ACED opens Feb. 23, during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. New clients are warmly welcomed.
Jan 16th, 2009 by admin
Immediate Release
Contact:
Leigh Bell, ACED Communications Director
Cell: (205) 304-4640
l.bell@acenterforeatingdisorders.com
www.acenterforeatingdisorders.com
ACED will open Feb. 23 and now accepts new clients. Full recovery is possible.
The staff is complete, touting more than 75 years combined experience treating eating disorders. The newly renovated neighborhood facility is complete. The state’s most comprehensive treatment center for eating disorders opens its doors to complete, lifelong recovery.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Center for Eating Disorders, formerly known as the Alabama Center for Eating Disorders, is excited to announce its opening February 23 and now welcomes new clients to its waiting list. ACED is founded on the belief that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible for anyone given the right support.
“Recover for life,” as Founder and Executive Director Renée Miller says.
The center, located in the heart of Birmingham, is one of the most comprehensive outpatient treatment program in the state. The much-needed program fills a dangerous gap between expensive inpatient/residential treatment that many 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 nine out of 10 people with an eating disorder don’t receive treatment.
ACED is unlike any other statewide. Miller and many staff members are themselves recovered from eating disorders or have helped a loved one struggling. Each can honestly say, “I’ve been there.”
Yet, the treatment team understands paths to healing are unique for everyone, so they created a program that adjusts to each client’s individual needs.
“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.”
ACED recognizes that community fosters healing and recovery. The experienced staff – psychologists, physicians, a dietitian and yoga instructor — partner with fellow professionals in the community offering specialized services and talents to provide comprehensive care for every client.
This collaborative, community effort creates a solid resource to anticipate and meet the needs of clients and their loved ones. The ultimate goal is to create a program that complements the therapeutic support clients have or will establish with a therapist and other community service providers.
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About Founder and Executive Director Renée Miller
● Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and trained in art therapy.
● Adjunct professor in the Psychology Department of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
● Founder of first residential treatment center for eating disorders in Alabama.
● Has worked with eating disorders for 12 years in various settings.
About ACED
● Founded on the belief that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible.
● Most comprehensive outpatient program in Alabama.
● Staff has more than 75 years combined experience treating eating disorders and partners with community therapists, consultants and physicians who offer specialized services.
● Structured on the recognition that community fosters recovery.
● Operates six full days a week, with evening groups.
● Offers additional outpatient services, such as assessments, nutritional management, and individual, group and family therapy.
● Equally effective as residential treatment, but one-half to one-third the cost of that treatment option, which charges cost upwards of $2,000 per day.
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
