This Crazy Life

In our Family Therapy Session Wednesday, they told me they want to make Level One as boring as possible.  They are seeing an increase in ED behaviors since stepping down to PHP.  First let me explain their level system.  ERC has 3 levels.  Each level you get an increase in privileges.  Some people make it to Level 3 even before stepping down to PHP.  My daughter is still on Level 1.  At this point I’m going to assume she’ll go home on Level 1.  Which really helps nothing, because the entire point is for them to comply, so they don’t drop levels and lose privileges.  Level 1 privileges were phone time with family only, family tv time, family game time, coloring.  Since they are seeing an increase in ED behaviors, which I’ve told them I’m sure she had the entire time in residential she just wasn’t caught, they wanted to make Level 1 as boring as possible.  So now she can sit on the couch and talk to family or sit on the couch and look out the window.  Period.  So that started last night.  And let me tell you, she was pissed.  She started kicking my seat on the drive home from PHP.  She said this is absolutely not going to work, it’s only making the ED stronger.  I told her she doesn’t get to have a life and ED too.  Then obviously she’s going to pick ED.  She told me she wishes I wasn’t here, that her dad was still here.  I told her that her dad was on the meeting too and he would be doing the same thing.  We must set limits.  We must help her.  But what if she’s right, what if it doesn’t work, what if it only makes the ED stronger?  I told her we are going to give it a chance and see what happens.  This morning she was very apologetic and told me I am doing a good job, she wants me here, she is sorry she was so mean.  She is very scared of stepping back up to residential, but I was honest with her.  I told her if we can’t stop the ED behaviors that is a very real possibility.  I know it won’t be easy, I know it won’t happen overnight.  Heck, it may not even be possible for her to stop.  Her therapist told me that.  It feels so wrong to punish something so much that they don’t even have control over.  But we’re going to do it.  We’re going to give it a shot.  Then we’ll move on to the next plan.