Therapy for Eating Disorders
Does it feel like your obsession with food has taken over your life? Have you been engaging in purging, bingeing and restrictive habits in an effort to control your weight? It may feel overwhelming to experience your emotions. Sometimes you might just want to feel numb to avoid the pain and you feel that the only thing you have control of is what you eat. Maybe these negative behaviors have increased or reappeared in your life and you feel like you will never recover.
Here are some thoughts you may be experiencing :
“I have negative thoughts about food and my weight every day and it’s getting harder to manage”
“It feels like I have been struggling with this for a long time and I don’t know what to do”
“I am afraid of admitting to myself that I need help and what that will look like”
“Recovery sounds like something that is out of my reach…..I don’t know if it will work for me”
How you may feel
Maybe you wake up thinking about food every day and continue to obsess about the number on the scale. You struggle to get dressed as nothing fits the way you would like it to and you think “ if I just lost weight everything would be okay”. Your self worth is tied to your appearance and whether you’ve been “good”. Maybe your obsession with food and weight has made it difficult to concentrate at work or school. Social events have become more stressful as you worry about what you can eat and how you will look. Your relationships begin to feel affected by this. You struggle with feelings of depression and anxiety that keep you stuck and fearful of making changes in life.
How therapy can help
When you are struggling with an eating disorder there are usually two conversations happening in your head. There is your healthy voice ( yourself) who knows that these habits aren’t serving you and there is your ED voice ( the one that perpetuates the unhealthy thoughts and beliefs). In therapy you will learn how to identify and differentiate between the two. The goal is to learn how to strengthen the healthy self and challenge the eating disorder. Together we will explore your values, family history and relationships in the context of your eating disorder. We will look at the ways your habits have served you in the past and work towards finding new and healthier ways to get your needs met.
You can recover from your eating disorder and live the life you were meant to live.
Support, Compassion , Recovery
Recovering from your eating disorder is a process of rediscovering you. It will change the way you feel about yourself and can improve your confidence and self-worth. You will be able to use your healthy voice to get your needs met and would no longer need to rely on your eating disorder to cope with your emotions. You would experience a sense of freedom and autonomy to make choices that align with your values. You would no longer need to obsess and control what you eat or how often you exercise. The food noise would be quiet and occupy less mental space in your head.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders can help with:
Challenging the negative thoughts and distorted perceptions about food and body
Reducing anxiety and stress around eating and body issues
Cognitive restructuring to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and beliefs about food, body image and emotions
Frequently asked questions about EATING DISORDER therapy
FAQs
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An initial evaluation and assessment for the type of eating disorder is the first step. Medical monitoring and collaboration with a team is recommended to ensure physical health and safety. Treatment will then consist of psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, body image work , relapse prevention and coping skills.
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An eating disorder is a serious mental illness that affects ones relationship to food. It can lead to severe negative consequences for overall well-being. Disordered eating can be described as any habits or practices geared towards restricting certain foods in the hopes of losing weight. This can involve rules, timeframes or windows of eating and can have consequences for physical health disguised as “ wellness”.
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Reach out to schedule a consultation so we can discuss how therapy can help you. During your consult you can get any remaining questions answered and see if we are a good fit.