“I still have to remind myself every day that I’m going to be okay, that’s going to be an ongoing process. But the Eating Disorders Program gave me tools that I didn’t have before to be able to live my life and trust that I’ll continue to be healthy.”
A woman learns behavioral skills to improve her health at a specialized inpatient program.
From the time she was 11, Kristen Vogt struggled with different eating disorders brought on by a history of childhood trauma—behavioral health difficulties that led to frequent swings in her weight. “I spent most of my life going from tiny to not-so-tiny,” says Kristen, 36, a therapist at a rehabilitation facility for people with mental illness in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “It was a constant up and down.”
When her weight rose sharply three years ago, Kristen was referred for gastric bypass surgery, concerned but not fully realizing how her history of eating disorders could complicate her outcome. The procedure shrinks the size of the stomach, requiring people to eat very small quantities after surgery.
“It was very triggering,” Kristen says. “Anorexia—which I struggled with early in my life—came roaring back. I got so unhealthy.”
For the first time, Kristen needed to be hospitalized for disordered eating. Other hospitalizations followed in what became a pattern. She would get stabilized and be discharged, and then return to unhealthy eating behaviors.
But then Kristen learned about the Eating Disorders Program at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, a nationally recognized inpatient unit and one of only two such programs in New Jersey. The program also offers partial hospitalization and outpatient programs for eating disorders as well as support groups to help patients throughout every stage of their recovery. The Somerset unit sounded promising, despite being more than an hour’s drive away. Kristen reached out to learn more and eventually sought treatment.
Medical and behavioral health care she received during winter 2024 finally put her on a path to healing. “I’ve been out of hospitals ever since,” Kristen says. “That really says something.”
A Difficult Challenge
Eating disorders can be difficult to treat for numerous reasons, according to Matthew Johnson, DO, the program’s medical director and attending psychiatrist. “Eating disorder behaviors are often intertwined with trauma experiences, which, among other reasons, make it difficult to stop those behaviors,” he says.
Bombardment by messages about appearance can make difficulties worse. “Pop culture images that saturate social media, films and advertisements—which reinforce the idea that you have to look a certain way—are inescapable,” Dr. Johnson says.
Striving to meet unrealistic or distorted standards can drive some people toward behaviors such as unhealthy eating patterns, excessive exercise or the use of laxatives or stimulants in hopes of changing appearance. Such disordered behaviors can jeopardize health, sometimes to a life-threatening extent.
Kristen has struggled at various times with anorexia, which is associated with dangerous weight loss; binge eating disorder; and atypical anorexia, or extreme food restriction in people who are above their ideal weight. “You can starve at any weight,” Dr. Johnson says. “It’s a matter of not having the food or nutrients you need to sustain life.”
Patients’ complex needs require a multidisciplinary approach. “As a team, the program’s doctors, nurses, therapists and dietitians work to address the barriers to improving patients’ health through medical management, dietary support and both individual and group therapy—including music therapy,” Dr. Johnson says.
“The therapy I got from my individual therapist was absolutely amazing,” says Kristen. “I was able to work through traumas I had not touched to that extent. I did a lot of work in a small amount of time.”
The Eating Disorders Program—one of only two inpatient eating disorder units in the state—was recently renovated to incorporate design elements that better complement the program’s treatments.
Skills That Stick
A key aspect of the program is teaching patients to manage behaviors by developing inner resources they can use on an ongoing basis.
“We learned skills,” Kristen says. “They taught us how to cope.” Depending on their needs, patients at the Eating Disorders Program may also receive occupational and physical therapy.
All patients meet with dietitians to address nutritional needs and develop meal plans. “We were able to come up with a couple of weeks’ worth of meal plans with foods that I like and am willing to eat,” says Kristen. “That was very helpful. Now I meal-prep every Sunday, and I make enough for both lunches and dinners.”
Patients also benefit from various healing techniques in addition to music therapy, including art therapy and creative activities.
“The program treats patients ages 14 and older, with adults and adolescents in separate areas, as the experiences and needs of a teenager are typically different than those of adult patients,” says Dr. Johnson. The program and staff have recently treated some senior patients in their 60s and 70s as well.
The 20-bed unit was recently renovated to better complement treatment provided by the program. Features include lighting that shifts to mimic natural daylight changes, acoustic buffering to reduce noise, soft pastel colors to lend a relaxing atmosphere and nature-based artwork to help induce calm.
“I’ve worked in a number of inpatient settings, and this is by far the nicest environment that I’ve experienced,” says Dr. Johnson.
More important are outcomes he’s observed. “It’s hard to explain the feeling you get when you see someone significantly improve, knowing that you and other members of the team had something to do with it,” Dr. Johnson says. “When things start to click and patients get their lives back, it’s exciting and rewarding.”
“I still have to remind myself every day that I’m going to be okay,” Kristen says. “That’s going to be an ongoing process. But the Eating Disorders Program gave me tools that I didn’t have before to be able to live my life and trust that I’ll continue to be healthy.”
For more information view the Eating Disorders Program at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset or call 1-800-300-0628.