Eating Disorder Services

Getting help: Eating disorder services in New Zealand

In New Zealand, Eating Disorder treatment is provided by a range of providers – public, private, specialist and general, in-patient or day based. Finding the right treatment for your child or loved one usually starts with a visit to a GP. They will be able to refer you to the appropriate service, and treatment will follow from there.

We have provided a list of questions to consider when choosing care providers at the bottom of this page.

Questions to consider when choosing care providers:

• Does the clinic specialise in eating disorders or do they treat a range of mental health issues? (Eating disorders require a high level of specific expertise and ongoing training.)
• Does the clinic include medical, psychiatric, psychological, and dietician care? (Eating disorder treatment is multidisciplinary in nature and patients and carers must be supported by a range of specialists.)
• If the treatment provider is not part of a specialist clinic, how do they coordinate care with other members of the treatment team? Is it the responsibility of the family or the treatment provider to establish a treatment team? 
• How does the clinic involve families in the treatment process? Are parents considered part of the treatment team? What privacy rules does the provider follow? (Eating disorder treatment that involves the family is now considered to be the most effective for people of all ages. Not all providers do so, though increasingly, eating disorder treatment providers are seeing parents and siblings and partners as integral to treatment success.)
• How are parents and siblings involved in care?
• Who is responsible, during treatment, for meal planning, preparation, and monitoring?
• What roles do weight restoration and normalised eating play in treatment? (Although in the past, eating disorder treatment often involved insight and psychological progress before it addressed food and eating, it is now considered necessary to address eating and weight normalisation before psychological treatment.)
• What specific training do the providers have in eating disorders? 
• Does the clinic offer “evidence-based” care? (Evidence-based means there is rigorous research to support its use with eating disorders.)
• What is the clinic’s philosophy around the cause of eating disorders? (This is a controversial issue and answers vary a great deal. It is important for families to do their own research on this topic and evaluate the providers’ philosophical approach carefully; some providers still practise under the belief that parents cause or contribute to eating disorders, believe eating disorders are a sign of trauma or abuse, and other unfounded and now disproven concepts.)
• What facilities does the provider or clinic refer families to when a higher or lower level of care is indicated?