https://thebodyimagecenter.com/
The Body Image Therapy Center (TBITC) is a new eating disorder treatment center in Maryland and Washington, DC. They offer residential treatment, transitional living, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP), and standard outpatient (SOP)
They have three outpatient treatment locations:
- Columbia, MD – IOP for children and adolescents ages 11-18, as well as SOP for adults.
- Baltimore, MD – PHP, IOP, and SOP for adults and adolescents.
- Washington, DC – PHP, IOP, and SOP for adults. (16/17 years old on case-by-case basis)
The Body Image Center’s Residential Treatment Program for Eating Disorders is located in Frederick, MD, and opened in November 2020. They are known for their commitment to supporting diversity in eating disorder treatment (including having a diverse staff):
- Specialized men’s unit
- Support groups for BI-POC and LGBTQ+
- Substance Abuse track for those with dual diagnosis, including continued medical care for clients who come straight from detox.
- Access to religious centers while in treatment (including Beth Shalom Congregation, Mountain View Community Church, and Islamic Society of Frederick)
- Meal alterations for religious practice, such as Kosher meals
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Any information or reviews?? Please post in the comments section below! You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
This organization and its locations are now closed.
I did an intake for the program and was very discouraged by the whole process. They didn’t give adequate information and so I got all the way through the process by the time they told me they won’t allow vegans (or my compromise vegetarian with limited dairy due to stomach issues). It ended up being a waste of my time and theirs. Essentially they told me that being vegan = you cannot be in recovery. While I realize that veganism is tricky with EDs, it does not mean recovery is not possible or that I don’t deserve a space to try at recovery. At the end of the process, it came down to them saying they didn’t think their dietitians could advise someone who was vegan so it was all for the best. After the process, I started hearing some things that made me concerned about their services over all. I am hoping that this is just independent experiences and that they are able to make it work as having access to treatment is important.
Be very very careful of this facility. The admissions team is very disorganized, and non-communicative. I do think the actual clinical staff is adequate, but their level of disorganization is enough to perhaps send you the other way
I was in both DC PHP and MD Residential recently. Long story short, I was traumatized there and re-traumatized again and again during my treatment under this center. Currently I’m so traumatized that I can’t join any treatment program even I need it coz the group setting itself recalls the traumatic treatment experience at TBITC.
I’m not sure what it’s like before, but this center was sold to a big corporation called Refresh Mental Health few months ago and seems things started getting even worse since then. The management of this center is shady.
Hi – With only sharing details you are comfortable with, can you tell us what happened to traumatize you? Did they not have appropriate care set up to deal with certain topics? Was anything dangerous going on? Was it the other residents? Thank you!
Any recent reviews of the in-person PHP and/or IOP programs in DC? If so I’d be most grateful!
I was in their lOP when they first opened their Baltimore location several years ago. When l initially did my intake, the thought was that l would start in lOP for a week or so and then move to PHP as soon as it opened. At the time, I minimally needed to be in at least a PHP level of care but was assured they would work with me and my outpatient team to coordinate and provide as much support as possible. The day of my intake, I was able to meet with numerous staff and was very impressed by their experience and knowledge. When I started program a week later, it was entirely different staff – none of whom had any experience in working with eating disorders. After my outpatient team raised these concerns – knowing that I needed a higher level of care than they had, they weren’t thrilled that I was being treated by a whole team of newbies – they were no longer willing to coordinate care and insisted that I stop seeing my OP team.
I was in lOP for a month and rapidly declining under their care. During this time, there was huge turnover in staff (which was beyond weird considering this was a brand new program and seemed to be unexpected and generally just didn’t even get addressed – even when group therapy was being run by the dietitian – because she was the only person there) and absolutely no indication that PHP would ever open. Given the lack of anything happening in lOP, I started seeing my op team again. They were horrified and pushed me to get out of there ASAP. When the director got wind of this, l was yelled at for seeing my op team and was again promised PHP would open “soon”. Another week went by and another treatment center recommended ip treatment. I got the call a bed was available while in lOP. The director, who I had never seen except for my intake and these two occasions, told me I wasn’t sick enough for ip and that PHP would be ready the very next week.
At that point, l discharged. Their PHP didn’t open for another year.
Based on my experience, I would not recommend the program at all – super inexperienced clinicians and a director that seemed more invested in the money than in client safety.
Any recent reviews? Specifically for PHP? Thanks so much!
This is a treatment center in the DC and Maryland area that just opened a residential location in November 2020 – thank you to the person who emailed me to let me know we didn’t have a page for them yet!
If anyone has been here, or knows anything about this program, please share!