Nearly 30 million Americans – 20 million women and 10 million men – have eating disorders. Whether it’s anorexia, bulimia or overeating, eating disorders can have severe social and health consequences if left unchecked. Many people with eating disorders try and fail to resolve the problem with a variety of medical and behavioral treatments. At Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Centers, we use an integrative medical approach to treat eating disorders. The integrative approach seeks to treat medical and psychological causes of eating disorders and uses a wide variety of treatments, including alternative methods like acupuncture, chiropractic and Neurofeedback, among others.

1. Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Centers
Integrative Medical Approach Expedites Eating Disorder Treatment

2. Overview
Nearly 30 million Americans – 20 million women and 10 million
men – have eating disorders. Whether it’s anorexia, bulimia or
overeating, eating disorders can have severe social and health
consequences if left unchecked. Many people with eating
disorders try and fail to resolve the problem with a variety of
medical and behavioral treatments. At Mirasol Eating Disorder
Recovery Centers, we use an integrative medical approach to
treat eating disorders. The integrative approach seeks to treat
medical and psychological causes of eating disorders and
uses a wide variety of treatments, including alternative
methods like acupuncture, chiropractic and Neurofeedback,
among others.

3. What are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders are abnormal eating
habits that result in an insufficient or
excessive intake of food. The
imbalance is so severe that it impacts
the patient’s social relationships and
health. Eating disorders are a lasting
problem, and impact the quality of life
of the patient. Because of self-esteem
issues common in puberty, young
people are particularly susceptible to
eating disorders. About 1 or 2 of every
100 students will struggle with an
eating disorder.

4. Why An Integrated Medical Approach?
An integrative medical approach
attacks the problem on multiple
fronts, helping to deal with both
the medical and psychological
aspects of eating disorders.
Including alternative treatments
like acupuncture and
Neurofeedback give doctors more
tools to use to help patients
develop a healthier relationship
with food.

5. Traditional Approaches: Behavioral and
Cognitive Therapy, Medication
Traditional approaches to treating eating disorders are an
important part of integrative therapy. Combined, these
approaches have a greater chance of success as they leave
no underlying issue unaddressed. Cognitive and behavioral
therapies can help patients create a more healthy relationship
with eating. Medical therapies can help address any physical
problems and help the transition to healthier eating habits be
less stressful and unpleasant. In addition to traditional
approaches, there are also a number of alternative
approaches that can help.

6. Alternative Approaches: Neurofeedback
Neurofeedback
reconditions and retrains
brainwaves and can be
used to influence behavior.
With EEG Neurofeedback,
patients can be trained to
have more positive
responses to healthy eating
habits and to eschew
negative reactions. The
use of Neurofeedback can
help reduce the need for
more intensive
interventions like
medication.

7. Alternative Approaches: Acupuncture
Acupuncture can help treat
eating disorders by reducing the
severity of digestive problems
and food allergies. It can also
help relieve stress that may
contribute to the eating disorder
and inhibit recovery. Mirasol
Eating Disorder Recovery
Centers has been using
acupuncture to treat eating
disorders for 11 years and has
found it to be an effective
alternative treatment.

8. Alternative Approaches: EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing aids patients in helping to
eliminate negative associations caused
by past experiences. In EMDR therapy,
eye movement, tactile stimulation and
bilateral stimulation is used to help
activate opposite sides of the patient's
brain’ helping to resolve past emotional
experiences that may contribute to eating
disorders.

9. Alternative Approaches: Functional
Medicine
Functional medicine helps to address the nutritional
deficiencies of patients and underlying health issues and
imbalances that may contribute to eating disorders, such as:
• Oxidative stress
• Nutritional imbalances
• Intestinal dysfunction
• Impaired detoxification
• Immune/inflammatory imbalances
• Endocrine imbalances

10. About Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery
Centers
Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Centers are Tucson, AZ
based treatment centers for adults and young people struggling
with eating disorders. Mirasol combines psychiatric and
medical care to help patients deal with eating disorders and
lead happier, healthier lives. Our treatment also includes
alternative medical treatments such as acupuncture and
bodywork solutions.
For more information visit http://www.mirasol.net .