Are You Seeking Whole-Body Healing And Health?

Are you, your teenager or another loved one struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating patterns and/or body image issues that are shrouded in shame, secrecy and self-loathing? Is food running or even ruling your life? Perhaps you’re using food to cope with trauma, manage stress and/or to feel in control, but the food rituals, restrictions and regimes that helped for a while now feel like a curse. Maybe you’re struggling with body image issues, obsessing over the number on the scale and what your body looks like and could look like.

It might be that restrictive eating regimes, obsessive dieting and painful exercise routines take precedence over everything else in your life, and your world is beginning to feel smaller and smaller. Or, maybe you’re binge eating, overeating or engaging in compulsive eating routines, seeking some semblance of comfort that inevitably ends up making you feel worse.

Whether eating too much, too little or consuming nutritionally bankrupt foods, irregular and unbalanced eating habits may be creating physical, mental and emotional discomforts, such as digestive problems, anxiety, depression, trouble with concentration, strained relationships and increasingly lower self-esteem. It might be that what you once thought you could control has taken control of you, and you finally feel exhausted by living in pain, secrecy and shame. Are you ready to break free from harmful eating patterns, find and foster a healthy relationship with real, whole foods and and cultivate a lifestyle focused on whole-body health?

You Are Not Alone

According to statistics by the National Eating Disorder Association, it’s estimated that roughly 30 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder, such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, although that number is arguably much higher. Many people with disordered eating patterns do not seek therapy or treatment. Rather, they suffer in silence due to embarrassment, denial or confusion. Eating disorders can also differ vastly in how they are expressed, often showing up through restrictive diets and/or orthorexia, a fixation on eating only foods that one considers healthy.

We also live in a society that places significant emphasis on the ideal body type, especially when it comes to women—although men are increasingly affected, too. However, for women, this 5’9,” both curvy and athletic build is only achievable for about 7 percent of the population, leaving the rest of us chasing some unattainable ideal, comparing ourselves to others and losing touch with what are bodies, minds and spirits need to feel healthy and whole.

As consumers in a food-centric culture, it’s also common to struggle with binge eating, overeating and compulsive eating. Statistics suggest that more than 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. Biologically we are designed to only consume so many calories a day; however, the processed food industry, which profits from overeating, has skillfully used marketing tactics and food production technology to create food designed to increase caloric intake. “Big Food” has now effectively created a nation of overeaters who are increasingly unhealthy, desperate to lose weight and experiencing a significant disconnection from proper nourishment.

If you’ve decided that you no longer want food to rule your life, I can help. As a certified nutritionist, clinically trained dietitian, psychotherapist and mindfulness coach, I can help you get to the root of disordered eating patterns and develop and maintain a healthy relationship with food.

Eating Disorder Treatment Provides Healing And Whole-Body Health And Wellness

It’s nearly impossible to solely “think” your way out of a body-focused problem, which is why it is so important to focus on the healing and integration of mind, body and spirit when recovering from disordered eating. In a safe, warm space, free from judgment and pressure, we will work together to identify, explore and address the role that food plays in your life. There is always a purpose for disordered eating and reasons why you developed a love/hate relationship with food. Whether due to trauma, family of origin and cultural messages about food and body image, attempts to control an aspect of your life or to mitigate stress—to name just a few—uncovering underlying issues helps inform effective steps you can take to make desired changes in your thinking and eating habits. We can also work somatically, using the innate wisdom of your body to identify what happens to it when under stress, through eating certain foods and what it wants and needs to heal. Taking a mindfulness approach, we can also get to the root of the how what you think and feel, as well as how issues from the past, contribute to what’s going on in your life today. Using both mindfulness and body-centered work, we’re able to clear the residue trails from the past, which can positively affect what and how you eat and feel about yourself present day.

Informed by decades of education, advanced training and experience, my approach to eating disorder treatment is highly holistic, promotes whole-body health and healing and is based on a healthy fusion of food, mood and mindfulness. This integrated approach helps you address what, why and how you eat; identify how you feel about food and your body, with an emphasis on cultivating self-love and compassion; and offers practical, sustainable strategies that promote ideal health. Based on your unique history, lifestyle, needs, goals and our comprehensive assessment, I will custom-tailor a therapy strategy inclusive of daily body-focused practices designed to help you feel better in your body and a food plan that incorporates a whole-foods approach to eating, promotes optimal nutrition and helps you achieve holistic and sustainable results and recovery.

Regardless of what kind of disordered eating habits and/or body image issues you are struggling with, you can foster a healthy relationship with your body and food. With a willingness to do the work and within a trusting and safe relationship, it is possible to develop a loving kindness toward yourself, integrate mind, body and spirit and heal what’s been fractured. You don’t have to face these challenges alone. I’ll be with you through the ups and downs that are inevitable in life, offering ongoing encouragement, nonjudgmental compassionate support and practical guidance along the way.

You might still wonder if working with an eating disorder specialist is right for you…

I’ve been in treatment a number of times and nothing has worked. How would working with you be different?

You can’t think yourself out of a body-focused problem in which food is used in an attempt to regulate emotions and cope with life, which is why solely cognitive, thinking-based approaches to eating disorder treatment rarely yield sustainable results. Until you work holistically and with modalities that promote mind-body-spirit healing and integration, the same ingrained patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving will likely continue. Everything is interconnected, which is why I integrate practical, nutritionally-based, mindful and somatic approaches into our work together. My multifaceted and effective approach is customized to meet your needs and goals, effectively shift habit responses and promote sustainable change, healing and recovery.

How long does disordered eating treatment generally take?

My method of eating disorder treatment is highly individualized and based on your specific needs and goals. While the length of treatment varies from person to person, the overall goal is to help you develop the self-regulation skills, confidence and independence you need to thrive outside of my office. And, while clients usually find me after other attempts at recovery have failed, if you are not improving, I will suggest that you try a different approach. Essentially, however, the length of time spent in eating disorder therapy is entirely up to you. Your mind, body and spirit will know when you are ready to take the work out of the office and apply all you have discovered and learned without ongoing support.

I’m not sure if my teenager has a problem with eating and body image issues or if his/her behavior is within the scope of normal adolescent development. Either way, I’m worried. What can I do to help?

You know your child best. And, if you’re worried, there’s likely a valid reason for your concern. I invite you to call me to talk about what is concerning you, the prevalence of eating disorders in teens and signs of disordered eating to look out for. I can also meet privately with your child for a basic assessment and then offer you some informal and/or formal feedback on what course of action might be best for your child and/or your family as a whole. I firmly believe that there is a path to healing for everyone and am here to help you and your family discover yours.

Integrate And Heal Body, Mind And Spirit

If you’re in Scottsdale, AZ or the surrounding area seeking a holistic and sustainable approach to eating disorder treatment, I can help. I invite you to contact me through the website or at 480-675-4568 to schedule a no-obligation call or meeting to discuss your needs and goals and determine if we’re a good fit. Due to the mind-heart-body-spirit centered quality of this work, I’m not the right fit for everyone; however, I truly love working with clients who really want to get better and are ready to engage in the holistic work needed to move out of shame and secrecy, heal body, mind and spirit, and foster whole-body health.