Eating Disorder Recovery is Possible!
If you are experiencing challenges related to overeating, undereating, purging, body image, or an unhealthy preoccupation with food, body, and weight, and if you are ready to explore alternative solutions beyond traditional dieting and the pursuit of perfection, we can work together to address these issues.
During our sessions, we will delve into your struggles with food and weight, aiming to uncover the underlying emotions and unmet needs that require attention. Together, we will examine your personal history and explore how your eating disorder developed, enabling us to better understand and cope with your past and present circumstances. By gaining this deeper insight, we can develop effective strategies to support your healing and growth.
What are Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders, regardless of their specific form, share common signs and symptoms. One notable aspect is the intense anxiety individuals experience concerning their body size and weight. This preoccupation with their physical appearance often leads them to neglect other aspects of their identity. Unhealthy and abnormal eating habits are a hallmark of eating disorders, which can manifest as undereating, overeating, or a combination of both. It is also common for individuals with eating disorders to develop concurrent psychological disorders like depression or anxiety.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) provides diagnostic criteria for various types of eating disorders. Among the well-known eating disorders are bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa involves cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors like self-induced vomiting or excessive exercise. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by severe restriction of food intake, often resulting in significantly low body weight and distorted body image.
The Symptoms of Anorexia:
Feeling unworthy of one's body shape or weight
Restricting food consumption to achieve a significantly lower body weight
Intense fear of weight gain
Sabotaging healthy weight maintenance or gain
Distorted perception of body shape and weight
A range of associated health issues such as abnormal heart rhythm, infertility, increased risk of heart failure and disease, disruptions in the menstrual cycle, premature osteoporosis, kidney damage, low white blood cell counts, low heart rate and blood pressure, disruptions in the endocrine system, anemia, and, in severe cases, death.
The Symptoms of Bulimia:
binge eating, where individuals consume more food than others in a specific time period and lose control over their eating.
Compensating for binge eating by engaging in behaviors such as forced vomiting, extreme fasting, misuse of laxatives or diuretics, and intense exercise.
Obsessively prioritizing body weight and shape over other aspects of their identity like intelligence, personality, and emotional intelligence.
Various health problems include ulcers, imbalances in electrolyte levels, kidney damage, constipation, gastric rupture, gastroesophageal reflux disease, tooth decay, and even heart failure.
It is a serious and potentially life-threatening eating disorder that requires proper diagnosis, intervention, and treatment to address both the psychological and physical aspects of the condition.
How Can You Tell if Therapy is Working for Eating Disorder Recovery?
Therapy can be instrumental in supporting eating disorder recovery by addressing various aspects of the individual's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to food, weight, exercise, and body image. Through therapy, one can connect with the underlying feelings and needs that drive the obsessions and compulsions associated with the eating disorder. The process also involves uncovering and rediscovering the authentic self that may have been obscured by the eating disorder's influence.
Therapy encourages exploration and experimentation with alternative approaches such as intuitive eating, moderation, and letting go of rigid maladaptive thinking patterns. By embracing these new perspectives, individuals can develop a healthier relationship with food and their bodies. Additionally, therapy provides opportunities to empower oneself throughout the recovery journey, promoting personal growth and self-empowerment.
Approach to Eating Disorder Recovery
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): EMDR therapy focuses on processing past traumatic experiences and reducing the distress associated with them. In the context of eating disorders, it can help individuals explore any past traumas, negative beliefs, or emotional wounds that may have influenced their relationship with food, body image, and self-esteem. By targeting and reprocessing these distressing memories or experiences through bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, taps, or sounds), EMDR aims to promote adaptive processing and resolution of the associated emotions, thoughts, and sensations. This can result in a reduction of triggers and emotional distress related to the eating disorder.
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT can be effective in the treatment of eating disorders. ACT focuses on promoting psychological flexibility and developing a more mindful and values-based approach to life. ACT helps individuals observe and detach from unhelpful thoughts and beliefs about their body, weight, and food. By learning to see thoughts as passing events rather than absolute truths, individuals can reduce the power these thoughts have over their behaviors and emotions.By integrating these ACT principles and practices into the treatment of eating disorders, individuals can develop greater psychological flexibility, reduce the impact of eating disorder thoughts and emotions, and cultivate a more balanced and meaningful life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT helps individuals identify and challenge negative and distorted thoughts related to body image, weight, and food. By examining the evidence for these thoughts and replacing them with more realistic and balanced thinking patterns, individuals can reduce the impact of these thoughts on their emotions and behaviors. CBT addresses body image concerns by challenging negative body image beliefs and promoting a more accepting and realistic view of one's body. Techniques such as mirror exposure, cognitive restructuring, and body image exposure can be used to reduce body dissatisfaction and improve body acceptance.
Internal Family System (IFS): IFS focuses on understanding and addressing the different parts or "subpersonalities" within an individual, with the belief that each part has its own perspective, emotions, and role in protecting the person. IFS provides a framework for healing and transforming wounded parts that may be contributing to the eating disorder. By compassionately addressing the underlying traumas, negative beliefs, and emotions associated with these parts, individuals can support their healing process and reduce the reliance on disordered eating behaviors for protection.
Our therapists understand the toll that eating disorders can take and want you to know that you don't have to face it alone. We offer treatment options and have helped many individuals find the healing they deserve.
Schedule your free 20 minute consultation today to find out how we can work together to find a compassionate path to acceptance and strength.
Here is a simple and effective emotional regulation tool: