The present article provides the outcomes of the research arisen within the collective considerations of the members of the Mara Selvini Centers with the scope to examine when and how the father is a therapeutic resource. The data come from the Mara Selvini centers’ equips, regarding 75 treatments with anorexic and bulimic female patients ended between 01.10.2010 and 31.03.2012. The results confirm the crucial importance of the paternal involvement in the therapy. Some elements connected significantly to a positive conclusion of the treatment emerged: the father’s consciousness of the psychological sufferance of the daughter and of the connection between the sufferance and the relationships/problems system of the family; the presence of a father up rather than a weak father fearful of conflicts; to be a father with an organized attachment system. If positively involved in the therapy, these fathers may become capable of recognizing and valuing the daughter, thus allowing her a self-differentiation
and a self-individuation. It is confirmed fundamental the capability of the therapist to modulate the intervention starting from the relational style
and the cultural background of the father.
Keywords: Paternal role, anorexia, bulimia, new fathers, opinions and attitude of the father, therapist conduction.