inpatient treatment? renfrew?

whats it like? my parents are threating me to take me there during the summer if i dont get my weight up along with my sister. what are the meals like? i know it shouldnt be about the food but im curious. there thinking of renfrew, every been there? what do you do all day? what kind of meals do they give you? any answers would be great thanks...<3

Their facilities vary upon location, but I was in the day patient program in New England. I absolutely hated it there. Not due to the way the program was specifically run, but because the other patients were not particularly kind to me. This most likely wouldn't be a problem for you though. In day program, one is expected to already be at almost healthy weight. I was deemed "still criticially underweight" even though they had communicated with my IP and they said it was okay for me to attend day treatment there. Anyways - long story short - I was the only one there who had to drink Ensure Plus four times a day, most of the other girls were bulimic or OCE so I was initially designated the "skinny b!tch)

You spend most of the week days going to various groups - some are talking groups like cognitive behavioral therapy, some are activity groups like art or poetry. You also see a therapist a few times with a week, meet with doctors usually in the mornings. You get weighed every day. They have vegetarian options as far as meals go. Hm. Food is different at almost every meal of the day. The breakfasts are usually pretty consistent though - cereals, bagels, muffins, scrambled eggs, toast - that sort of thing. But lunches and dinners have more variety I think. You also get 1-3 snacks depending on your calorie needs. Its really not a bad place - the groups are fantastic. But I think a lot of how well treatment goes is how well everyone in the groups get along and how motivated you are to recover.

princeton>renfrew, anyday. all IP is a pain but I recommend looking into princeton.

I think that ip like I told you can be a positive thing to really help you get to a more stable place physically and also to learn how to cope better. It is not a cure but can give you a lot of positive things to help. Listen this is not summer camp and should not be. There are hard time ip because you are facing a lot of fears,emotions,eating when hard etc but the support of people around you can really help. I have been to Renfrew like I said twice about 10 years ago and I know for a fact the program changed a lot. Really the food was pretty good when I was there and yes it was challenging at times but many things that one needs to do are. They have a wide range of foods. Most of it is healthy and balanced but they do have you encorporate treats because that is part of being healthy and enjoying life. Think how nice it is to have cake at a party and not worry. I have heard Princeton is a good program as well and had a friend that went there. I do think it is not as long of a stay in general as Renfrew but a lot depends on insurance. I know making the choice of ip is hard and yes I feel being able to recover op is better but when one is at a point where they can't change because the disorder is so strong I think it can be a good option

I too think that IP can be very helpful. To lost maybe a couple of months of your life to get the rest of it back - you cannot really question that. Of the facility itself I am not familiar with it beyond name. But with your posting history, I would say it would be worth your while going.

go, its worth it. at least for me, the friendships i made there were the ones that saved my life.