Baskerville House

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The acute stage of treatment

On arrival, patients are admitted to Baskerville House, which provides the intensive treatment of a hospital programme within a non-clinical environment.

A collaborative alliance between the patient and the multi-disciplinary team is established and nurtured. Each patient is appointed a key nurse. The patient’s physical health is regularly monitored and assessed. The individual care plan that is devised for each patient takes into account psychiatric evaluation, medical and nutritional considerations and an assessment of psycho-social skills. During treatment, changes to the care plan are made at weekly review meetings through consultation between the multi-disciplinary team and the patient.

Nutritional rehabilitation is a vital element of recovery. On the patient’s arrival, the dietitian assesses the patient’s nutritional needs and tailors a safe refeeding programme. Food is freshly prepared by our cook and is of a high standard. The menu, which includes meat and vegetarian choices, is designed to be as non-threatening as possible and includes the nutrients essential for the restoration and maintenance of physical health. Members of staff offer patients skilled support before, during and after meals.

The weekly therapeutic programme is designed to reinstate both physical and psychological well being. A structured programme, coordinated by the occupational therapist, provides a wide range of therapies based on psychodynamic, cognitive and psycho-educational methods.

These include:

cognitive behavioural therapy, to provide a means of identifying links between thoughts, emotions, physical symptoms and behaviour
group psychotherapy, to encourage the individual to express emotions and develop communication skills, within a supportive environment
assertiveness training, to explore the individual’s own responses and the responses of other people, while discovering the meaning of personal responsibility
anxiety management, to enable the individual to cope with challenging situations
nutritional rehabilitation, to discover the benefits of a healthy diet
equine assisted therapy, to help individuals overcome fears, discover new
methods of problem solving and coping techniques and to develop self esteem

Patients are encouraged to discover new means of self-expression through creative writing, various forms of art and music. Yoga and relaxation sessions also are included in the weekly programme.

All patients are offered weekly therapy with an individual psychotherapist. The issues that may have precipitated and maintained their eating disorder are explored. The individual is encouraged to explore the meaning their eating disorder has for them, to discover new ways of expressing their emotions and to gain wider freedom of expression. The aim is that the patient will grow in confidence and develop a sense of self. In addition, we offer systemic family therapy as we consider it important that families and carers become involved in the patient’s process of change.

I would like to take this time to say a massive thank you for giving me the time and chance to turn my life around; it was hard and very difficult at the time. But with the support and guidance from the staff I managed to stay focused and work through the difficult and painful times. This is how I got to be where I am now, it was a time in my life I’ll never forget but only learn from. (CS)

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