Thank you for taking the time to help others by posting your experiences with treatment!
I know it can be hard, but hopefully, you can write a review from the wise mind and try to be objective. There is a list of ideas for questions to answer, but if that is too much, you can just write a paragraph of your experience. Please read the guidelines for posting to help keep this a safe, positive community. There is a separate section with a list of commonly asked questions that might help you write a review. First and foremost, please remember that:
This is a nonprofit site and not a pro-ED forum in any way.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WRITE A REVIEW OR PARTICIPATE BUT REMAIN ANONYMOUS AND ARE UNABLE TO POST ANONYMOUSLY, PLEASE MESSAGE ME!
Due to recent issues that have come up, please try to abide by the guidelines and keep comments directed at reviews. I am trying to keep this a place to be as vivid as possible, but please try to remember the following:
- Please refrain from using the names of patients, doctors or staff.
- Please try to stick to the facts and to your experiences, not hearsay.
- No numbers, weights, calories, etc. It’s fine if you want to say that a center looks for patients to gain one to two pounds per week, for example, but generally staying away from numbers is safe. Please do not mention specific BMIs or measurements. Please do not provide frequency or quantity or details of eating disorder behaviors/symptoms.
- Please do not attack, single out or insult other people
- Avoid judgmental words or potentially triggering/sensistive descriptors for human bodies. (E.g. fat, healthy, unhealthy, skeletal, obese, emaciated)
- Avoid judgment words or potentially triggering descriptions of food. (E.g. healthy, unhealthy, processed, sugary, fattening, bad, clean)
- Refrain from mentioning on the open discussion board any tips, tricks, or unhealthy behaviors you may have engaged in at a facility. Feel free to simply state that “It’s easy to get away with things there” or something along those lines, but I don’t want you to give others ideas. At the same time, I want you to feel as though you can be open and honest as possible.
You can write a review of your experience there without being biased and without being triggering — just state the facts of what occurred and what the program was like (schedule, meals, groups, etc.) If there have recently been a lot of changes, it could be really helpful to those considering going there to get a clearer picture of what the program is like so that they can make a more informed decision.
Why does EDTR care about whether something could be triggering to someone else?
“People with eating disorders frequently state that certain elements of media reports can be harmful to them by triggering their eating disorder ‘voice’ or behaviours.
“Competitiveness, perfectionism, a need to feel in control and low self-esteem form some of the key personality traits that raise the risk for eating disorders. People with eating disorders often judge themselves very harshly and compare themselves negatively with others. It is common for someone with an eating disorder to feel they aren’t unwell enough to deserve treatment and help, even if they are very seriously ill indeed.
“People with eating disorders speak about being ‘triggered’ – how their eating disorder behaviour and negative mental state can be stimulated, encouraged or reinforced by certain words, images or situations. Triggers have often been mischaracterised as people being ‘oversensitive’ or ‘easily offended’ – in fact triggering content can cause significant harm and potentially set someone back in their recovery.
“Treatment and therapy can help people to identify, recognise and manage these triggers, but they remain a high risk to the individual.”
Source: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/media-centre/media-guidelines/
The only comments that are seen as “biased” tend to be either:
a) extreme over-generalizations — i.e., “Nobody could ever possibly recover here!!!” or “Everybody should be able to recover here!!!” — that are not supported by any actual examples of things that happened or specific elements of the program that caused the reviewer to feel so strongly.
b) glowing reviews that are written like a marketing brochure, which usually appear after a program has received negative reviews as if to directly counter those reviews but without actually refuting any or most of the facts stated in the negative review(s). These posts just seem suspicious and create doubts as to whether they are written by actual former clients or just someone who works for the treatment center.
c) posts written by people who have never actually been to the treatment center being reviewed and that warn people against going there and/or make negative claims about the center based solely on what the poster has “heard’ versus what they actually experienced. I am trying to moderate and check these as much as possible using various methods.
d) those who repeatedly post either to bash or praise a program and make comments invalidating and/or attacking anyone who disagrees with them about that program, making it appear as if they are posting because they have some sort of personal agenda.
For those of you who are familiar with DBT, it’s sort of like trying to stay in your wise mind and being non- judgmental — just the facts. I think that sometimes it can be appropriate to offer a semi-opinionated response like: “If you don’t like to be confined 24/7 or would like a more real-life experience…” That would be appropriate.
Basically, the intended purpose of this site, as I understand it, is for people to share their experiences in order to help others better able to make informed decisions when seeking treatment. As long as your review is written with this purpose in mind, it is very unlikely to be seen as “biased” and will probably, in fact, be quite appreciated.
About EDTR’s Labyrinth Logo
Labyrinths are ancient symbols representing wholeness. They occur in all cultures and have been used as tools for meditation, centering and healing. Walking a labyrinth enables you to tap into your inner resources, offering a way for you to address the spiritual, emotional and psychological aspects of healing.
It is a chance to experience:
- a reduction in stress or fear related to being ill
- an improved attitude toward coping and recovery
- a renewed interest in participating in treatment
- a sense of control and confidence
- return of hope or inner peace
This is why ED Treatment Reviews has a labyrinth as its logo: to represent hope and healing.
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