Transformational Living for Eating Disorder Recovery
July 6th, 2009
By David Romero, Executive Director, Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Centers
Many visitors to our 10-bed facility have asked us why we call it “Transformational Living Center” (rather than a “transitional living center”). The answer has its roots in an ongoing debate within the therapeutic community regarding the type of environment that supports positive change.
It is widely accepted that behavioral changes are never accomplished with a single step. Instead, personal growth has many different stages, and individuals move gradually through the process as they acquire new tools and skills.
A central tenet of Mirasol’s treatment philosophy is that personal growth is not a clean process, and that individuals must be allowed to practice their new skills in a safe and nurturing environment that is tolerant of failure. We honor the “humanness” of each client (and ourselves), and we accept that “perfection” is a conceptual ideal that has little to do with the reality of everyday living.
At TLC, “success” as not defined as completing a rigid matrix identifying certain skills that must be acquired before the person can move into the next stage of recovery. Rather, TLC allows the client to taste personal empowerment within a relationship based on collaboration between the client and her treatment team. The client’s treatment plan is a living document that can be modified at any time according to the client’s progress, requirements and budget. Therefore, length of stays can vary from two weeks to three months or more, and some clients may determine that they need the higher level care provided by Mirasol’s primary residential treatment facility (with a corresponding increase in the cost of treatment).
Because TLC is less intensive, it allows for more “real life” experiences and opportunities to practice the skills acquired at TLC or in previous treatment experiences The client can share her successes and their failures with a therapeutic community including Mirasol staff and peers. This environment allows the client to understand and perhaps even resolve the situations which may have caused her to relapse.
TLC is a unique treatment experience which helps women transform their lives by providing them with individualized treatment in a supportive and non-judgmental environment. When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it’s not a transition; it’s a transformation. TLC’s objective is to support the client in becoming a butterfly.
David Romero, Executive Director
