Dr. Maria Baratta Publishes Book on Anorexia Nervosa

New Book Grounds Practical Advice in a Feminist Perspective

WASHINGTON, DC— The culture of the United States presents mixed messages about food consumption and body images. Advertisers promote high-calorie food to excess on the one hand, while mass media hype images of extremely thin people on the other. In this atmosphere, many succumb to anorexia nervosa, a condition in which the individual starves herself in an attempt to reach a false ideal in body image.

Noted expert Dr. Maria Baratta has written a book which highlights a new approach to treating anorexia nervosa. Her book, Skinny Revisited: Rethinking Anorexia Nervosa and Its Treatment, takes a feminist socio-behavioral approach to client treatment. Women are constantly bombarded with messages from the media to value “skinny” and to strive for thinness, no matter how great the dangers.

However, despite its seriousness, anorexia can be treated, and Baratta presents a successful treatment model that teaches how to engage an anorexic in such a way as to encourage eating. On the basis of 28 years of clinical practice, the author provides clinical cases that demonstrate the use of the “language of the anorexic” as a treatment intervention. Finally the book explains how to create an individualized, healthy eating plan as opposed to following a diet designed to be applicable to anyone struggling with an eating disorder.

Baratta has appeared on Good Morning America recently to discuss her book and treatment. She says that one sign of anorexia nervosa is extreme dieting. “If you see a person having a granola bar for breakfast, a granola bar for lunch and a granola bar for dinner you know that is not a normal form of eating,” she says.

“This book is my attempt to bridge the gap between technical-clinical writing and a down-to-earth discussion about anorexia. The book provides an overview of the disorder, a strong feminist argument about the role of the culture at large in creating the environment for disordered eating among women, and a pragmatic discussion of an innovative treatment strategy,” says Baratta.  “This book is a ‘must read’ for women, given their endless struggle with beauty in an environment dominated by media, marketing and men.”

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