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Mothers, husbands, boyfriends, sisters, brothers, fathers call to make appointments for their adult daughters.
These people love a person with an eating disorder. They may be looking for ways to convince their loved one to go into treatment. They may be helping that person by doing some scouting to find out what may be available in terms of treatment, and during their research they found Joanna.
However, only the person who will actually be in treatment can make the appointment.
Adults with eating disorders can be resistant to getting help, and an adult cannot be forced into treatment. If the caller is trying to help someone who is unwilling to move toward recovery work, then Joanna will suggest various kinds of support and perhaps therapy that might be available to the person who is calling.
If the adult is doing scout work for a person willing to go into treatment then Joanna will have a conversation, sometimes quite lengthy, with the caller. Joanna will answer any and all questions and offer information that may be helpful in understanding the situation with that loved person and her family.
The conversation can be lengthy because Joanna will tell the caller, often a mother, that if the daughter calls and makes an appointment, this is the last conversation the mother will have with Joanna. Once an adult makes an appointment with Joanna she becomes that person's psychotherapist exclusively. Joanna will refer family members to other clinicians if needed.
For deep and effective work between Joanna and client to unfold, the client must know that what she says and feels is private, that the space is hers, that Joanna will honor and safeguard boundaries and that the client doesn't have to share or reveal anything to anyone unless she so chooses.
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