Therapist For An Eating Disorder
Medically Reviewed By Whitney White, MS. CMHC, NCC., LPCIf you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you may wonder whether or not seeing a therapist near you would be a good idea. Ultimately, seeing a therapist for eating disorders is a life choice which only you can make; however, being as informed as possible about what your options are and how a therapist and counseling can be of value for overcoming eating disorders is so critical.
There are a series of misconceptions which pertain to eating disorders, people who struggle with them, and strategies to treating eating disorders. One of the most common misconceptions is that eating disorders are about food, body image or health. In reality, eating disorders are not just about counting calories or body image issues; these may merely be symptoms for the real mental health issue which the person is struggling with. There are many reports of people struggling with eating disorders when they feel a lack of control in their lives, oftentimes due to a mental health condition like PTSD. Eating, or lack thereof (as with anorexia nervosa), is one of many things which the individual has control over.
The Dangers Of Eating Disorders
Virtually everyone has a general understanding of just how dangerous eating disorders, like a binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa, are for both physical and mental health. Comprehending the specific perils of these types of eating disorders and disordered eating habits can be helpful.
First and foremost, when the body is deprived of the proper nutrients and calories, such as is common with anorexia, it begins to use its tissue and muscles as fuel. An eating disorder like this will subsequently lead to fewer blood cells and physical symptoms like major drops in one's blood pressure and electrolyte imbalances. If this process lasts for too long, the person places themselves at a medical risk for heart failure, a fatal health issue, and other serious health complications that require round the clock medical monitoring.
The health dangers of eating disorders are not mutually exclusive to the cardiovascular system. The digestion system also takes some major hits when the body is suffering from eating disorders. Some examples of very serious health issues from an eating disorder include, but are certainly not limited to esophagus damage, constipation, bacterial infections, and swollen salivary glands.
Eating disorders also have a series of adverse health impacts on the mental and psychological health of the afflicted individual. Sleep apnea, fainting, dizziness, trouble with concentrating, and seizures are only the tip of the iceberg of mental health issues associated with eating disorders.
Eating disorders are nothing to mess around with. Their negative health effects can be deadly if medical treatment is withheld or delayed. It's true that seeking treatment from a mental health professional, doctor, registered dietitian, treatment team, or other professionals is up to you. However anyone who is dealing with an eating disorder (or has a family member or loved one dealing with such a health disorder) is strongly advised to seek the proper, professional assistance and medical help. It could quite literally save lives.
What To Expect From A Therapist Working With You on Your Eating Disorder
When deciding whether to work with a therapist in counseling, either individually or as part of a treatment team, on your eating disorder or eating disorders, it's natural to have a lot of questions, and that's OK. First and foremost, you should know that the job of your therapist or eating disorder specialist is to help you and be of service to you in your recovery. There is no condescension or judgment from licensed therapists like you may feel from family members. Moving forward, your therapist will build a relationship with you and get to the root of the issues which are causing the eating disorder at hand. Solving these issues is the objective eating disorder therapy works to achieve.
Psychological Therapy and Treatment Procedures
Working with a therapist regarding eating disorders and your health will always involve some type of talk therapy. There are a variety of health benefits associated with this solution focused treatment; for starters, you will learn how to transform unhealthy habits into healthy habits, develop productive coping mechanisms, manage anxiety and depression, treat your whole person rather than just your disorder, and better your emotional health. While the benefits of therapy are well-documented, it's important to remember that eating disorder treatment and therapy involves a time commitment. Eating disorders and their underlying health issues don't materialize overnight and those health issues won't disappear that way either. With the help of your therapist and disorder treatment, you will be working towards personal growth, improving the health of the relationship you have with yourself, and feeling better on your healing journey.
Various Types of Psychological Treatment
There are many types of therapies which can be used to help people overcome eating disorders, improve their health, and achieve healing. Some therapies and types of disorder treatment will be more effective to treat certain patients while others may benefit from a totally different treatment plan. Nevertheless, having a basic idea of the existing options is helpful in easing apprehension and ridding yourself of uncertainty or anxiety about eating disorder treatment and meeting with a mental health professional.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Patients who undergo cognitive behavioral therapy with a mental health professional will be able to work with that specialist to grasp the emotions, belief systems, relationships, and actions which relate to their eating disorder. When an individual suffers from seemingly external health issues like eating disorders, it's almost always indicative of a health issue on the inside, like anxiety, depression or other mental health disorders. The symptoms of internal health issues tend to manifest on the outside until the root of the problem is dealt with.
