It may not be necessary to find a doctor who advertises eating disorders as a specialty, though it can help. Yet physicians who specialize in eating disorders are very much in the minority.
Finding an Eating Disorder Doctor Locally
As always, a referral from a trusted friend is best. Ask around. You may be surprised at how many people know someone who works with eating disorders. Another option is to call your local hospital and ask for a referral.
Your family doctor may be well-qualified to provide support for recovery from an eating disorder. Ask some questions that will help you form an opinion of the doctor’s qualifications. If the physician doesn’t seem like a good fit, keep looking. Or, ask him or her for names of other doctors who would be qualified.
If you’ve already started building a treatment team and you have found a dietitian or a counselor, ask this professional about good doctors in your area.
Finding an Eating Disorder Doctor on the Web
If you exhaust these options, there are very few web sites available to help you find an individual doctor who specializes in eating disorders. A better option is to search for the nearest eating disorder treatment center. Full-service treatment centers have medical personnel on staff. The good news is that eating disorder treatment centers do a much better job of advertising themselves than individual doctors! Always check multiple sites; no site has complete information on every treatment center.
- National Eating Disorder Association: The list of entries for treatment centers here is relatively short for a site covering the entire country.
- Something Fishy Treatment Finder: Also useful for finding therapists, dietitians, and many other kinds of clinicians, this database provides a wealth of information on nearly 400 treatment centers. Some have doctors and some do not.
- EDReferral.com: This referral-only site lists 140 treatment centers and indexes them by state.
When you find a treatment center nearby and talk with the medical staff there, you may still not be comfortable with them. Or they may be too far away. Or they may not work with you unless you’re checked in as a patient at the treatment center. Maybe checking in is something to consider, depending on your situation. If not, feel free to ask the staff for more referrals. It’s your treatment team!
Congratulations on Getting Started!
Beginning the search for a doctor to help with your eating disorder is a good step , because it shows your willingness to do something good for yourself. See it through. If the doctor you find is patronizing or condescending, keep looking! It’s time to surround yourself with people you can trust.
