Attitudes towards eating disorders clinicians with personal experience of an eating disorder
- PDF / 531,942 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 4 Downloads / 225 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Attitudes towards eating disorders clinicians with personal experience of an eating disorder Rachel Bachner‑Melman1,2 · Jan Alexander de Vos3 · Ada H. Zohar1 · Michal Shalom1 · Beth Mcgilley4 · Kielty Oberlin5 · Leslie Murray6 · Andrea Lamarre7 · Suzanne Dooley‑Hash8 Received: 15 May 2020 / Accepted: 1 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Purpose This study explores the perspectives and opinions towards ED clinicians with lived experience of ED. Methods Three hundred and eighty-five ED clinicians and 124 non-clinicians from 13 countries, between 18 and 76 years of age completed an online survey about attitudes towards ED clinicians with a personal ED history. Almost half the respondents (n = 242, 47.5%) reported a lifetime ED diagnosis. Survey items included ten multiple-choice and three open questions about clinician disclosure, employer hiring practices, and perceived advantages and disadvantages of clinicians with a personal ED history practicing in the ED field. Multiple-choice responses from clinicians with and without a personal ED history were compared with responses from non-clinicians with and without a personal ED history. Open questions were examined using thematic analysis. Results Clinicians with no ED history, whose responses often differed from both ED-history groups (clinicians and nonclinicians), were more likely to indicate that clinicians with an ED should not generally treat ED patients, and that clinicians should self-disclose their ED history to employers but not to their patients. Thematic analysis of the open-ended questions revealed that advantages of having clinicians with an ED history include a deep experiential understanding and the ability to be empathic and non-judgmental, whereas disadvantages include the lack of objectivity and the risk of clinicians being triggered. Conclusion Further research informing guidelines for ED clinicians with a personal ED history, their colleagues and employers are needed to protect and empower the significant minority of ED professionals with “lived experience” of EDs. Level of evidence Level III, case-control analytic study. Keywords Eating disorders · Personal history · Attitudes · Clinicians · Non-clinicians · Lived experience
Introduction Many therapists choose their career in part because of personal struggles [1, 2] and wish to give back to others after overcoming such challenges. There are large variations in reported statistics around the incidence and prevalence of past and current mental health issues amongst clinicians. For example, between 35 and 76% of therapists may have experienced depression * Rachel Bachner‑Melman [email protected] 1
Ruppin Academic Center (Clinical Psychology Graduate Program), Emek Hefer, Israel
Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
2
3
Stichting Human Concern, Centre for eHealth and Well‑Being Research, Centrum voor eetstoornissen, Twente University, Enschede, Netherlands
Data Loading...
