Editorial: Does multi‐family day treatment hit the spot that other treatments cannot reach?

Abstract

Anorexia nervosa remains a puzzling and frightening illness with a high burden on carers. The important role parents and other carers play in supporting people suffering from this devastating condition is evidenced by a coherent body of research. This shows that in adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa, interventions involving the family can be effective. In the UK, the recent NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) guideline for eating disorders has highlighted the importance of the family in the treatment of anorexia nervosa by recommending some guidelines. Salvador Minuchin and his team have to be credited with introducing formal family therapy for the treatment of anorexia nervosa. The papers in this special issue are largely based on presentations and discussions held at the first International Conference on Multi-Family Day Treatment which was held in Dresden, Germany, in March 2004. This meeting brought together a number of clinicians, researchers, patients and carers from a diverse range of European cultures and healthcare contexts, all of whom had firsthand experience of multi-family day treatment in a research or clinical context. When looking at service user feedback, the most commonly listed positive factors are that multi-family therapy helps to overcome isolation and stigmatization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)