Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating Therapy
Does Food Control Your Life?
Eating is a huge part of our lives; we structure our days around meals, celebrate ourcultures through recipes, and connect with loved ones over dinners and coffees. Formany, food is a source of pleasure connected to fond memories. For others, food is a battleground. Each day becomes a minefield of food-related anxieties —How manycalories will lunch have? What if I lose control and go on a binge? Will trying this new food make me have a panic attack? If you are struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating, the biggest question is often Why can’t I stop thinking about food and my body? Valid Love is here to support you every step of the way.
You Are Not Stuck with This
Eating disorders affect an estimated 9% of the US population, with significantly higher prevalence rates among the LGBTQ community and among people in larger bodies. They are complex biological and psychological conditions that are enabled by our culture’s unhealthy relationship with food and bodies. For many, eating disorders start out as a coping mechanism for other stressors like anxiety, trauma, minority stress, and neurodivergence. Since our culture mandates denial of your body’s needs in pursuit of weight loss, many individuals are initially praised for their new restrictive behaviors. You may not realize that your ‘diet’ has become the center of your world until the eating disorder has already displaced your other coping strategies and made you lose track of your true self. The good news is that treatment with an eating disorder specialist can support you in developing new coping skills and reconnecting with your authentic self, no matter what your food difficulties look like. You are not stuck with your eating disorder.
Have any questions? Send us a mesage!
What Are The Signs That I Have An Eating Disorder?
The most common eating disorder diagnosis is Binge Eating Disorder (BED), in which a person experiences episodes where they feel a loss of control over eating and consume significantly more food than is typical in a given timespan. These episodes are known as binges. Most clients with BED also struggle with restricting food. You may experience a yo-yo cycle of eating very little until your hunger grows too intense or your emotions become overwhelming and then binging. This cycle often leaves clients frustrated and ashamed, believing that they lack self-control.
Many people struggle primarily with food restriction and compulsive behaviors intended to aid in weight loss; these challenges fit under the anorexia umbrella, which includes Anorexia Nervosa and Atypical Anorexia Nervosa. People dealing with these conditions often struggle to see their worth outside of their bodies and may be consumed by fears of weight gain. Individuals with significantly low body weight are diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. However, atypical anorexia, which has all the symptoms of anorexia aside from low body weight, is far more common and equally harmful to a person’s physical and mental health. Clients with atypical anorexia often struggle with seeking care due to weight stigma. Here at Valid Love, we practice from a Health At Every Size model and acknowledge that a client’s body size is rarely the most significant marker of eating disorder severity. If you experience episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors such as vomiting, laxative/diuretic abuse, overexercise, or fasting, you may have Bulimia Nervosa. Clients with bulimia often feel out of control and emotionally dysregulated, and they may also struggle with food restriction in addition to compensatory behaviors.
If you experience extreme difficulty with eating but do not experience body image distress, you may be dealing with Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). People with ARFID may be accused of picky eating, but they are really struggling with an extreme sensitivity to the sensory components of food. Clients with ARFID may alsoexperience fears about how the food they eat can harm them (i.e. by making them sick or causing them to choke, etc.) or have extremely little interest or desire in food. These diagnoses can sound scary or daunting, but fortunately, eating disorders respond well to treatment like the specialist care provided at Valid Love.
Focused, Compassionate Care
Eating disorder therapy can look a little like peeling back the layers of an onion. Therapy often begins with behavioral stabilization, meaning that we’ll work on identifying how the eating disorder is functioning in your life and coming up with other ways that you can meet those needs. As you gain more traction over the eating disorder, we’ll start to lookdeeper, tracing how the eating disorder came to be and working on building back the pieces of identity you may have lost to it. We’ll analyze and challenge beliefs that may have contributed to the eating disorder, often working on accepting the body as it is rather than how it “should” be. We may transition to focusing on the issues that the eating disorder was coping with, such as trauma, anxiety, or depression.
For nearly all eating disorders, a primary goal of treatment is learning to eat consistently and meet your body’s needs. Your therapist at Valid Love may collaborate with a registered dietitian to help you learn what your body’s needs are and identify realistic ways to meet them. Your therapist may also work with your doctor to make sure that you are medically safe as you pursue outpatient treatment. Clients are often amazed at what they can accomplish in treatment. While the journey israrely easy, clients have been able to overcome eating disorder habits built over years or decades. Treatment is easier and more often successful the sooner you get help, but even if you have struggled with your eating disorder for decades, you can make realprogress on your symptoms with the right support.
But what if…?
-
Ambivalence is a normal part of any therapeutic journey, and it tends to be a huge part of eating disorder recovery. Provided that you are medically stable and appropriate for outpatient care, we can go slowly. Clients are often surprised at what they can accomplish while “faking it till they make it.” You may not be ready to buy in to a body-neutral, all-foods-fit model of self-care, but we can take baby steps focused on how recovery-oriented choices can benefit you today.
-
Therapy starts with a comprehensive assessment of a client’s holistic wellness. You won’t scare a therapist off with your symptoms, and if necessary, a therapist may help you figure out the best level of care for you and refer you to the appropriate resource. We won’t know what you need until you’re assessed, so scheduling an intake is the best way to find out.
-
We at Valid Love strongly believe that therapy should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. We offer flexible options and payment plans to fit different budgets, and we are in network with several major insurance companies. We also offer a number of evening appointments to accommodate clients whose schedules cannot fit daytime appointments. If you’re ready and able to put the work in, we will work with you to figure out a therapy set-up that is doable for you.
You can take back control of your life
You are not doomed to a life of counting macros, avoiding binge foods, or skipping out on family dinners. With the right support, you can build alternative coping skills, gain insight into your eating disorder, and change your relationship with food. Contact us today to set up an initial consultation and start the healing journey.
Recent Posts
