Baltimore, MD, Dec. 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maryland’s leading experts in the treatment of complex eating disorders, Harry A. Brandt, M.D. and Steven F. Crawford, M.D., will join Eating Recovery Center (ERC) to lead the company’s first expansion into the mid-Atlantic region. Leaving Sheppard Pratt of Maryland, Drs. Brandt and Crawford will join the only national, vertically integrated health care system dedicated to the treatment of eating disorders at their more serious stages. Drs. Brandt and Crawford, along with their long-standing, expert treatment team of more than 20 licensed clinicians, will now bring enhanced, specialized treatment options to more patients in the region. Eating Recovery Center of Maryland will open in Towson, Maryland on January 8.
“Helping people and families impacted by eating disorders and mental health issues is our passion, and that has been steadfast for the last 30 years, since I founded the Center for Eating Disorders,” said Dr. Brandt. “That will never change. We work tirelessly to address the growing need throughout the mid-Atlantic states for high quality mental health care, and to provide the best possible treatment to people of all ages. Joining ERC, and bringing their industry-leading practices to Maryland, is the best way for us to further achieve our guiding principles in treating mental health challenges.”
ERC treats patients of all gender identities suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), binge eating disorder and co-occurring conditions. The Baltimore treatment center will provide Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) levels of care for children and adolescents (ages 10-17) and adults. As the leading provider of behavioral health outpatient services in the area, Drs. Brandt and Crawford and their team of expert clinicians will continue to provide comprehensive outpatient services.
“Our mission is to take the very best care of patients, families, providers and our teammates as we deliver the highest quality treatment to patients with eating disorders and mood disorders,” said Ken Weiner, MD, co-founder and executive chairman of ERC. “Having respected their work and considered them esteemed colleagues for many years, I’m certain that bringing in Dr. Brandt and Dr. Crawford and their highly respected team will allow us to continue that mission in the mid-Atlantic, helping even more patients and families in need.”
Eating Recovery Center of Maryland will offer separate programs tailored to adults ages 17 and up, and children and teens ages 10 to 17. Each program has been thoughtfully designed to deliver best-in-class, developmentally appropriate, evidence-based medical, psychiatric, therapeutic and dietary care in a healing environment.
Providing increased access to high quality behavioral health treatment services is paramount to address the intensifying mental health crisis across the U.S. Young people ages 15-24 years old with anorexia have 10 times the risk of dying compared to their same age peers. ERC, together with this leading team of experts, are dedicated to providing a pathway to a brighter future for children, adolescents and adults with eating disorders.
Patients receiving care at Eating Recovery Center of Maryland will benefit from:
- Unmatched expertise: Programs designed by the industry’s leading experts and pioneers in adult and child and adolescent psychiatry, clinical psychology and medicine.
- Comprehensive medical, psychiatric and nutritional support: A compassionate team of experts, highly experienced in treating eating disorders, address each patient’s unique recovery goals and complex needs.
- Evidence-based treatment: Commitment to therapy approaches proven to be the most effective. Program hallmarks include Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E), Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Family Based Treatment (FBT).
- Robust family involvement: In the Child & Adolescent program, parents develop the knowledge and skills they need to feel confident in managing and supporting their child in recovery, including:
- Family therapy sessions
- Family support groups (in person and online)
- Family education groups
- Thoughtful, detailed discharge planning: ERC provides tools and resources to support, empower and educate caregivers throughout recovery, and coordinates with outpatient providers for a seamless transition.
“The work that Dr. Brandt and Dr. Crawford and their team have achieved over the last 30 years is industry-leading and certainly unmatched in the area,” said Craig Johnson, PhD, Senior Consultant at ERC. “Their breadth of knowledge is second to none, as is their commitment to sharing that expertise and training the next generation of mental health clinicians.”
Dr. Harry Brandt is Regional Medical Director, Eastern Region, Eating Recovery Center and Insight Behavioral Health Centers and Chief of Psychiatry at University of Maryland-St. Joseph Medical Center. Dr. Brandt attended University of Maryland School of Medicine and trained in Psychiatry at University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry. He pursued fellowship training in Biological Psychiatry and Eating Disorders at the National Institutes of Health where he ultimately became Chief of the NIMH Eating Disorders Program. He has led the eating disorders programs at Mercy Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center and Sheppard Pratt, including as Co-Director of the Center for Eating Disorders, which he founded in 1989, before bringing his team to Eating Recovery Center. Dr. Brandt, widely published in eating disorders, has been the Principal Site Investigator of two major federally funded research grants. Active in the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Brandt is a past-president of the Maryland Psychiatric Society and has repeatedly been listed as a Baltimore Top Doctor and in Best Doctors in America.
Dr. Steven Crawford is Medical Director, Maryland, Eating Recovery Center and Insight Behavioral Health Centers and Assistant Chief of Psychiatry at University of Maryland-St. Joseph Medical Center. Dr. Crawford attended University of Maryland School of Medicine and trained in Psychiatry at University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry. He received fellowship training in eating disorders at the Center for Eating Disorders and has worked continuously in the field for over twenty-five years, including as Co-Director of the Center for Eating Disorders. Dr. Crawford is a Past-President of the Maryland Psychiatric Society and chairs the Scientific Council of Med-Chi, the Maryland State Medical Society. He serves on the Multi-Disciplinary Peer Review Committee at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center and heads Schwartz Center Rounds to bring doctors, nurses and other caregivers together to discuss the human side of healthcare. Dr. Crawford is consistently listed as a Top Doctor in local and national professional surveys.
Both Drs. Brandt and Crawford are on the faculty of University of Maryland School of Medicine, where they supervise medical students and residents and direct a fellowship program to train psychiatrists in the treatment of complex eating disorders.
Eating Recovery Center of Maryland is located in the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) North Pavilion at 6535 N. Charles Street, Suite 300, in Towson, MD, 21204.
About Eating Recovery Center and Insight Behavioral Health Centers
Eating Recovery Center (ERC) is the only national, vertically integrated, health care system dedicated to the treatment of serious eating and related disorders at any stage of the illness. ERC offers best-in-class treatment programs for all patients, no matter their age or gender, struggling from: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, eating and weight disorder, unspecified eating disorders, as well as co-occurring and dual diagnoses. Insight Behavioral Health Centers (Insight) offers specialized treatment for mood, anxiety and trauma-related disorders. Led by the world’s leading experts in eating disorder treatment, ERC and Insight provide a full spectrum of eating disorder recovery services through an unmatched network of multiple locations across eight states. Both ERC and Insight treat adults, children and teens and offer multiple levels of care, including Inpatient, Residential, Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Programs. For more information, please visit eatingrecoverycenter.com or insightbhc.com.