Eating Disorders
Unfortunately, we live in a society that is ruled by the pursuit of thinness and diet culture that emphasizes that “being fat” is one of the worst things you can be. Are you struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating, or body image issues? Do you want to embark on a journey towards self-love, intuitive eating, and compassion? The therapists at the Menachem Psychotherapy Group are Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size aligned.
It’s generally accepted that psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and counseling therapy are among the most effective treatments for eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and body image issues. Without access to valuable coping skills, many people engage in these disordered eating behaviors due to past trauma, anxiety, or feelings of low-self worth. Therapy can help resolve trauma and develop coping skills beyond disordered eating behaviors.
Types of Eating Disorders
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Binge Eating Disorder
- Orthorexia
What are the markers of an Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating?
People who struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating may feel an uncontrollable impulse to control their food intake and body size. Eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors impact individuals of all body sizes.
Signs of an eating disorder or disordered eating include any of the following:
- Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming "fat"
- Persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain
- Restriction of food intake
- Bodyweight or size profoundly impacts self-esteem
- Recurring episodes of binge eating
- Recurring episodes of compensatory behaviors including purging, over-exercising, laxative abuse, or fasting
- Eating to be over-full or uncomfortable
- Eating in isolation due to embarrassment of the quantity of food
- Significant feelings of guilt, shame, or disgust associated with the amount of food consumed
- Compulsive checking of ingredient lists and nutritional labels
- Cutting out an increasing number of food groups (e.g., all carbs)
- Spending hours per day thinking about what food might be served at events
- Showing high levels of distress when "safe" or "healthy" foods are not available
Impact of an Eating Disorder
Eating disorders and disordered eating can have serious physical consequences. An individual struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating may experience:
- Too much or too little dopamine
- Distraction from trauma
- Reduced capacity for emotional nuance
- Reduced hormones that "aren't necessary"
- Little to no sex drive
- Reduced hunger urges
It’s generally accepted that psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and counseling therapy are among the most effective treatments for healing disordered eating. However, When recovering from an eating disorder or disordered eating, the body needs to heal first for the brain to recover, and your work in therapy can begin. If together, we determine your eating disorder requires collaborative care with a specialized dietitian or a higher level of care. In that case, I am happy to work with a team and provide referrals.
Fat is not a Feeling
It is an indication of a need! Accepting that your body may never be the one you wanted may create a significant experience of grief. Also, you might be angry or sad. In an attempt to manage these out of control feelings, you may engage in disordered eating behaviors. The statement “I feel fat” is often an indication of some other emotion or need:
- Loneliness
- Shame
- Fear of rejection
- Fatigue and exhaustion
- Overwhelmed
- Sad or depressed
- Response to trauma
- Feeling out of control
- Anxiety
- Feeling worthless
Eating Disorders and Trauma
No one factor is responsible for developing an eating disorder; however, experiencing some traumatic event can increase a person’s susceptibility. Trauma is a response to a distressing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope; trauma can be a one-time event, a prolonged event, or a series of events. An eating disorder, disordered eating behaviors, or body image issues can be a symptom of trauma – a conscious or unconscious attempt to take back your power and control in your life. When trauma goes unacknowledged and remains unprocessed, it can often manifest in coping mechanisms such as disordered eating behaviors as an attempt to survive and self-soothe.
Intuitive Eating
Developed by Elyse Resch (MS, RDN, CEDRD, FAND) and Evelyn Tribole (MS, RD), the Intuitive Eating approach aims to help people heal from the diet mentality and from chronic dieting/disordered eating behaviors. This approach can help develop body positivity, body-respect, and reconnecting individuals with their own natural hunger, fullness, and satiety cues. Good health can be realized, independent of size!
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating are:
1. Reject Diet Mentality
2. Honor Your Hunger
3. Make Peace With Food
4. Challenge the Food Police
5. Respect Your Fullness
6. Respect Your Satisfaction
7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
8. Respect Your Body
9. Exercise Joyfully
10. Honor Your Health
This process asks you to focus on integrating these ten principles to achieve a more balanced and compassionate relationship with food and your body.
Individual and Group Therapy
Counseling therapy for eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors is effective in both individual and group forms. Both types of treatment can be helpful for eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors in different ways. Group therapy gives you the support of peers who are going through the same situation. Individual therapy can be helpful for those anxious about interacting with a group.
Menachem Psychotherapy Group provides therapy for eating disorders, disordered eating behaviors, and body image issues in Los Angeles, CA.
Suppose you or a loved one struggles with an eating disorder, disordered eating, or body image issues. In that case, it’s important to know that therapy can help. Get in touch with Menachem Psychotherapy Group today to find out more about therapy.
If you or a loved one suffer with an eating disorder please call:
(323) 524-3868