ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores the cultural premise and tries to regard eating disorders in the light of both systemic thinking and (modern) developmental psychological theory. The consequence will be a therapeutic approach with interplay between the thematic and the contextual. The author deals with the family-therapeutic approach and indicates in what way and why modern developmental psychology can contribute to an understanding and treatment of eating disorders. As it is for many other girls with eating problems who have gained control over their symptomatic behaviour, her worries about food and body continue to occupy her thoughts and feelings. Systemic perspective can be useful in relation to the narrative wave within family therapy in particular, but it can also be useful within psychoanalytic therapy, where creating meaningful narratives is of crucial importance. Modern developmental psychology at any rate can put people on the track of topics that are important in meaningful narratives.
