Interview: Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program in Sacramento

Here's a May 28, 2010 e-interview with Sacramento's Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program, located at 601 University Avenue, #225, Sacramento, CA 95825. With so much emphasis from the White House and local governments focusing on programs geared to fight childhood and adult obesity, not enough has been published in the mainstream media about its opposite--eating disorders, especially of children and teenagers trying to starve themselves into looking like the airbrushed models pictured in the tabloids and celebrity magazines.

Too many people getting teased about looking fat are rushing toward the opposite extreme of developing eating disorders. Sacramento has an outreach program for those with eating issues. Imagine what it feels like when a child is sent home from the second grade with a note from the teacher that the child is too fat and should exercise more. What happens when the pendulum swings to the opposite side, and the child develops eating disorders along the way?

Why do some people feel fat even though everyone else sees them as too thin and possibly starving or suffering from bulimia or anorexia? Summit co-owner and Executive Director, Tony Paulson, PhD, discusses his book, Why She Feels Fat: Understanding Your Loved One's Eating Disorder and How You Can Help and the issue of body image in our culture. Click here to view the interview on Sac & Company’s web site. The book's authors are Johanna Marie McShaneand Tony Paulson.

What happens when eating disorders take over someone's attempt to look different to the outside world, and what happens when one's image of his or her body is totally different from what is seen by the public? What's available in Sacramento to deal with eating disorders on an outreach basis? 

If you know someone in Sacramento suffering from anorexia, binge eating, or bulimia who needs a treatment plan, check out the website for Summit Eating Disorder and Outreach Program. With all the media attention on childhood, adolescent, and adult obesity, someone trying to manage weight could fall into an eating disorder just trying to stay thin to please others or be accepted.

Another possibility is a person could have body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in which the affected person is excessively concerned and preoccupied by a perceived defect in his or her body image or any physical feature. The person also could have an eating disorder. People with eating disorders also might have an excessive fear of judgment by others. Some people with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or compulsive overeating with or without binging and purging express fear of judgment by others. 

Here are the answers to five questions in an email interview that I asked of a Sacramento-based expert, Jennifer Lombardi. Recently she also addressed the topic in the Sacramento Bee. The following are the answers emailed to me from questions I asked of the public relations representative of Sacramento’s Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program (SEDOP), Liz Conant of Fleishman-Hillard of Sacramento, on behalf of SEDOP for Jennifer Lombardi to answer. Jennifer Lombardi is a co-founder and therapist at SEDOP who has also recovered from her own eating disorder. 

Where Can You Find Help for Eating Disorders in Sacramento?

 1. What's the Summit Program about?  Summit Eating Disorder and Outreach Program is a treatment center in Sacramento, California, that provides intensive, medically-supervised treatment for adolescents and adults struggling with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.  Summit provides three levels of care: day treatment, where a person receives 9 to 12 hours of treatment, five days per week that includes individual, medical and nutritional therapy; intensive outpatient treatment, which typically takes place three times per week for three hours each day; and outpatient treatment, which can include individual, nutrition and group therapy.  Luxurious housing is available for individuals coming from outside the Sacramento area.

2. What are the early warning signs of an eating disorder?

1.       Dramatic weight loss

2.       Change in behaviors around food

3.       Depression and/or anxiety symptoms

4.       Finding laxatives, diet pills or diuretics

5.       Noticing a pattern of avoiding food

6.       Noticing a pattern of going to the bathroom after a meal

7.       Fatigue or dizziness

8.       Increased agitation or fighting about meals

9.       Excessive or compulsive exercise

10.   Sneaking or hoarding food

3. How is the problem treated? Typically, treatment includes a combination of things: individual, couples and/or family counseling; nutrition and meal therapy; medical and psychiatry assessment and monitoring; group therapy; teaching healthy coping strategies, such as yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and other self-soothing techniques.

4. How has the program helped you or what motivated you to open this program? As someone who has been recovered from an eating disorder for 17 years, I had the misfortune of experiencing what was, at the time, a lack of services.  There were very few treatment centers at that time, and insurance often did not cover the cost of treatment.  Fortunately, much of this has changed.  We were motivated to create a program that not only provides research-based, effective treatment from a medical, nutritional and psychological standpoint, but that most importantly has the needs of the patient always in mind.  Providing compassionate care is one of the most important components of our program. 

5. How much does it cost, and who pays, the patient or the government or other sources ?

Typically insurance covers most if not all of the cost of treatment which can range from $265 per day for our intensive outpatient program to $645 per day for Day Treatment which includes medical, nutritional, group and psychotherapy services as well as meals.