5 Steps to Help Your Clients Reach their Eating Disorder Recovery Summit!

Eating disorder recovery is like climbing a mountain – I was reflecting about this as I reached the summit of Bergen Peak in Evergreen, Colorado (see video below)! It was a long and sometimes difficult journey, but my traverse was eased by those who had created a trail to reach the summit. In addition, I was prepared, carrying the essentials that I needed with me in my backpack, and wearing the right gear. But it all began with my commitment to embark on this journey, and trusting my Inner Guide for Inspiration to complete this climb.

During my own eating disorder recovery, I learned five essential principles, and practicing these principles on a daily basis gradually allowed me to let go of eating disorder behaviors and embrace a new life of freedom! Now, as a Licensed Addiction Counselor and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, I share these five principles with my clients. These principles comprise the method I created, Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ – and I provide training and certification for Eating Disorder Recovery Coaches and Treatment Clinicians  to be able to help their clients. EDIT™ Certified professionals are like mountaineering guides, using these five EDIT™ Principles as steps to the summit of eating disorder recovery success.

1. Love Your Self – Commit to the Recovery Journey!
Even if clients have some ambivalence, emphasize their worthiness to recover and live the life they truly want to live! Give your clients essential tools to begin their recovery journey – these are specific EDIT™ Worksheets you’ll provide in an initial session. Using the hiking analogy, you’ll give your clients a backpack (which will be filled in the next steps), and a map (so they don’t feel likely they’re blindly wandering into the unknown). Some clients might wonder, “What about my bathroom scale? And a mirror?” You might explain that a bathroom scale would be a heavy item to carry, and use EDIT™ Worksheets to help them find freedom from weighing (or measuring their bodies in any way). As for the mirror, you can suggest that this journey of recovery will involve discovery of their True Self, which can’t be seen as an image of the body reflected in a mirror. Hold the vision of your clients as their True Self until they can envision this themselves.

2. Be True To Your Self – Enjoy Nourishment for the Whole Self!
This includes the body, mind, heart and soul – or, the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of recovery. Introduce the concept of listening to one’s Inner Wisdom, or Intuitive Therapist (IT) within themselves. Start with the EDIT™ Worksheets which help clients access their Intuition, and then guide them with the EDIT™ Worksheets for Intuitive Eating and Intuitive Exercise (or Mindful Movement).  Using eating disorder recovery as a mountain climbing metaphor, emphasize the importance of water, meals and snacks, and assist your clients to add these to their backpack for their recovery journey. To further support the body, your clients need adequate hiking shoes or boots, and trekking poles can make it easier on the knee and hip joints. Remind your clients that this recovery journey is not a sprint, and encourage them to take lots of breaks along the way.

3. Express Your Self – Attend to Thoughts, Feelings, and Authentic Needs!
This is a critical step on the eating disorder mountain climbing journey. Guide your clients to gently notice their thoughts and feelings, and assist them to be curious about their authentic needs (shifting from ED to IT). There are essential EDIT™ Worksheets which facilitate this process. Sometimes the path may be very clear and clients can proceed with ease… celebrate your clients’ successes! And then the path might disappear. have your clients wandered into the weeds (filled with thoughts from the ED mind) instead of the Way of Recovery (filled with hope and encouragement from the mind of IT)? Prepare your clients when the Way gets challenging, such as climbing through scree (broken rock fragments and loose stones that are often at higher elevations, especially nearing a mountain summit). This is when clients are concurrently climbing high and yet “slipping back” to address core issues. Affirm that the Way has challenges, and moving through these leads to workable solutions and more freedom from ED! Offer EDIT™ Worksheets to guide clients to develop healthy coping skills and explore those deeper issues. Clients may appreciate having a journal in their backpack, so they can take note of their challenges and successes on their recovery journey. Sometimes, life can get messy, so be sure that your clients have toilet paper and a trowel (to dig a hole and bury the s*** left behind)!

4. Give To Your Self – Become Full-filled from Within!
Many clients struggle with the concept of “enough.” They might strive to be “good enough,” always striving yet never arriving, it’s “never good enough.” This can be mimicked through ED behaviors, such as restrictive eating to reflect an inner emptiness, or binge eating in an attempt to fill a hole inside. Meanwhile, basic needs are barely being met. It’s like your clients are going in circles near the mountain top, unaware of who and where they really are, looking outside themselves for approval instead of pausing to realize their own Self-validation. Clients will never feel “good enough” listening to the voices of the world, also hearing the chatter from the mind of ED and the inner critic, which keeps them spinning. What would happen if you guided your client over to a couple of trees, where they can hang a hammock (which you thoughtfully put in their backpack)? Encourage your client to truly pause – and just be in the moment. This can be a challenge for clients, so assist them through visualizations and other EDIT™ skills. It’s like there is a spring-fed well that can suddenly appear anywhere your clients are, as long as they can be still and know their Intuitive Therapist is with them. This Inner Wisdom can spring forth, providing full-fillment from within, and clients can finally experience and appreciate their enough-ness. Guide your clients to affirm, “I AM good enough, always have been, and always will be!”