Group Therapy
You are not alone in your struggle with an eating disorder. There are others who are battling eating disorders. Group therapy is another type of treatment used to treat eating disorders. During this therapy, you will work with a licensed therapist or mental health professional and a select group of others who have been dealing with eating disorders as well. There are a variety of benefits associated with group therapy with an eating disorder therapist which don't necessarily pertain to one on one sessions.
Working in group therapy can provide a sense of mental health support, allow you to process your emotions, and help you realize that there are other people out there in life who are just like you. Also, in group therapy, you have the opportunities of listening to others (rather than just yourself and a mental health professional) who are overcoming eating disorders, and you can learn various helpful coping mechanisms and positive mental health thought patterns from others. There are even specific group therapy options for specific types of eating disorders. For example, you could join a bulimia specific recovery group led by an experienced mental health professional. Another additional benefit of group therapy is the ability to inspire others in their own recovery. The participants in the group will be listening to you and your story. You never know whose life you could touch.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) centers learning new skills to regulate emotions. In these therapy sessions, you will work with a mental health professional, who may also be an eating disorder specialist, in accepting who you are while simultaneously embracing changes in your behavior. The mental health professionals and eating disorders therapists trained in DBT assign skills to work on as part of their treatment plan. This may include skills like practicing mindfulness. Most DBT sessions are not organized as one-on-one sessions with a mental health professional. Instead, you will likely meet for 24 weeks in a group setting, with a mental health professional and others working towards eating disorder recovery, just like you. Together with your group and eating disorder counselor you will learn techniques such as mindfulness, stress management, relationship building, and emotional regulation
Other Types of Therapy
These are just a few of the types of mental health therapies available for eating disorder recovery. Other options may include family based therapy, where you and your family members meet with a mental health professional, or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), where an eating disorder specialist or mental health professional helps you find strategies to stay present in the moment.
In Closing
Seeing a mental health professional or therapist who works with eating disorders can be advantageous to your overall health. If your search for an “eating disorder therapist near me” is coming up pretty dry, keep in mind that therapy is even available online through BetterHelp. BetterHelp is where you can be matched with a therapist that has experience with the eating disorders and other health issues you're facing and is a licensed mental health professional. Working with a BetterHelp therapist means that you can message your therapist at any time and that you can schedule a phone, live chat, or video sessions with them to discuss your mental health - all from the comfort of your home.
Commonly Asked Questions On This Topic Found Below:
Who should I contact if I have an eating disorder?
What therapy helps with eating?
What are 3 examples of disordered eating behaviors?
What qualifies as eating disorder recovery?
What are the 7 examples of eating disorder patterns?
What is an Orthorexic?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is seeing a therapist free?
If you are living in a small community like Alaska the resources available for your usage may astound you. Places of worship, schools, hospitals, and community centers sometimes provide free family therapy centers that you can utilize to your advantage. Some community projects in places like colorado are also geared toward hosting different recovery and support groups that can offer extra care like providing eating disorder treatment centers to people who need them. Check out your local clinic if you are nursing doubts about where to start from.
There is a high probability that you’ll see someone there who is willing to link you up with the correct resources. If you were diagnosed earlier and the result stated that you have an eating disorder, you may be qualified to see a behavioral and psychiatric health service in your neighborhood that may help out with your eating disorder treatment. Reach out to any of the treatment centers or the department of health in your state to know if they treat eating disorders.
If you are located in carolina north dakota ohio and need family therapy you should check for a licensed therapist in the area.
Is therapy worth the price?
Therapy is completely worth its cost. Even though its price may appear to be outrageous in some places, think of it as a health investment that you are making that has the potential to address some of the biggest issues that are pulling you down health and work-wise. That way, it is easy to see why you need to visit one of the treatment centers to see a health professional.
Even if you live in california colorado connecticut delaware and you require individual or family therapy; you can research and try to find a qualified mental health professional near you.
Other locations like new hampshire carolina south dakota tennessee alaska arizona
also have regional mental health specialists that are available to meet your mental health needs. Cases of anorexia can be managed with a therapist that is qualified to treat eating disorders.
What is orthorexia?
Orthorexia is another eating disorder that involves the unsafe and excessive desire for healthy food. An excessive desire for “clean eating” or consuming “healthy foods” becomes thoroughly entrenched in the way of thinking of the individual so that it becomes a source of concern for his/her daily life.
If left unchecked for a long time, orthorexia can cause damage to the mind and body. It can also lead to serious health challenges like malnourishment that can cause protein deficiency disorders, which can damage vital organs like the kidney.
Co-present disorders like substance abuse disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety, and depression can surge the mortality and morbidity linked with orthorexia.
