Services

The following services are part of a typical week at the Anna Westin House. Residents participate in group sessions, a variety of individual sessions, and three therapeutic meals and snacks per day. Sessions include psychotherapy, family therapy, nutrition, art therapy, medical assessments, psychiatric visits, acupuncture, massage, spiritual care, music therapy, and others across the week. Each resident's schedule is personalized to meet her specific needs.

  • Individual psychotherapy: By exploring underlying emotions and interpersonal factors that contribute to an eating disorder, individuals learn to replace uncontrolled behaviors and negative feelings with a strong sense of self and a positive self-esteem.
  • Group psychotherapy: Groups meet to share common experiences to alleviate feelings of shame and isolation. Sharing common experiences breaks these barriers and inspires self-understanding as each person learns to identify unhealthy patterns and develop healthy alternatives. Group therapy includes CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy), multifamily group, and others.
  • Family Therapy: Family therapy sessions explore and improve long-standing communication patterns between family members. These sessions provide awareness of common issues and roles and help the individual with the eating disorder to recover and work toward a successful transition to the next level of care. Multifamily group and meal sessions are incorporated each week.
  • Nutrition Therapy: Individual, group and family nutritional counseling, education, and meal planning are tailored to each resident's needs to help her interrupt symptom use, restore body health, and regain trust in her body's ability to regulate eating. These sessions and supported therapeutic meals and snacks help restore harmony to eating patterns, develop self-care skills, and help family members better understand how to support their loved one around eating.
  • Medical Care: A nursing staff, a physician, and a physician assistant evaluate and monitor each resident's medical status.
  • Psychiatric care: We work with individuals regarding evaluation of co-occuring conditions and medications that may be incorporated into treatment of the eating disorder or other related conditions.
  • Acupuncture/Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Acupuncture, acupressure, and TCM treatments help relieve anxiety and physical complaints and restore balance to the body.
  • Massage Therapy: Massage sessions bring ease to the body, mind, and spirit and help residents access and develop a deep relationship with the wisdom inherent in their bodies.
  • Music and Art Therapy: Expressive therapies help relieve anxiety, address body image issues, provide non-verbal means of expression, and assist in developing new coping and expressive skills.
  • Spiritual therapy: Our non-denominational approach addresses issues of spiritual health through prayer, meditation, spiritual counseling, group discussions, and worship experiences as appropriate to each resident's beliefs and needs.
  • Movement therapy: Yoga, stretching, strength work, cardiovascular, and play activities are incorporated as appropriate to develop healthful activities that support well-being.
  • Experiential activities: Community experiences such as cooking, clothes shopping, grocery shopping, and dining at restaurants help the individual strengthen self-expression and gain assertiveness and symptom control.
  • Horticulture Therapy: In conjunction with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, residents experience hands-on horticulture activities and projects designed to nurture a connection to nature and the environment.
  • Education/Schooling: We make arrangements with a student's home district and the local school district to support her continued academic participation.