Dr. Rabinor's Blogs

The Huffington Post

Once Attached, Always Attached  Posted Jan 6, 2011 Like many women who divorce, I took my time finding a second husband. For much of the 13 years between marriages, I doubted I would ever remarry. It wasn't the falling-in-love part that scared me--it was the staying-in-love part that seemed daunting. But life has a way of surprising us,...
In Praise of Exes  Posted Dec 21, 2010
I recently had dinner with three college friends I hadn't seen in decades, all of us now divorced. Before we knew it, we were talking about our exes. First, Ruth casually mentioned that she was looking forward to having lunch with her ex-husband; they speak frequently, not only about their...

When Parents are Partners: A Blog for Parents

After many years of working with eating disordered patients and their families, Drs. Brisman and Rabinor are pleased to announce When Parents are Partners, a unique treatment program for parents with daughters or sons struggling with disordered eating and/or body impage problems. Recent research has documented the importance of parental involvement in refeeding for anorexic youngsters who live at home. However, less is known about parental involvement with binge eating, bulimia, EDNOS, and those living away from home. Also, other research and clinical observations indicate that the ways in which parents can be effective, even with anorexia, vary from family to family. When Parents are Partners invites parents to join in the psychotherapy process to allow for the best possibility of recovery. Just what this involvement means differs for each family. One size does not fit all.


Happy New Year! My Mom's on a New Diet  Jan 17, 2011
The New Year has just begun.  What percentage of the country is now on a new year’s inspired diet? I’ll bet it’s more than you think.  But what happens if that dieter is the mother of a kid who is struggling with his or her own weight?...

Crisis as Opportunity: My New Year’s Resolution  Dec 31, 2010
On May 20 of this year, my father, out of the blue, was diagnosed with a severely aggressive leukemia and was given two to six weeks to live.  A quick run to Google (because that’s what we do these days when we’re scared) confirmed that the doctors weren’t being alarmists and that we really had to start saying goodbye now...

If Santa Were Skinny  Posted Dec 25, 2010
The bar is now set for our role models to lose even more weight.  Just when we thought Natalie Portman couldn’t be more beautiful, here she is filling the screens as an anorexic ballerina in The Black Swan...

Surviving an Eating Disorder: What We Knew Then. What We Know Now Posted Dec 18, 2010
A family I once knew had a 15 year old bulimic daughter who, nightly, cleared the refrigerator of food. Every morning fights ensued because there would be no food left for breakfast for the rest of the family.  The mother felt the daughter couldn’t help it; the father angrily thought it was time for the daughter to pull it together...

Protecting Patient Privacy  Posted Dec 13, 2010
Recently  I described a situation I have struggled with for years: How to respond  to well-intentioned parents who  call me  for advice even though  they are aware that their son or daughter, a teen or young adult  (my patient) has specifically declined/refused parental involvement in the therapy? How to best handle a parent's important concerns raises issues that involve boundaries, confidentiality, privacy and what is in the best interest of the child, the parents and the family...