Eating Disorders / Body Image Issues

Do you find yourself obsessing about how your body looks?

You are not alone, and you are not hopeless (even though that may be the feeling you are absorbed with at times).

What life with an eating disorder feels like…

Often, those of us who have experienced difficult things turn to our relationship with food to cope. This often leads to avoidance behaviors (restricting foodintake/limiting certain types of food/counting calories) and compensatory behaviors (purging, excessive exercise, laxative use).

All of these behaviors also often lead to/follow binge eating. These behaviors are not associated with a certain body type or size. Sometimes we may tell ourselves it’s “not a problem” because we are not at a certain weight. Despite what the thoughts in your head may be screaming, it is not about the weight. This has been a way for you to cope with emotional distress and past trauma.

Your eating disorder may have been (and still might be) your only source of comfort when things feel too difficult. That comfort can only “work” for so long and unfortunately inevitably leads to more pain.

Many people hear the term eating disorders and automatically associate this with an issue about food. Of course, the behaviors surrounding food are important and facing them is vital for the work to overcome eating disorders. But healing goes far beyond meals.

Eating disorders are not just about a relationship with food but, more importantly, a relationship with the self. Eating disorder behaviors often revolve around a detachment from the body stemming from trauma. Though the focus of someone battling an eating disorder may seem to be about how the body looks – it is usually a method of escapism and disconnection. Often, someone is coping with unresolved trauma through seeking control. And what is something you can try to control when you feel powerless? Your body and what you do to it. Unfortunately, this often means turning to damaging behaviors like restricting, binging, and purging.

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Many challenges show up with eating disorders that have nothing to do with food! Some of these tend to be:

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Issues with self-esteem
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Codependency
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Perfectionism
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Toxic shame
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Difficulty asking for help or accepting help
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Difficulty managing emotions or even being disconnected from feeling them at all
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Difficulty with boundaries
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Isolation and strained relationships
As someone continues to cope through their eating disorder, they reinforce all the core wounds that have come out of their trauma. If you believe you are not good enough and you turn to an eating disorder behavior, you reinforce that core belief every time you engage in the behavior. Someone in this cycle often becomes reliant on these behaviors to cope with uncomfortable emotions, which leads to increased avoidance, and, in result, more fear of emotions.
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YOU CAN LEARN TO DEVELOP AN ACCEPTING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BODY AND YOURSELF
Without a relationship and acceptance of your own emotions, relationships become extremely difficult. Setting boundaries is not an option for someone who does not take their own feelings into account. This often means that, as someone is experiencing physical and emotional pain from the damage being done to their body, they are either pushing others away or completely ignoring their own needs and trying to focus on others entirely.

HOW CAN THERAPY HELP YOU HEAL FROM YOUR EATING DISORDER AND RESOLVE YOUR BODY IMAGE ISSUES:

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Therapy allows the space to explore the roots of the eating disorder
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We can gain insight and begin to identify patterns and triggers
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The therapist helps guide the resolution of the core trauma that may have led to a need to cope through eating disorder behaviors
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Through our work together, we will support you in recognizing and releasing the toxic shame, building healthy self-esteem, and learning to foster a healthy relationship with your body

We will provide education, as well as somatic practices and inner child healing to work towards reconnecting with the body and honoring the parts of you who became disconnected.

REAL HEALING COUNSELING CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR TOLERANCE TO DISCOMFORT, REGULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM, BUILD ACCEPTANCE TOWARDS YOURSELF, AND LEARN THE SKILLS TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR BODY

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