Do You Feel Like No One Understands What It’s Like To Have An Eating Disorder?
Are you tired of everyone telling you to “just eat”?
Do you have intrusive thoughts about food, body image or weight?
Has your eating disorder made everyday life stressful, since food is everywhere?
If you’re struggling with binge-eating, people might tell you that you lack willpower. And if you’re dealing with restrictive food intake, they might say that you just need to eat more. What they don’t realize is that eating disorders are complex emotional problems. It often takes a trained therapist to uncover the roots of an eating disorder and help you break out of the negative thought patterns fueling it.
Your Eating Disorder May Go Hand In Hand With A Negative Body Image
You might feel unhappy with your body and go to extreme lengths to control your weight. But in the end, this relentless pursuit of thinness never stops. You may find that you’re unwilling to maintain your target weight, so you continue to restrict intake or use other eating disorder behaviors, such as overexercising. It often feels as though your entire mood and sense of self-worth is dependent on the number on a scale.
Whether you’re struggling with anorexia, orthorexia, ARFID, or any other eating disorder, we would be honored to help you cultivate a more peaceful relationship with food and body image. Here at Lift Wellness Group, our compassionate approach to therapy can empower you to look beyond the impossible beauty standards in today's society and address the root cause of your eating disorder.
Eating Disorders Are A Serious Mental Health Issue
There’s a common misconception that eating disorders are a lifestyle choice. They’re not. An eating disorder is a serious mental health condition that is often a combination of genetics, trauma, environment, and unrealistic societal pressures around beauty.
Eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, and one in ten Americans suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime.* If left untreated, eating disorders can lead to medical issues such as irregular heartbeat, chronic GI issues, or osteopenia/osteoporosis.
For many people, the onset of disordered eating originates when they try to diet or restrict their food intake. Sometimes this happens after a doctor tells them that they need to lose weight. Other times, they diet because they’re in a sport or career that requires them to maintain a specific body composition or weight.
Eating Disorders Are Inevitable In A Society With Unhealthy Beauty Standards
Our culture is full of fashion companies, diet gurus, and social media influencers promoting unrealistic ideals of thinness. Even though there is more of an effort to recognize and celebrate all bodies, many people still suffer from distorted body image because of unattainable and idealistic standards of beauty. Naturally, this causes them to feel ashamed when they differ from society’s ideal.
It’s hard to maintain perspective in a world with such unrealistic standards. That’s why therapy is so important. It gives you a chance to challenge cultural ideals of thinness and learn to love yourself on a deeper level.
Therapy Can Help You Improve Your Body Image And Find Relief From Your Eating Disorder
Many people call our intake line and ask if we can help them have a better relationship with food and their body. But instead of talking about food right from the beginning, we often begin therapy by discussing feelings, teaching you how to identify those feelings, and helping you understand the function they serve.
Through this deepening of your self-awareness, you can manage the intensity of your emotions more effectively. We’ll give you healthy, adaptive coping skills for regulating your stressors and managing any urges to engage in ED behaviors.
At Lift Wellness Group, we provide treatment for clients with various types of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating, ARFID, and many more. Our practice can also accommodate vegans, vegetarians, and anyone with religious dietary restrictions.
What To Expect In Eating Disorder Counseling Sessions
When you’re dealing with an eating disorder, it’s normal to feel like you’re not enough and shouldn’t take up space in the world. In sessions with us, we’ll help you challenge these unhelpful beliefs by teaching you to recognize your value and self-worth as separate from how you look or a number on a scale.
One of the best ways to do this is to work on being intentional and assertive in your interactions with others. For instance, if you attend a social gathering where there is food served, make a plan with a friend or family member in advance so they can help you be accountable to your meal plan. Also, give yourself permission to ask questions and eat with someone for accountability. By prioritizing your needs, you can improve your self-confidence and overcome people-pleasing behaviors.
Since the social component is so important to eating disorder recovery, we often recommend involving your support group in therapy. This could mean having loved ones attend sessions with you. After all, many of the things that seem encouraging to tell someone with an eating disorder are actually triggering (such as “Good job! You ate your food”). Our therapists can educate your loved ones about what’s helpful and unhelpful when it comes to supporting you.
Tailoring Your Eating Disorder Treatment Plan
Our practice often uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to disarm negative thoughts and interrupt the destructive patterns that fuel eating disorders. We also practice a lot of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills, which can help you tolerate and reduce overwhelming emotions and increase your mindful awareness of your own actions.
Additionally, many of our therapists utilize Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) to treat eating disorders. The goal of ERP is to help you overcome your fear of certain foods by gradually exposing you to them in a safe environment. This way, you can work your way up to facing your fears in the presence of a clinical team.
No matter what approach works best for you, you are enough and you are worthy of recovery. With the right help and support, we’re confident that you can live a full, happy life that isn’t held back by an eating disorder.
You May Have Some Concerns About Eating Disorder Therapy…
I don’t really think I have an eating disorder—I can stop whenever I want.
Eating disorders can be deceiving. The voice in your head may trick you into thinking you’re more stable than you really are. But if you’re reading this page, chances are you need extra support. Even if you think you can stop your disordered eating at any time, it’s important to at least get an assessment and then make a choice about appropriate levels of care.
I’m afraid of gaining weight if I come to treatment.
This is a very common fear. Many people tell us things like “I want to be as thin as I was years ago,” or, “I want to recover but not gain any weight.” Unfortunately, this desire just isn’t realistic. Your body weight fluctuates many times throughout your life. That’s okay. Therapy can help you unpack the unrealistic assumptions that are driving your fear of weight gain. And if you’re ready to move past that, we can help you challenge the fatphobic mindset that has a hold on society as well.
I feel like I’m too busy to attend therapy.
Just as you would make time for treatment if you had a serious medical condition, it’s vital to get support for an eating disorder. If an eating disorder is not treated, it will have a negative impact on your life and you will likely end up needing more intense treatment as the symptoms continue to progress. Our practice is able to accommodate people with busy schedules, so let’s set up an appointment and assess what kind of support you need!
You Are Worthy Of Recovery
If you want to start the recovery journey today, we encourage you to connect with one of our eating disorder therapists by using the contact form or calling 203-908-5603. We look forward to working with you!
https://anad.org/eating-disorders-statistics/
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