EATING DISORDERS
I have been working with people with eating disorders and their parents and partners for more than 2 decades, facilitating groups and workshops, providing individual and couples counseling, conducting trainings for professionals, and providing education on eating disorder prevention. I am deeply committed to helping people with eating disorders to liberate themselves from the shackles of food and weight obsession so that they can have more expansive and meaningful lives and relationships. I work with a multi-model team which includes family therapists, nutritionists, psychiatrists, and medical doctors and believe that collaboration is essential to the work with eating disorder patients due to their high utilization of and need for other physical and mental health related resources. I work with the whole spectrum of eating disorders, including:
- Binge Eating
- Bulimia
- Anorexia
- Chronic Dieting
- Night Eating Syndrome
When I work with an eating disorder patient, I do an extensive assessment that covers a number of categories, among them: medical; psychiatric; social and interpersonal; sexual and developmental; family of origin issues; other impulsive or addictive behavior; and traumas and losses. I believe it is important to get as full a picture as possible to understand the present symptoms and to determine the appropriate treatment protocol for each patient.
Using a mixture of psychodynamic, motivational interviewing, and cognitive behavioral approaches, I challenge distorted beliefs and highlight the role my patients’ symptoms play in helping to relieve stress and manage emotions, in enhancing self esteem, fostering a sense of control and identity, and filling an inner void. At the same time, we work to develop healthier coping tools and more positive self talk, to shape a more solid sense of self esteem and self worth, to cultivate more nourishing relationships, and to find fulfillment in more meaningful pursuits and activities.
Prevention Efforts: Because I have been in a position to see all too often the devastation that eating disorders wreak on sufferers’ lives — diminishing their capacities, impairing their relationships, and causing chronic physical and emotional problems — I have become increasingly interested in effective prevention methods. One of my main aims is to instill healthy eating habits and positive body image in children to inoculate them from the ravages of this illness. I now offer workshops for parents to teach them how to interact with their children in ways that will enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy, and impart a healthy relationship with food and with their bodies. This is a new direction I have taken in my work and one which holds great meaning to me, both as an eating disorder specialist and as a parent. I would like nothing more than to help grow children who feel fully confident and at ease with themselves and who feel empowered to leave their unique mark on the world.
I offer several workshops and seminars to promote eating disorder prevention and to help eating disorder sufferers and their families, including:
- Cultivating Healthy Eating Habits and Body Image Workshops
- Eating Disorder Prevention Workshops For Mothers of Daughters
- Conscious Eating Workshops for Binge Eaters, Chronic Dieters,
and Disordered Eaters
- Partners and Parents Workshops for Family Members of Eating
Disorder Sufferers
Ten Tips for Developing a Healthy Body Image