Recently a new therapist asked me, "Do you try to get your clients to diminish their bingeing behaviors from the beginning of therapy or do you explore their feelings first? I know there are differing views on this."

When I heard this question, several points of equal value, in my opinion, arrived simultaneously in my mind concerning therapy work with eating disorder patients.  Please understand that these considerations are simultaneous.

My first thought was that I don't try to 'get' my clients to do anything. I want them to heal and develop the capacity to live a fulfilling and satisfying life. But what that means to them and how they specifically accomplish that falls into the realm of their personal values, decision making and evolution.

Experiencing a situation where you are the layoff messenger and must inform a few or hundreds of people that they are losing their jobs can be incredibly challenging and emotionally charged. It's natural to have a mix of conflicting emotions, including survivor guilt, anxiety, compassion, and even relief.

Exploring the emotional weight of announcing a massive job layoff when you are not the decision maker:

Survivor Guilt:

Survivor guilt often arises when you witness others experiencing adversity while you remain in a relatively secure position. In this layoff

                                                            
If you have an eating disorder you may yearn for this kind of peaceful sleep.

Eating Disorders: Impact on Sleep and Vice Versa

Individuals with eating disorders often face significant challenges when it comes to sleep. The bidirectional relationship between eating disorders and sleep disturbances means that both conditions can exacerbate each other, leading to a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break. Understanding the causes and impacts of sleep disturbance in eating disorders is crucial for developing effective strategies to address these issues and support the recovery process.

Anxiety and Stress Affect Sleep and Stimulate Eating Disorders

Food craving: strategies to divert your attention can be as simple as observing nature.

Food cravings can be challenging, but there are several strategies you can try to manage them effectively. Here are some tips:

Recognize the craving:

The first step is to acknowledge that you're experiencing a food craving. Understand that it's a natural response and that craving is temporary.

Identify triggers:

Pay attention to what triggers your craving. It could be stress, certain environments, specific emotions, or even specific foods. Once you know your triggers, you can take steps to avoid or manage them.

Tip for Freedom from Disrupted Eating

Regardless of whether you binge eat, overeat or did in the past, when you have someone in your life who supports your well-being you have a gift in your life. You know the benefits of knowing that she or he listens to you when you are hurting.  Knowing that she or he cares about you and helps you get back on track restores your faith and confidence in yourself. 

The recovery tip is: reciprocate. When you trust this person and come to rely on him or her to have your back, you both will benefit more if you find meaningful ways to reciprocate.

Reading quality novels can help your mind and spirit grow beyond the mental and spiritual chokehold of an eating disorder.

Reading quality novels can be particularly helpful in eating disorder recovery for the following reasons:

1.   Emotional Connection:

Novels often provide rich and nuanced portrayals of characters and their experiences. By immersing themselves in a well-written novel, individuals in recovery can form emotional connections with the characters

Relapse after Recovery

A thirty-three year old man told me he had been a binge eater most of his life and now was fully recovered. Food has been a non issue for two years.

His statement inspired me to think about what the term recovery means to many people. 

Healing questions to find your authentic center. 

Healing Question: Are you using your eating disorder as your center?

You developed an eating disorder to hold your emotional and psychological life together. Something interfered with your developing a solid self core that could sustain you through the trials and challenges of living. Developing an eating disorder is a creative act. You created a core center that you can support by controlling how you eat (or don’t eat), how you exercise, how you isolate and how you limit your life to specific habits and routines.