Sasha is your 24-year-old inpatient in the eating disorders unit. She has a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and must have everything organized and perfect to feel comfortable. How do you approach a craft activity with Sasha?
A)Have her mold messy, wet clay.
B)Allow her to choose an activity, and let her take her time organizing her materials.
C)Give her a flower arranging task, and then purposely mess up all the flowers.
D)Give her a cross-stitch activity, and set a timer to limit the amount of time she can spend organizing the threads.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

You would give Sasha a cross-stitch activity, and set a timer to limit the amount of time she can spend organizing the threads. People who have eating disorders often overly focus on having control of a situation, to the point that they overly focus on organizing an activity rather than completing it. You would choose an organized activity such as cross-stitch for Sasha to complete, so the activity itself is not threatening to her. But you would limit the amount of time she can spend organizing the threads, so Sasha can move on to completing the cross-stitch task.

Sasha Is Your 24-Year-Old Inpatient in the Eating Disorders Unit