Discussing Anorexia

This study describes how challenges of the treatment of adolescent anorexic patients described in the literature and standard care guidelines are visible in the interaction of the treatment discussions between the professionals and the patients. The study shows how these different challenges and central concepts are visible in the interaction, how they are manifested by interactional choices and how the challenges are thus reproduced in the interaction Through analyses of video-recorded treatment discussions, the study shows on the level of immediate interaction how professionals direct the discussion towards showing patients their relation to the illness, its symptoms, and the actions they take due to the illness. The study also shows how patients carry out the resistance mentioned in the textbooks. The results relate strongly to results found in conversation analytical studies on psychotherapeutic interaction and interaction concerning the treatment of addictions.