As the mother of 3 teenage daughters I am very familiar with the usual teenage insecurities and general body confidence issues, however nothing was to prepare us for what happened when our youngest daughter (just 12) developed anorexia. She was a very sporty, seemingly happy-go-lucky child, with no obvious issues. Being so active when the illness took hold, her weight dropped dramatically and suddenly. She was admitted as an inpatient to a private eating disorder institution where she remained for the next 3 months. The conventional treatment provided by the clinic focused on weight gain, and whilst dealing with the physiological aspects of the illness, her pyschological needs were not addressed. She did not engage with the therapists but merely learned from other anorexics in the clinic , how to cheat the system and avoid the forced weight gain. Over the course of the 3 months she was there, my husband and I saw a marked deterioration in her mental state. We knew we had to find an alternative treatment for our child as this was not working for our daughter. A friend had heard of Lynn Crilly’s counselling work and gave us her details. My husband and I arranged a meeting with Lynn and decided to take our daughter out of the institution the following day. This was the beginning of our daughter’s road to recovery. I don’t know how she does it, but Lynn seems to really understand the anorexic mind and slowly over the course of a few months, she worked with our daughter, gaining her trust and encouraging her to leave the isolation and destruction of the anorexic mind set, and begin to live a normal life. The whole family were very much involved in the process. Our daughter returned to full – time school and gradually started to regain her self confidence – socialising with friends and having fun! After our daughter had been seeing Lynn for 6 months she was able to go down to 1 session per week, and now after 9 months continues to to have counselling with her once a month and has developed a very special relationship with her. The counselling sessions are fun and whilst they talk, they make jewellery or do puzzles and other creative activities. Lynn has never forced out child to eat a special diet or certain foods, our daughter chooses now to eat a very healthy balanced diet. recently she returnes to sport and everyday contiues to make progress. I cant thank Lynn enough for not only giving our daughter her life back, but giving the whole family our lives back.
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