an expert, compassionate approach with an emphasis on family involvement. Opened in 2019, the beautifully designed facility is located in a peaceful, natural environment that is conducive to healing and recovery.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Vargas, Director of Business Development

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SOURCE Hidden River Eating Disorder Residential Treatment