ABSTRACT
Models of therapy typically have at least an implicit model of change that differentiates it from other models. Family therapy for anorexia nervosa (FT-AN) is an integrative treatment that draws on ideas from different models. AN was first clinically described in the late 1600s and appeared as a distinct psychiatric syndrome at the end of the 19th century. While AN, like most severe psychiatric disorders, was initially treated mostly in hospital settings, many of the early authors where interested in the family context of the disorder, albeit primarily because they believed that families either caused the disorder or impeded treatment. The history of FT is often described in terms of the discontinuities and innovations represented by different models of FT, ignoring the overlaps and continuities of ideas and therapeutic techniques. Models of therapy typically have at least an implicit model of change that differentiates it from other models.
