treatment for eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder + orthorexia

Your body and soul is dying from the inside out, and this is your way of trying to escape pain and an imbalanced biochemistry - both of which can be healed and rebalanced. Yes, it is deeply painful. And however much you may want to change and just let go, it seems it is beyond your control. There is a way out. You are NOT alone.

Having worked with the complexities from a medical, nutritional and behavioral aspect for over 15+ years at private hospitals and rehabs as well as clients in private practice, I know your struggle. Every single eating disorder is different and requires a customized approach to find lasting recovery.

I specialize in treatment for eating disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, Orthorexia and Binge Eating Disorder (BED). I work on normalization of eating patterns through strategies that match your degree of illness and your needs.

THE PURPOSE OF TREATMENT IS TO MAKE YOU A "NORMAL EATER".

The goal is to enable you to eat what your body-mind-soul intuitively wants to achieve satisfaction and well-being. I have been working with Intuitive Eating and Mindfulness-based Eating Awareness Therapy since 2009 and I am a member of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. Since then, more and more practitioners have started working with these concepts, which have gradually become internationally recognized treatment strategies. I started working with the concept of intuitive eating at private hospitals and in group therapy, when it became clear to me that calorie counting, rigid diet plans, restrictive lists and weight control did not lead to any healthy relationship with food and body in the long run. Nevertheless, elements of these things may be necessary as part of a recovery process until one's biochemistry is balanced and one can actually rely on body intuition. This state can only be tapped into, when we let go of our eating disorder voice and/or black-white brain washing around food choices. 

strategies I use to help you Recover from Your Eating Disorder

• Customized Nutrition Counseling

• Laboratory Testing + Biochemistry Balancing

• Metabolism Reset (restoring digestion, hormones + metabolism in recovery)

• Meal Exposure Therapy incl. Restaurant Outings

• Intuitive Eating + Mindfulness-based Eating Awareness Therapy

• Emotional Distress Distraction Skills

• Automated Negative Thoughts (ANTS)

• Decoding Your Hunger Tools (body, mind and soul)

• Group Therapy (topics incl.: Body Image, Social Skills, Nutrition Education, Relationships + Authenticity/Identity Exercises)

• Ongoing Collaboration and Referral Back To Other Primary Treatment Team Members

WHICH STRATEGIES ARE USED DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS.

In many cases, we will start by creating regularity and stability around food with strategies based on mechanical/guided eating that can reduce blood sugar problems and cravings. Mechanical eating serves the purpose of helping to restore balance and and decision fatigue associated with food in the beginning stages. This is the first step: rediscovering a regularity and structure that can support becoming an intuitive eater in the long run.

Breaking The Chains Of An Eating Disorder Is NOT A Matter Of Willpower.

Anyone who ever uses the reasoning "just use willpower" when it comes to changing your relationship with food, body and weight or any addiction for that matter, has no clue about the biochemical forces driving this type of disease. We are humans, and we cannot rely on willpower to change  - why 95% of all diets fail.

We only change permanently, when we factor in the biochemical imbalances driving our self-destructive habits; willpower alone will never out-master an imbalanced biochemistry.

I Use An Individualized Holistic Approach That Emphasizes Self-Esteem, Intuitive Eating, Biochemistry Balancing And Decoding Your Hunger.

My approach to help transform your relationship with food, body and weight is also based on restoring biochemical balance - addressing the biology behind the disease, along with the behavioral factors in retraining your hunger/appetite switch and resetting your metabolism. The goal being to THRIVE in the skin you are in - body, mind and soul!

Becoming An Intuitive Eater Doesn't Happen Overnight.

It is, however, the only way to reconnect body-mind-soul and learn how to feed yourself in a truly nourishing manner while feeling free.

My goal is for you to get back in tune with your body's hunger/fullness signals and to develop a normal relationship with food, body and weight without needing to weigh, measure or eat to the dot of some written plan.

By listening to hunger and fullness cues and to what the body is craving, our body will naturally find a weight where it feels comfortable. This is known as the body’s set-point weight. 

The Stages of Intuitive Eating.

A bulimic or anorexic cannot rely on their intuition alone in the early stages, because the voice of the disease overrides body intuition. On the contrary, it can cause chaos, hopelessness and further poor self-esteem, because one feels as if they cannot rely on themselves through intuitive eating. Conversely, it will also be problematic if one does not switch to intuitive eating after a period of mechanical eating, when the body has become accustomed to regularity and a stable blood sugar. If we continue with mechanical eating, we are actually stuck in a disturbed eating behavior characterized by coercion, rules and rigidity - and totally disconnected from desire and well-being (one's intuitive needs). If we do not listen to the body, we become unhappy / angry / oppressed with time and stuck in black and white thinking. This problem is known from psychology, where it has long been known that the key to letting go of something is to give permission. When we deny ourselves of all possible foods, we become obsessed with them and live in a state of chronic deprivation. In the long run, this can feel just as oppressive as having an eating disorder (and for some this escalates into Binge Eating Disorder).

EXTREME SELF-CONTROL IS AN EXPRESSION OF A TOTAL LOSS OF CONTROL.

Any eating disorder is actually a loss of inner control and ability to deal with emotions and there is often an overcompensation through external parameters which we can control. Eating disorders such as Anorexia and Orthorexia are mistakenly portrayed and glamorized in the media as the ultimate control and self-discipline. This leads many to believe that they are not "good enough" / "sick enough" to receive treatment as their diseases are glamorized. BED and bulimia (overeating disorders) are often portrayed as a lack of self-control and that you "just have to get it together", which means that many - both men and women - never get the help they need, as it is exhibited as a self-control problem.

How To Become A Normal Eater

Many dietitians and nutritionists use set meal plans. While these can be helpful in the early stages, there are many cons to these. They are very rigid and based on rules where you are relying on outside parameters on how much to eat, instead of tuning into your body's actual daily needs which vary. As a start you want to understand the various factors on why you are reacting with an eating disorder - the biochemical, psychological aspects both. A small mini-step is simply gaining awareness during meals. Checking in during various times throughout the meal can help us to be mindful while eating. This is not a change that happens from one day to the next, but to seize being self-destructive, we need to start being mindful of how we are reacting. If we don’t notice it, we can’t change it at the core. You can read more about elements of recovery on the blog I write here.

during meals try Asking Questions Like:

• Where is my hunger/fullness level?

• Am I enjoying this food?

• What would make my eating experience more pleasurable in this moment?

• Would I rather be eating something else?

• Am I staying present while I am eating, or is my mind wandering around?

• What external things influenced my food choices today?

• How can I reconnect to the internal signals my body is giving me?

Asking questions, being curious and mindful during mealtimes will be beneficial to someone trying to become a more intuitive eater.

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