Eating Disorders - fieldi

11
Individual Psychotherapy:
A Long Journey of Growth
and Change
inge s. ortmeyer
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through
experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
—Helen Keller
How does psychotherapy heal psychic pain and overcome disordered
eating?
Some individuals, particularly late-adolescent and young-adult
women whose eating disorders are transitory and maturational,
often respond to short-term individual and group therapy. Others
who have experienced difficulties in many areas of life for many
years require more intensive lengthy psychotherapy. This involves
duration of treatment from at least one to several years with a frequency
of one or more sessions weekly. The continuity and intensity
experienced by the person under such conditions facilitates recovery,
change, and growth in a way that is less likely in the short-term
treatment programs that have proliferated in recent years.
The early nineties have seen a transformation in the allocation and
delivery of mental health services. This has significantly affected the