BetterHelp offers you direct contact with a mental health professional no matter your location that can treat eating disorders. Even if you live in alabama alaska arizona dakota tennessee texas Utah. All you need is a functioning internet and you can participate in a session with a mental health professional.
How common is anorexia?
- About 0.3-0.4 percent of adolescent women and 0.1 percent of adolescent men will have anorexia nervosa.
- Numerous contemporary research in the United States has utilized broader descriptions of eating disorders to precisely explain the scope of disorders that arise, leading to a high occurrence of eating disorders.
- Research conducted in 2007 asked more than nine thousand Americans about their opinions on mental illness assortment, like eating disorders. The result, which was made available in Biological Psychiatry, noted that about 0.3 percent of men and 0.9 percent of women experienced anorexia bulimia at a particular point in their lives.
- When the researchers monitored four hundred and ninety-six adolescent girls for eight years until when they turned 20, they found out that:
- 5.2 percent of these girls had what it takes to have binge eating disorder, bulimia, and DSM5 anorexia.
- When these researchers added nonspecific eating disorder to the mix, they found out that about 13.2 percent of these girls had DSM-5 eating disorder when they reached 20.
- Piecing together details obtained from different sources, Cara Bohon and Eric Stice (2012) noted that
- Between 0.9 percent - 2.0 percent of women and 0.1 percent - 0.3 percent of men will have anorexia nervosa.
- Subthreshold anorexia takes place in 1.1 percent - 3.0 percent of young women.
Adolescents between 15 – 24 years living with anorexia nervosa have ten times the chance of dying when contrasted with their peers of the same age.
About 25 percent of people living with anorexia nervosa are males. They have a greater chance of dying because they are frequently diagnosed later because a lot of people erroneously think that males do not come down with eating disorders.
Most people think eating disorders are limited to underweight people but this is a gross misconception. People living with anorexia can be of any weight. Also Eating disorders can also be linked to the eating habits in a home and may require family therapy
What does Diabulimia mean?
Diabulimia is an eating disorder that can be found only in people living with Type 1 diabetes. It occurs when a diabetic patient stops or reduces his/her intake of insulin to help them lose weight. You need to take the right dose of insulin to live if you are living with Type 1 diabetes.
Hence, you may start developing some serious consequences if you don’t take it. You may want to search through qualified mental health professionals for advice.
You may be well aware that the stoppage of insulin intake may help you shed some weight. But what you may not be well aware of is that the act can lead to an eating disorder. This condition is more common and life threatening than most people know. Similar to other eating disorders, diabulimia can affect both women and men. Although, this disorder can be severe, mental health professionals have the training to treat eating disorders like this one.
People living with Type 2 diabetes or other forms of diabetes will not have diabulimia. This eating disorder also has genetic links so family therapy may be necessary in its management.
Who is most likely to have an eating disorder?
Most of the eating disorders are more prevalent in girls and women than they are in boys and men. Teenage girls have a higher probability of having an eating disorder. Credible stats from eating disorders therapist have it that one child out of every four children that have anorexia is a boy.
Similarly, females have bulimia nervosa more than males, but comparable numbers of females and males have binge eating disorder. Some of the factors that can cause an eating disorder are:
- dieting
- being obese or overweight as a kid
- partaking in sports that center on being muscular or lean (i.e., bodybuilders, wrestlers, jockeys, runners)
- a profession that you to appear a particular way (actor, model, dancer)
Since eating disorders might be a result of habit imitation, family therapy may be implicated in its treatment. Living in arkansas california colorado carolina south dakota is no excuse to stay off therapy. You can find a therapist in your area or opt for a top notch online service. Eating disorders should not be underestimated as they can be life threatening.
What is Bigorexia disorder?
Bigorexia is a body dysmorphic disorder that makes you think that you appear too small or lacking in muscles.
People living with Bigorexia have the thoughts that something is wrong with their body appearance. As a result, it can influence the way they behave and relate with people.
If you suspect you may be living with bigorexia disorder, try to locate any mental health treatment centers in florida georgia alabama alaska arizona arkansas for assistance.
How often should you meet with your therapist?
You should meet with your therapist an average of 1-2 times per week. This number depends on the severity of the patient conditions. Eating disorders therapist may require you to attend up to three therapy sessions in one week or even four. Even if you live in colorado connecticut, you can find a therapist that will give you a well defined schedule for your sessions.
Recommendations for therapy sessions are contingent on the severity of the symptom of an illness that you have and how soon you want to start experiencing change. All disorder specialist treat various mental issues with the aim of improving their patients condition. You can also locate any of the treatment centers in arkansas california colorado connecticut to get help.
