Building a Team for ARFID Recovery

Are you an adult who is struggling with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), wanting to recover, but feel alone in the process? Are you a parent or loved one of someone with ARFID struggling to find ways to help?

Is it hard to figure out what an ARFID recovery team would look like, who should be a part of the team, how to seek resources, or how to talk with family and friends about what you need and want as support?

This blog will help you build a team so that you as an individual with ARFID, or you as a loved one, can feel engaged in a supportive network and not feel so alone in this challenging process. Resources are available to identify professionals who treat ARFID.

Why build a team?

Eating disorders are challenging and the recovery process can be daunting. Trying to face something hard or scary by ourselves can seem impossible, like climbing a mountain. We may not even want to climb the mountain, so having someone help encourage us, talk us through it, remind us why we’re doing it, and walking with us along the way, can be essential in first starting, and then sticking with our journey.

Who should be on my team?

Your team should have different types of resources and support. In eating disorder recovery, we need to understand the nature of the problems we are facing, we need to understand what skills we can use to battle it, and we need support to get it done. Your team members could include:

• Therapists – individual therapists, family therapists and group therapists

• Registered Dietitian

• Medical Doctor

• Psychitrist

• Social Support– friends, family, social media groups, support groups for those with ARFID and other support groups for their family members.

• Financial Support- recovery can be expensive. Ideally insurance will help cover expenses, including supplements when needed. However, those with food insecurity can struggle to access new and different foods, and can’t afford to purchase food that may not get eaten. Having support to access food will be important in the recovery process.

Where do I start?

Reading this blog is a good start! Finding written resources to better understand ARFID and ARFID recovery is also a wonderful start. They following ideas can also get you started:

• Check with insurance for providers

• Use of social media groups to get information

• Talk to your primary care provider

• Talk to your friends and family

• Make phone calls and ask questions

How do I evaluate and make changes to my team if needed?

Success with ARFID recovery isn’t quick or easy. Lack of success at times doesn’t always mean that the team isn’t working for or with you, it just means it’s a steep climb at times and it’s hard to see progress. Talking with team members, tweaking a plan, re-evaluating what is being done, how, and by whom can help to make things clearer. Possibly sitting down, looking at initial goals and progress toward those goals, and then setting new goals together can be beneficial. At times, looking at how good of a fit each team member is, how well team members communicate, and whether there are any holes in the team that need to be filled with additional resources. For example, changing levels of care to IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) or PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program), or using hospital services to get us through blocks, or over some humps.

In conclusion, identifying who should be on your team, recruiting team members, and evaluating the success of your team member choices can be beneficial in embarking on, and sticking with the recovery process. Use the resources we have provided within this blog and feel free to reach out to us on our contact page if you would like additional resources!