Bridge the Food Gap
An ARFID Recovery Workbook
by
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Welcome to the Bridge the Food Gap: An ARFID Recovery workbook! We have written this workbook for individuals with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), their families, and the treating professionals working with them. This workbook started with our recognition that dietitians and therapists intertwine in a powerful way to help individuals with ARFID. Understanding the dynamic between an individual’s relationship with food and eating and the individual’s mental, emotional, and behavioral skills in dealing with stressors is the basis for building a bridge to recovery. As you will see, we have shaped this workbook as a recovery bridge, first by presenting ways to understand yourselves, your loved ones, and ARFID, and then allowing the recovery strategies to bridge the gap. As therapists and dietitians treating ARFID and other eating disorders, it is important for us to have respect for the researchers who painstakingly develop evidence-based approaches for the treatment of these disorders. As clinicians, we need to understand these approaches and use our knowledge, experience, and wisdom to create strategies and bridge the research to our clinical practices. Not all approaches work with all people, leading us as providers to actively change and adapt goals, strategies, and tools as we go. As such, the worksheets, and the examples, that we use throughout this workbook are ones based on clinical research but have evolved through our experience and clinical work. As practitioners using this workbook, you will be familiar with aspects of CBT, DBT, FBT, and other approaches that underly our work. Visit our website for strategies on using the workbook with your clients. We ask that if you are picking up this workbook as an individual with ARFID or a family member, you always think about ways you can create a team around you that includes the professionals with whom you work and the people available around you who can help support your process. As a treatment tool, this workbook will help bridge the gap between appointments with the different providers on your team and the work you do at home.
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About the Book
Bridge the Food Gap: An ARFID Recovery Workbook presents an integrative approach to ARFID recovery. It is an essential tool in bridging gaps between kids with ARFID and their parents, adults with ARFID and their loved ones, individuals with ARFID and themselves, and those with ARFID and their treatment teams. This workbook first provides the building blocks to understanding what, and who, ARFID is, and the essentials for ARFID recovery. Each chapter of this workbook is a building block to helping you or your loved one through every aspect of ARFID, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Once these building blocks are understood, the workbook then provides a bridge to specific strategies for use in the ARFID recovery journey. The tools provided within this workbook help improve nutritional needs and provide tangible experiences for increasing tolerance for fear foods in a manageable way. The worksheets are interwoven with the ideas presented; while they can be used by practitioners independently, they will be most helpful when working through the workbook step by step.
About the Author
Amanda Garant MS, RD, LD is a Registered Dietitian who has been working with individuals suffering from eating disorders for over 10 years. Amanda has worked in many levels of care for eating disorder recovery and currently has her own private practice. She lives with her husband and three young daughters in Indiana. Valerie Weesner Ph.D., HSPP, is a clinical psychologist who has been working with kids, adults, and families since 1993. Valerie has been the Clinical Director of the Charis Center for Eating Disorders in Indianapolis, IN since 2011. She lives with her husband and two schnauzers in Indiana, having raised two adult daughters.