What are eating disorders?
Eating disorders are severe disturbances in attitudes and behaviors around eating, weight, shape, and body image.
Learn about our research studies
UCSF and Stanford have teamed up in a new study examining the efficacy of adaptive family based treatment for adolescents ages 12-18 with anorexia nervosa.
Intensive Family Treatment
Five-day intensive family treatment program (ED-IFT) for adolescents with eating disorders and their families that uses a multifamily therapeutic approach and includes live meal coaching, behavioral contracting, and skills training

Our multi-disciplinary team offers comprehensive, evidence-based treatment for patients with eating disorders and their families. 

Overview

The UCSF Eating Disorders Program is a comprehensive, evidence-based program that provides outstanding clinical care for individuals with eating disorders (up to age 25) and their families, including family-based and individual treatments. Our program is a collaboration between Child and Adolescent Services in the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. We are one of the few outpatient programs in California that offers integrated care with physicians, psychologists, and dieticians who collaborate closely to provide comprehensive eating disorders treatment, with the support of social work and specialized nursing staff. Our team has been providing state-of-the-art medical care, psychiatric and psychological services, and nutrition therapy to individuals with eating disorders and their families for well over 30 years. We are unique in our ability to provide both inpatient medical care and outpatient services, depending on medical and/or psychiatric need. Our services include comprehensive medical/psychiatric evaluations, as well as ongoing medical management, evidence-based individual and family therapies, and medication management.  

Mission Statement

Eating disorders affect everyone - people of all shapes and sizes, races and ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, religious and secular beliefs, and across socioeconomic backgrounds. Our mission is to support ALL young people with eating disorders and their families through the following activities: 

TREATMENT

We endeavor to make excellent, evidence-based care more accessible to all young people with eating disorders, with a focus on serving those in our local community. 

RESEARCH

We seek to advance knowledge about effective treatments for eating disorders and identify factors that help us to adapt and tailor treatment, with a particular focus on individuals from marginalized identities, in order to improve health equity.  

EDUCATION

We endeavor to continually advance our own learning and simultaneously train the next generation of leaders in the eating disorders field. We are committed to dispelling harmful myths about eating disorders and share our knowledge within our local community of educators, health care providers, parents, and young people. We also engage in advocacy to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of eating disorders.  

VALUES

We value collaboration, respect, cultural humility, learning, and growth. We strive to center our work around evidence-based principles, equity, and social justice with the goal of making meaningful contributions to our community.