Eating Disorder Clinic New to Braintree Will Hold Open House Next Week

Walden Behavioral Care, LLC of Waltham, one of the country’s leading hospitals for treating eating disorders, announced that it will hold an open house from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012 at its new clinic at 150 Grossman Dr. in Braintree.

The open house will feature President and CEO Stuart L. Koman, Ph.D., who founded Walden Behavioral Care, and Paula Dowd, RN, Coordinator of School Nursing Services for , and Braintree Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan.

“We’ve identified Braintree as a community in need of specialized services for eating disorders,” Dr. Koman said. “Eating disorders are life-threatening illnesses that affect about 4% of the general population, yet there are few facilities that provide the specialized services patients need to recover.”

The new 3,800-square-foot office will provide intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization (PHP) eating disorders programs for and adults 18 and older, and an IOP Program for adolescents ages 12 – 17 and their families.

Patients who need more intensive treatment will be treated at Walden’s Waltham hospital and residential program. Walden also treats psychiatric disorders at its Waltham facility.

Staff in the new location will include psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, registered dieticians and others. Walden treats a variety of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, a psychological disorder characterized by an aversion to eating and fear of gaining weight; bulimia nervosa, a condition where sufferers typically purge food they have eaten by self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives or other means, and binge eating disorder, which is characterized by uncontrollable, excessive eating.

“Eating disorders often are accompanied by other health issues, including substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma or self-harming behavior,” Koman said. “Walden takes a ‘whole health’ approach and has the expertise to diagnose and treat not only eating disorders, but any associated healthcare problem the patient may have.”

Walden also has satellite offices in Northampton and Worcester, and other satellite programs are being planned.

–Walden Behavioral Care