ABSTRACT
Dare and Eisler rejected an approach that was built on the view that family dynamics are the cause of anorexia. Instead, they took the view that family relationship problems might arise as a result of the anorexia. Such problems might then become maintaining factors. Maudsley Model Family Therapy used a particular strategy at the outset. It was that parents were put in charge of their daughters eating in order to achieve weight restoration. The Maudsley group no longer use family lunch sessions. In the UK, many therapists who claim to be following the Family-Based Treatment manual do not, in fact, use the family lunch session. Parental criticism, or, more accurately, maternal criticism of the patient, became a concern to the Maudsley therapists in the first instance because they noticed that it was related to dropout from family therapy. Parents whose unavailability to their daughter is signalled by parental criticism may need to be given separate time with the therapist.
