If you have an eating disorder, your mind and your body work interchangeably rather than interactively. Overwhelming—or even routine--emotional experiences—whether they are bad or good, conscious or unconscious—can persistently trigger physical responses—‘food’ thoughts’, cravings, urges to binge, purge, starve or diet, along with faulty body images—rather than the emotional solutions you really need.
When your mind becomes flooded with emotions and you can’t think, it is difficult to find words to express what is really going on inside you. You may not be able to make use of the strategies or protocols you have learned. Turning to food over and over again ends up making you feel worse and worse about yourself. Despite your endless efforts at stopping, intervening, or changing, your sense of shame or despair only seems to grow. It may feel like an endless, vicious cycle.
Recovering from an eating disorder, as I see it, is about “uncovering” the thinking patterns that have kept you caught in this ‘closed circuit loop’ of reaching for comfort, soothing, and connection in food. Working together, we can help you find words for your feelings, release for the emotions that have been bottled up inside you, and help you develop the emotional tools to think about and express your feelings, rather than feeling shame for eating about them.
You are not alone! Therapy for an eating disorder is about your individual, specific journey to find yourself and make sense of the patterns that cause you distress
- It is about learning that you don’t have to be alone with scary or painful thoughts and feelings.
- It is about having someone you can feel safe with to listen to you
- It is having someone to stand with you, sometimes even to explain, to significant others what is going on, or how they are affecting you.
- It is about having a caring guide to help you stand up to voices in your head that tell you you are not enough or there is something wrong with you.
No two eating disorders are alike, and no two people who suffer eating disorders have identical needs. “Ten-point programs” or set protocols may work well for some people, but not others. Suspending life and signing up for an in-patient or Intensive Outpatient program (IOP) may work for some people but be totally wrong for you. If you are unsure of how to proceed, I am happy to consult with you and/or your family members to help with this important decision.