Take a look at what a typical day will be like in the Valenta Eating Disorder program:
(Each patient also will see the psychiatrist and may have an individual session)
7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Check-in and Breakfast:
Vitals are recorded daily prior to breakfast and patients fill out a self-questionnaire regarding the previous evening and any current concerns they are bringing into program. Breakfast is eaten as a group in a calm and relaxing atmosphere.
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Goals or Spiritual Care Group
Goals Group:
Patients set concrete and realistic goals for the week and weekend, identify means of receiving support and accountability, and review goals to increase motivation, support and accountability.
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Spiritual Care Group: Patients learn about the importance of nurturing their own spirituality. The groups are designed to increase meaning, purpose, and hope.
9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Nutrition and Meal Planning:
Patients learn about the nutritional needs of the body and brain, nutrition myths, restaurant eating, grocery shopping, meal planning and preparation, social eating, health and exercise. Patients complete and submit program menus for the coming week and review any questions or concerns regarding their individualized meal plan recommendations with the Registered Dietitian.
9:45 – 10:00 a.m. Snack:
Patients choose from a variety of snacks and are encouraged at this time to start incorporating nutritional principles. Patients practice portion sizing and spreading their daily caloric intake throughout the day to facilitate restoration of health.
10:00 – 11:20 a.m. Process Group:
The group is patient-led and is a safe place to explore struggles, challenges, and relationships. Group therapy allows the patients to increase recognition and regulation of mood, to express internalized pain and to receive support and accountability from peers. Process is a key therapeutic factor within the program to decrease isolation and shame.
11:20 – 11:35 a.m. Coping | Grounding
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Lunch:
Patients are served a tasty and nutritious meal in a relaxing and safe environment where they can challenge fears of social eating. Once a week, patients will order food or go out to local restaurants to face the challenges of choosing and eating meals out. Once a month, patients create themed lunches in which program is decorated and special menus, chosen by the patients, are served.
12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Coping | Grounding
12:30 – 1:15 p.m. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Groups:
A core component of the Eating Disorder program is helping patients address the symptoms and cognitive distortions of their eating disorders. These sessions help patients recognize the connection between their thoughts, feelings and behaviors, to dispute and/or replace irrational or distorted thinking, and to choose healthier behaviors.
1:15 – 2:00 p.m. Expressive Therapy
Art: Patients engage in multiple therapeutic art projects designed to assess and treat patients. Self-exploration through non-verbal media helps increase personal insight into the eating disorder.
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Movement: Patients experience the integration of their internal dialogues and outward expressions through the structure of music and movement thereby increasing self-expression, creativity, and an enriched relationship with their bodies.
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Relaxation: Patients are exposed to different techniques of relaxation in an effort to reduce stress and increase self-management within the safe environment of program.
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Yoga: Patients learn the importance of the mind-body connections, establish a sense of grounding in the presence of external stimuli, identify tension and increase relaxation skills and flexibility while remaining present in the moment through the components of breathing, posing, and stretching.
2:00 – 2:15 p.m. Snack
2:15 – 3:00 p.m. Self-Care and Body Image:
Patients learn about and explore cultural and social messages regarding gender, body expectations and beauty, the connection between one’s view of their body and self-defeating thoughts, the use of the body for well-being through self-care skills and the importance of accepting the body as having function beyond appearance.
3:00 p.m. Program Closes:
Patients choose an inspirational quote to read and take home a word for the day to encourage power, strength, and health.