Treatment Options

New Dawn's programs are designed to restore physiological, emotional and interpersonal harmony in the lives of individuals struggling with eating disorders. A brief description of New Dawn's treatment options along with an overview of the program components is discussed below.

 Free Initial Assessment

New Dawn provides free comprehensive psychological and nutritional evaluations in order to make accurate diagnoses and provide the basis upon which appropriate treatment planning decisions are made. In addition to assessments conducted at our Sausalito and San Francisco clinics, clients are required to be assessed by their medical provider in order to establish the most appropriate level of intervention. Psychiatric evaluations may also be recommended, especially when psychotropic medication management is needed.

 Modified Maudsley Method

The Modified Maudsley method is a family-based approach to treatment for anorexia nervosa that focuses on weight gain as the first priority. The individual is considered separate from the disease, and neither parents nor children are blamed for causing the eating disorder. Parents are expected to be highly involved in treatment.

During the first phase of treatment, parents are taught to take responsibility for ensuring that their teenager eats and is gaining weight. New Dawn assists both the parents and teenager in this process. After steady weight gain has occurred, the second phase of treatment entails gradually transferring control of eating back to the teenager.  The goal is for the teenager to maintain a weight of at least 95% of her target weight without significant supervision from her parents. Our parental guidance handout provides more information on the essentials of this method.

We offer a housing option for our out-of-town Maudsley Method clients near our Sausalito clinic at our Serenity House.

 Residential Treatment

In many cases, in order for a person to progress to a more satisfying level of independent living, the structure, continuity and intensity of a residential treatment program may be necessary. Our residential treatment program offers a therapeutic community whose mission is to offer a supportive and structured environment within which one may overcome eating disorders and related psychiatric symptoms.

 Day Treatment (PHP)

For those requiring a high level of intensity, but not the 24 hour care provided by residential treatment, our day program offers six hours or more of treatment per day, four to five days per week. Day treatment can prevent hospitalization for some individuals and for others it is a powerful step-down intervention following residential treatment. Please see our PHP Schedule for more information.

For our PHP clients, we offer two housing options.

 Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

New Dawn's intensive outpatient program is developed for clients who require a significant addition to outpatient treatment in order to lessen their eating disorder symptoms. The intensive outpatient program provides comprehensive treatment while allowing the client to retain autonomy in her normal day-to-day activities.

Please see our IOP Schedule for more information.

 Outpatient Services (OP)

New Dawn's outpatient program provides customized treatment programs to meet individual needs following intensive outpatient participation.

For more information on our California based programs located in Sausalito and San Francisco, please see the menu on the left with the appropriate treatment programs.