Disordered Eating & Eating Disorders

Disordered Eating & Eating Disorders

This program is to work in tandem with behavioral support.  Disordered eating and eating disorders, can be coping mechanisms for many things in life including past trauma, anxiety, loneliness, and dissatisfaction with how your body looks.  Often it is not about the actual food at all, though many food rules are created around specific types of food to feel a sense of control.

If you would like to learn skills to move past and let go of your disordered eating pattern or eating disorder, contact us for nutrition education, meal plans, and behavioral support. Clients address their triggers and behaviors at their own pace, and work with the Dietitian to create practical and comfortable goals while implementing new behavior patterns.

There are many restrictive eating patterns that are very common and affect long term health. Often a sense of control and perfectionism drive us with a motivation of being healthy that subsequently, becomes unhealthy when our life feels out of control, and we cling to our behaviors (restricting, purging, laxative abuse, diuretics) to regain our sense of being “on track, able, reliable, and having our lives together.”

Competing in endurance sports (triathlon, ultra running, cycling) or anesthetic sports (gymnastics, wrestling) often places pressure on us to look the part of an elite athlete. When we attend events we may feel inadequate regardless of how hard we train, simply because we think we aren’t lean enough. You know that it isn’t rational but if you haven’t lived up to making perfect food choices, or resisted eating “bad” foods, then you may not feel worthy of being an athlete at a specific event These are thoughts that affect your health in the long term – bone density, hormonal imbalance, vitamin & mineral deficiency.

A combination of therapies is best in treating an eating disorder. For this reason, we only work with patients under the following conditions:

1. The patient has regularly scheduled appointments with a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist or has confirmed attendance at an intensive outpatient program.

2.  The patient must be diagnosed by a medical doctor with a specific eating disorder.

3. An answer of “yes” to any of the questions below, illustrates a patient in need of a higher level of care than we can provide.

  •  Has the client been a resident at more than one Eating Disorder treatment facility in the past 12 months?
  • Is the client managing drug or medication addictions?
  • Has the client attempted to hurt themselves or anyone else in the past six months?

4. Insurance coverage rarely covers nutrition counseling for eating disorders. For this reason, we currently only accept cash and credit and offer discounts when paid in advance.

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