UPMC Western Behavioral Health Center for Eating Disorders

Do you or does someone you love struggle with eating and body image? Eating disorders happen to people of all ages — from young children to older adults.

Eating disorders can involve complex and challenging relationships with food, eating, medicines like diet pills or laxatives, excessive exercise, and body image.

These are serious and potentially life-threatening physical and mental health conditions. Genetics, social pressures, and personal experiences can all play a part in how you perceive food and eating. It’s important to know that with help, you can get back in control of your health.

Symptoms of an eating disorder can negatively affect all aspects of your life — not just your physical health. They can also affect your relationships and your ability to perform at school or work and even socialize.

People with eating disorders often have:

• Extreme / unusual eating patterns or dieting behaviors.
• Obsessive thoughts about food, body shape, or weight.
• Mental health issues, like depression or anxiety.

About the UPMC Western Behavioral Health Center for Eating Disorders

The UPMC Western Behavioral Health Center for Eating Disorders (CED) is built on more than 50 years of research. It is one of the few eating disorder programs in the country connected to a major academic center. The center brings together experts from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, and UPMC Western Behavioral Health.

We help people from across gender spectrum and lifespan. We offer appropriate programs for adults (over the age of 18) and children (ages 8 to 18).

• Adults with eating disorders receive care through UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital inpatient and outpatient services.
• Pediatric eating disorder services for children and teens are provided through UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital inpatient and outpatient services and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

The eating disorder experts at the CED can evaluate and treat your problem. They include doctors, psychologists, nurses, dietitians, therapists, and other mental and behavioral health professionals. Due to the potential medical complications of eating disorders, your team always includes medical support.

Programs for Adults

Your treatment is customized for you. Your treatment team will determine which level of care is best for you at each stage of care. This can include inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient program, and outpatient therapy. Group and family therapy sessions are also an important part of treatment.

Inpatient treatment

If you are severely underweight or require medical stabilization, the hospital is the only place to give you the help you need. The CED is one of only a few psychiatric inpatient programs in the country dedicated to eating disorders and the only inpatient program of its kind in western Pennsylvania.

Our licensed psychiatric inpatient unit at UPMC Western serves patients 12 years old and up who need help because of:

• Anorexia nervosa.
• Bulimia nervosa.
• Binge eating disorder.
• Other eating disorders.

Partial hospitalization program

Our partial hospitalization program (PHP) is for individuals ages 14 and older, who don’t need to be in the hospital for treatment but still need serious support. One of the goals of the PHP is to help you establish nutritional stability. This program meets five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day.

Our PHP helps people who:

• Need close monitoring and supervised meals.
• Have failed to benefit from less-intensive care.
• Are acutely ill but do not need to be in the hospital full-time.
• Need continued care to help maintain the progress they made during inpatient hospitalization.

Daily group programming includes opportunities to:

• Eat breakfast and lunch together and have a snack in the afternoon with trained staff.
• Receive coaching from experts in eating disorders on things like putting meals together and making meals for weekends.
• Get care from a team of psychiatrists, therapists, nurse practitioners, and dietitians.
• Engage in group and individual therapy targeting a variety of eating disorder-related concerns, such as body image.
• Meet weekly with a registered dietitian to understand food choices and health.

Intensive outpatient program for adults

Even after you return to work or school, continuing structured therapy will be essential for your recovery . Our intensive outpatient program (IOP) requires a nine-hour per week commitment. You’ll meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Our IOP offers adults:

• Care from a team of psychiatrists, therapists, dietitians, and family medicine experts specialized in eating disorders.
• Group and one-on-one therapy.
• Supervised meals.

Outpatient clinic for adults

The outpatient clinic serves adults who need help with eating disorders but not at a level that requires treatment daily or multiple times each week.

During one of your initial appointments, you’ll talk with a clinical psychiatrist who will assess your condition and determine whether you would benefit from medicines.

In our outpatient clinic, you will:

• Take part in one-on-one therapy.
• Participate in family therapy, if applicable.

CED services are located at:

Bellefield Towers
100 N Bellefield Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

To schedule an initial evaluation at CED, please complete the online form at UPMC.com/wphcedreferral.

For general questions about our CED services, please call 412-246-6390.

Programs for Children and Adolescents

If your child needs medical care for an eating disorder, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has a brief medical stabilization and refeeding program. Contact UPMC Children's Behavioral Health with questions about this program at 412-692-5100.

CED Services for Kids and Youths with Eating Disorders

The CED Services for Kids and Youths with Eating Disorders (SKYE) program specializes in serving the unique needs of children and adolescents with eating disorders. Our team of mental and behavioral health professionals provides evaluation and treatment services for children ages 8 to 18.

SKYE family-based therapy

SKYE family-based therapy (FBT) serves children between the ages of 8 to 18. It is based on the successful evidence-based outcomes of the Maudsley method, which began in England more than 40 years ago. In FBT, immediate family members/caregivers play an active and primary role in treatment.

SKYE intensive outpatient program

SKYE intensive outpatient program (IOP) serves individuals ages 12 to 18. This IOP provides adolescents with more intensive structure and support than traditional outpatient therapy and less than the PHP or inpatient levels of care.

SKYE IOP meets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Individuals will work with a care team including a psychiatrist, therapists, dietitians, and medical support staff.

SKYE IOP provides:

• Care from a team of psychiatrists, therapists, dietitians, and family medicine experts specialized in eating disorders.
• Group and one-on-one therapy.
• Supervised meals.

In addition, parent or caregiver involvement will be an important part of treatment. And the team will work with the individual’s school to make sure they are not penalized for their absence during treatment.

SKYE outpatient clinic

CED SKYE offers traditional outpatient therapy for children and adolescents with eating disorders who require support but do not need inpatient or intensive outpatient (IOP) care. SKYE outpatient services focus on working one-on-one with the child/adolescent as opposed to the SKYE FBT approach, which engages the entire family.

CED services are located at:

Bellefield Towers
100 N Bellefield Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

To schedule a meeting with CED SKYE staff to discuss your child’s eating disorder or treatment need, complete the online form at UPMC.com/wphcedreferral.

For general questions about our CED SKYE services, call 412-246-6390.

Need Help for Yourself or Someone You Love With an Eating Disorder? Contact Us

For a mental health emergency, call 988.

To learn more about our adult inpatient eating disorders program, call our main phone number at 1-877-624-4100 or 412-624-1000.

To learn more about our eating disorders ambulatory programs for adults and adolescents, call 412-246-6390.

Are you a resident of Allegheny County and in crisis?

Call our resolve Crisis Services line at 1-888-796-8226. It’s free and open 24/7.

Or go to the resolve Crisis Services walk-in clinic:

333 North Braddock Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15208

If you or someone you know have thoughts of suicide or self-harm:

Text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or call 800-273-8255.