Treatment For Anorexia In Karen Carpenter
Eating Disorder Therapist Steven Levenkron

Treatment for anorexia was obviously unsuccessful for Karen Carpenter, despite the best efforts of her therapist, Steven Levenkron. Some speculate that Karen's self-imposed timeline for anorexia recovery probably hindered her treatment.

During Karen's second phone call to Steven, she agreed to begin outpatient treatment under his care, but proceeded to instruct him how long their sessions would be - and for how many weeks/months.

She had a date in mind when she wanted to be "all better".

I have to say, it's pretty predictable anorexic behavior to want to control a situation - even your own therapy.

To a certain extent you do have control of your therapeutic process, but that doesn't mean you can predict or choose a timeframe in which to be "over it".

By this time, Karen was gravely ill and had been suffering for several years. I'm not a physician, but having been through this myself, there's no way I would have expected her treatment for anorexia to take any less than 3-5 years.

Sadly, Karen didn't have 3-5 years. After negotiating times for therapy sessions, she did agree to treatment with Steven Levenkron, but anorexia took her life not much more than a year after that phone call.

Treatment For Anorexia - Karen's Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

In treatment for anorexia, it's common practice for an eating disorder therapist to have several cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions with their patient before bringing in the family. Karen's case was no different in this respect.

However, once it came time to add the family into the process, their reactions were anything but typical.

In an attempt to address the intense relationship between Karen and her mother - Agnes Carpenter - Levenkron suggested that Karen needed to hear her mother tell her the words, "I love you". Agnes was unable to do it, and dodged the issue by insisting that Karen already knew it, and didn't have to be told.

The family - especially Karen's mother - felt a certain stigma towards people with mental illnesses. They were beside themselves with the idea that someone in their family required therapy. After all, that was just for "crazy people".

It seems as though the family approached the therapy sessions with these preconceived notions about therapy itself, and also with regards to Karen's illness - indicating that she was just "being stubborn" and obsessive.

There was never any indication that they regarded anorexia as a medical, or mental health condition. This created a lot of ambivalence towards Karen's recovery.

Furthermore, Karen's family and friends were unfamiliar with the eating disorder treatment process - as many people were in the early 1980's. As a result, they didn't understand Levenkron's approach and regarded him as somewhat incompetent. But, he still remains one of the top eating disorder therapists in the United States today.

Karen's Hospitalization At Lenox Hill - Treatment For Anorexia

A few months into treatment with Steven Levenkron, Karen was hospitalized at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital due to dehydration, which is one of the symptoms of anorexia that can lead to electrolyte imbalance and even death.

Karen gained more than 30 lbs during her stay in the hospital. In fact, there were some concerns that she was gaining too fast and her already weakened heart would not be able to handle the stress.

By a lot of people's standards, weight gain signifies recovery. This could not be further from the truth, especially when the weight gain is mostly a result of tube feeding rather than normalized eating patterns.

It seems as though Karen herself figured that she was cured. Once she was discharged from the hospital, she never resumed her treatment for anorexia with Steven Levenkron... and she passed away less than three months later.

Read more about the various types of treatments for anorexia.

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