Eating Disorder Treatment Questions with Orlando Therapist…

Do you dread family gatherings and social events because they are centered around food? Are you completely preoccupied with calculating calories in and calories out? Do you panic when you put on your favorite jeans and they seem to fit a tad bit differently? Does the possibility of having a ‘normal’ relationship with food seem like a pipe dream?

 If you resonate with any of the sentiments from above, you might be struggling with an eating disorder. And you’re not alone. Did you know that 9% of the U.S. population will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.* That’s 28.8 million Americans who will struggle with their body image, their relationship with food, and their relationship with exercise. 

As therapists in Orlando, we support our clients with eating disorders by providing a safe space for our clients to confront their anxieties and reimagine their relationship with their body through Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

We sat down with Samantha Bickham, LMHC, eating disorder specialist at Mindful Living Counseling Orlando, and asked her some specific questions about treating eating disorders, and here is what she had to say.

What types of Eating Disorders do you treat? What are the differences between these Eating Disorders?

At Mindful Living Counseling Orlando, Orlando Therapists treat individuals who are suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder (BED), and Bulimia Nervosa. 

Anorexia Nervosa is characterized as: 

• Restrictive eating

• Engaging in compulsive exercising or excessive movement

• Hyper focusing on weight gain and engaging in ways to lose weight (i.e. purging, laxatives, over-exercising, counting calories, rigidity around food choices, only eating low-calorie foods).

• Body checking (looking at reflection frequently throughout each day, fixated on certain body parts in fear of there being any changes or flaws)

• Consumed with thoughts of food and being around food

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is characterized as: 

• Frequently eating until uncomfortably full within a 2 hour time frame

• Eating at a quick pace. 

• Feeling out of control when eating

• Eating even when full or not hungry

• Hiding/ hoarding food

• Feelings of disgust, guilt, or shame after overeating

Bulimia Nervosa is characterized as: 

• Binge eating is followed by a way to compensate for the food consumed by purging, use of laxatives or diuretics, fasting or excessive exercise 

The difference between Anorexia and Bulimia is that there are no binge eating episodes in Anorexia. 

What are some of the interventions you use to treat these Eating Disorders?

Treating Eating Disorders often takes a holistic approach. As eating disorder therapists we focus on educating our clients about eating disorders, the expected stages of change throughout the recovery process, and the philosophy of intuitive eating. 

We also provide individuals with mindfulness and emotion regulation skills from DBT to help manage their distress that’s often experienced around eating and it’s a negative effect on the body’s image. We work with our clients to accept what is out of their control (in relation to their bodies and their environments) and find ways to gain back power in their lives. This can be done by implementing healthy boundaries for themselves, making values-based decisions, being able to be their authentic selves, and feeling confident about themselves in a world that isn’t always tolerant of the differences that make everyone unique and human. 

How does Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) help with treating Eating Disorders? 

EMDR helps with treating eating disorders by building on the client’s strengths, normalizing the struggles and experiences that have led to the need of the eating disorder, and by helping to create a more adaptive, recovery-focused perspective of self and the world around them.  

EMDR will focus on the negative belief that the person has, usually that there is no other means of control outside of the eating disorder, and will help to minimize the doubt and fear.  

A lot of times ‘recovery’ can be terrifying for individuals with eating disorders because that means they are giving up their sense of control or that they are giving up the ‘ideal body’ that the eating disorder has promised them. EMDR allows them to move through this fear by recognizing that they are capable and strong. It allows them to process through the memories that made them doubt themselves in the first place so that they no longer depict how the person lives their life.

How do you use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help with Eating Disorders?

ACT allows the client to reevaluate what is important to them and begin to prioritize those things again. 

Instead of getting caught up on trying to be something they think they need to be to meet society's standards, ACT allows them to accept them for who they are (perceived flaws and all), and be true to their authentic self. 

With ACT, clients can learn to experience emotions and thoughts with curiosity and compassion instead of judgement. (To read more on how curiosity and compassion are helpful in healing, check out this article). Often clients with eating disorders struggle with perfectionism and extreme thinking (not allowing space for the in-between, either I am a success or I am a failure). With ACT, the client can learn to be comfortable within the grey areas of life (to live in duality, I am successful and sometimes I fail) and can learn to Ride the Wave, as the saying goes in ACT. Emotions rise and fall a lot like waves do and it can be helpful to imagine yourself surfing the emotion with different life skills taught in ACT (such as Defusion and dropping anchor) as you would a wave. 

Eating disorders often convince people that they have to be in control at all times. ACT gives them the tools to find peace with the idea that they can’t control everything, nor should they feel responsible to control everything. ACT provides clients ways to help them thrive in the grey areas of life and to make the most of the plot twists that life will inevitably throw at them. 

How do you use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help with treating Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders often impact a person’s ability to be in the moment because the eating disorder voice is lost in thoughts of the future or the past with “what ifs...” and “should haves...” 

These thoughts often spiral around what was eaten or not eaten, how many steps or minutes of exercise were squeezed in throughout the day, and how the body may or may not have changed with each bite that was taken or each step that was missed. 

DBT provides a client with ways to take a step back from the emotions surrounding food, exercise, and their body, and look at them with curiosity. This allows the person to be able to be mindful and make space for what is coming up and what is underlying the eating disorder. Eating disorders are often created to help numb, suppress, or avoid difficult emotions that come up from exposure to unhealthy environments and internal struggles. DBT provides effective and healthy ways to manage and work through emotions.  

DBT also allows a person to break out of the self-deprecating habits that they find themselves automatically falling into when they begin to sense any form of distress coming their way. Mindfulness plays a huge role in breaking out automatic behaviors. Mindfulness could look like noticing where they feel the emotion in their body or bringing themselves back to the here and now by splashing cool water on their face or breathing in essential oils. 

Eating Disorder Treatment with Orlando Therapist

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Mindful Living Counseling Orlando. We have a few openings for new clients seeking therapy in Orlando.

*Deloitte Access Economics. The Social and Economic Cost of Eating Disorders in the United States of America: A Report for the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders and the Academy for Eating Disorders. June 2020. Available at: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/striped/report-economic-costs-of-eating-disorders/.

Mindful Living Counseling Orlando is a trauma healing center. Our Orlando Therapy Services include anxiety therapy, trauma counseling, eating disorder recovery, teen counseling, and healing from toxic relationships. At Mindful Living Counseling Orlando, we use a down-to-earth approach infused with cutting-edge therapies that go beyond traditional talk therapy so clients can heal at the root level and experience lasting change. Feel free to access one of our Guided Meditations to help you feel settled and calm now.