43. Treating Terminal Anorexia with Dignity and Love (Part One) with Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, MD, CED-S, FAED

Body Justice

You might be wondering what do we do in terminal cases of Anorexia. Terminal Anorexia is different than Severe and Enduring AN- where sufferers do often make a recovery after 20 years (research shows). Terminal AN is diagnosed when the sufferer will die from malnutrition within 6 months. This is an extremely small portion of AN sufferers that often falls through the cracks of dignified, whole person care. Dr. Gaudiani and I talk about how to cope and treat these cases in a way that centers autonomy, dignity and love for one's end of life.

Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED, is the Founder and Medical Director of the Gaudiani Clinic. Board Certified in Internal Medicine, she completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard, medical school at Boston University School of Medicine, and her internal medicine residency and chief residency at Yale. Dr. Gaudiani served as the Medical Director at the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders prior to founding the Gaudiani Clinic, which is a Denver-based outpatient medical clinic dedicated to people with eating disorders and disordered eating. The Gaudiani Clinic is a HAES (Health At Every Size)®-informed provider and embraces treating people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and genders. The Gaudiani Clinic is licensed to practice in over 35 US states via telemedicine and offers international professional consultation and education.

Dr. Gaudiani has lectured nationally and internationally, is widely published in the scientific literature as well as on blogs, is a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders, and is a recent former member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Eating Disorders and the Academy for Eating Disorders Medical Care Standards Committee. Dr. Gaudiani’s first book, Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders (Routledge, 2018) is available on Amazon.

Link to article we discussed: https://jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s40337-022-00548-3.pdf

This podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship. Please seek the support of a local therapist if you are currently struggling and in need of treatment. To find out more about what therapeutic services I offer visit my website at www.eatingdisorderocdtherapy.com

As always, you can find me on IG @bodyjustice.therapist and be sure to check out my Eating Disorder Recovery Online Course! This course is designed to help YOU fast track your recovery with tons of skills, knowledge and bonus prompts. This course is self paced and you can DM me for a discount code. My mission is to make recovery accessible to all.

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