Eating Disorders and Body Image
One of my favorite specialty areas is working with people who experience disordered eating, eating disorders, or negative body image. Many people think "if I can only change my body, I'd be okay" or "I'll just do this behavior until I meet my goal weight, then I'll stop" but then find that they still feel frustrated, sad or empty when these changes do or do not occur. Eating disorders often serve some purpose in your life, even if that purpose is not initially clear. I believe that while these issues can be quite painful and often people have suffered for many years before seeking help, that people can also get better and can completely recover from the tyranny that food and weight can have over their lives. I believe we can all learn to love ourselves and our bodies--at any size, shape or weight-- and that we can all work to make peace with food. I work from two main approaches: Health at Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating. I believe we can learn to trust our bodies to take care of ourselves and feed ourselves appropriately and in a healthy way without restriction, guilt or shame.
Therapy can help you:
- Learn healthy coping mechanisms
- Learn to regulate and manage your emotions
- Uncover and cope with the issues underlying your eating disorder
- Improve your relationships, increase healthy communication and assertiveness
- Learn from relapses
- Decrease damaging perfectionism
- Combat pressures from peers and social media
- Improve your body image
- Learn to love and take care of your body exactly as it is
Contact me to learn how to live your life free of excess worry, shame and guilt about your weight, appearance or food.