ACED offers affordable, community-focused, collaborative treatment founded on the belief that full recovery is possible.
Jan 15th, 2009 by admin
Immediate Release
Contact:
Leigh Bell, ACED Communications Director
Cell: (205) 304-4640
l.bell@acenterforeatingdisorders.com
www.acenterforeatingdisorders.com
Local therapist launches ACED, an innovative eating-disorder treatment center, to share recovery with those struggling
A Center for Eating Disorders, formerly known as the Alabama Center for Eating Disorders, breaks ground in Birmingham early next year as the state’s most comprehensive outpatient treatment program. The innovative center harmonizes the experience and compassion of its founder, licensed therapist Renee Miller. After personally winning the battle against anorexia, Miller dedicated her professional life to help others conquer similar fights.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It is a hometown story of triumph. After full recovery from an eating disorder that one national expert called “terminal,” Renee Miller became a licensed psychotherapist to guide others toward recovery.
A decade later, she and a team of experienced professionals – all highly respected by fellow eating-disorder treatment providers and the local therapeutic community – are about to launch the state’s most comprehensive outpatient program to treat eating disorders.
A Center for Eating Disorders, ACED, will open early next year and is already accepting new patients for the waiting list. Learn more at www.acenterforeatingdisorders.org.
The much-needed program fills a dangerous gap between expensive inpatient/residential treatment that most insurance providers don’t cover and individual therapy that is not structured enough to treat men and women with serious eating disorders. This is one reason why only one in 10 people with an eating disorder receive treatment.
ACED is unlike any other statewide. Its treatment team works with the belief that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible for anyone given the right tools –“Recover for life,” as Miller says.
The team understands paths to healing are unique for everyone, so they created a program that adjusts to each client’s individual needs. Miller and many ACED staff members are themselves recovered from eating disorders. They can honestly say they’ve been there.
“You don’t have to be recovered from an eating disorder to effectively treat one,” Miller says. “Of course, it requires education and experience. However, I believe I have a deep empathy, understanding and respect for my clients, for anyone seeking recovery. The relationship is what heals. And maybe the fact that I’m recovered helps me navigate the relationship a little better.
“Maybe it gives me an edge, but it’s not the keystone of effective treatment.”
Miller spent nearly five years in medical or treatment facilities for severe anorexia. There, professionals doubted she would live to age 25. “Untreatable,” they said. Miller began to believe it.
Then she found treatment where professionals used words like “100-percent recovery” instead.
Peace – Miller experienced brief moments of it. After long, hard work and with the support of a collaborative treatment community, those peaceful moments stretched even further. Recovery became attainable.
Miller returned to school, earned her license as a marriage-and-family therapist, and then devoted her life to those fighting an eating disorder. She has worked with clients in a variety of settings, from inpatient to individual therapy, and founded the first residential treatment center for eating disorders in Alabama. She practices with the belief that full recovery from an eating disorder is attainable. “Recover for life.”
Miller, other ACED staff members, and current and past clients of Miller are available for interviews and pictures by contacting Leigh Bell.
www.acenterforeatingdisorders.org.
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About Renee Miller
● licensed marriage-and-family therapist and trained in art therapy
● adjunct professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham
● founder of first residential treatment center for eating disorders in Alabama
● worked with eating disorders for more than a decade in various settings
About the Alabama Center for Eating Disorders
● most comprehensive outpatient program statewide
● operates six full days a week, with evening groups
● much more affordable but equally as comprehensive as residential treatment, which can cost upwards of $2,000 per day
● treatment staff includes experts – many themselves recovered from an eating disorder – who are respected by fellow eating-disorder treatment providers and the local therapeutic community
Some story ideas to consider:
● Birmingham native Renee Miller turns tribulation into triumph and opens the Alabama Center for Eating Disorders with the belief that full recovery is possible.
● A story of hope for the holidays: Yes, people do recover from eating disorders. Renee Miller is living proof.
● Holidays filled with food and family interaction flare eating-disorder symptoms. Expert and licensed therapist Renee Miller shares advice for those suffering, as well as their loved ones.
● Miller and/or ACED medical director comment on new study published in the December issue of Radiology showing anorexia in girls diminishes bone density and causes bone abnormality.
● Recent news shows an increasing number of adult women with eating disorders. Miller discusses why middle-age issues, including the sunken economy, cause eating disorders to resurface.
Eating disorder statistics
● At least 10 million females and 1 million males have an eating disorder.
● Millions more have binge-eating disorders.
● More than 45,000 people die of eating disorders each year in America.
● Eating disorders are the most fatal psychiatric illness.
– National Eating Disorders Association