5. Believe In Your Self – Reach the Summit of Recovery Success!
By practicing the first four EDIT™ Principles, clients can begin to see the summit… only to realize that when they reach it, there is another summit that becomes visible. In the eating disorder recovery mountain climbing analogy, this is known as a “false summit.” It’s like working sooooooo hard, only to realize that you haven’t arrived to the top, and there’s still seemingly sooooooo much more to go on the journey. Somehow mustering more strength, the journey continues. But where is this strength coming from? Is it the small-s false self, who can experience moments of freedom from ED by controlling the ED behaviors, reaching a false summit? Or is it the Capital-S True Self, who has found a renewable Energy Source with Infinite Power and lasting Freedom from ED, which is always available by staying aware of one’s Mind? This is the Mind of one’s Intuitive Therapist and True Self, rather than the limited mind of the false self, still caught up in striving-yet-never-arriving, vulnerable to relapses with ED. Remind your clients that they have a compass (another recovery tool you tucked into an easily accessible side pocket of their backpack). The false self’s eyes are limited, but the Eyes of the Soul can see the Way (even in the dark). Clients might feel hopeless, like they’ll never reach the “real” summit, but with their Inner Compass, they Way is clear. At last, the mountain top is reached! Clients are so Grateful, often feeling Joy that they haven’t experience in years or decades. On top of this mountain, they have a 365º view of the world around them. They see other summits they can rise up to, and valleys they can venture into very deeply.  They realize that the journey of recovery can continue, by proceeding with the Confidence of their Intuitive Therapist as their ongoing Guide in Freedom.

“Love Your Self, Be True To Your Self, Express Your Self, Give To Your Self, Believe In Your Self,” you remind your clients, as they conclude their work with you. They smile and nod their head, knowing that this EDIT™ Message is always within their True Self.

*****

Article may be reprinted with the author bio below.

©2020 by Dr. Dorie McCubbrey. Dr. Dorie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Licensed Addiction Counselor who is passionate about training professionals to effectively guide clients in recovery from eating disorders. She is the President of the EDIT™ Training Institute LLC, which provides training and certification in her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™.  She also provides sessions for clients who struggle with these issues, either in person or by phone/video. Learn more at: https://www.drdorie.com

*****

Want more that this “taste” of EDIT™? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized programs for people in recovery from eating disorders and who struggle with weight issues, and  EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – GET CERTIFIED – ATTEND ONLINE RETREAT

The post Eating Disorder Recovery and Mountain Climbing appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

The second EDIT™ Principle involves everything about INTUITION – how to use one’s intuitive wisdom for guidance about eating, exercise, and everyday life. This intuitive wisdom is what we can also call the insight of the Intuitive Therapist within us all. People with eating disorders typically only hear the chatter of their eating disorder (ED) mind. But as EDIT™ Practitioners, we model the voice of the Intuitive Therapist (IT) until clients can her IT within themselves. The EDIT™ process involves having ED-IT dialogues with clients. Here’s what this might sound like:

ED (false self) – “I follow the rules and do what I should do.”

The “rules” involve eating, exercising, and other eating disorder behaviors, as well as countless expectations of others. The false self adopts these rules as ones own, unaware that they are being imposed from outside influences. Many rules contradict each other, which is a setup for the rules to be broken, followed by attempts to resume the rules with even more rigidity. The false self is adamant that it is moving in the right direction, without realizing it is blindly going in circles.

IT (True Self): “I trust my intuition, in all areas of my life.”

Intuition is an inner knowing, a gut feeling, an awareness which comes without any logical analysis – it is the “voice” of the True Self. Intuition is accessed to guide all decisions, including career direction, family and relationship choices, as well as eating and exercise selections. The True Self may listen to the others opinions, then discern whether they are in alignment with ones own values. The True Self has an inner compass, which always points in the right direction.

Try this “taste” of EDIT™ – Reasons WHY We Eat

Click on the image below for a downloadable worksheet which you can use to explore how the concepts of intuition can be applied to eating disorder behaviors. Discuss the three reasons WHY we eat, and guide your client to trust their INTUITION for the type and amount of food their body needs.

Scroll below the image for guidelines about using the worksheet.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT

I’m feeling low on energy, and need a snack…
I just finished dinner, and want something sweet…
I’ve just had a stressful day, and want my favorite comfort food…

Can you relate to eating for these three different reasons? The first is the body’s PHYSICAL NEED for food – or, HUNGER. The second is a PHYSICAL DESIRE for specific foods although not necessarily hungry, for example, dessert – also called APPETITE. The third is an EMOTIONAL DESIRE for specific foods, as a means of self-soothing – referred to as COMFORT. It’s normal to eat for all three of these reasons – and eating disorders reflect being out of balance with why we eat. Eating disorder recovery is about restoring this balance, through Intuitive Eating.

As a little more background information for you as an EDIT™ practitioner – I developed the terminology for these three reasons why people eat as an outcome of my own research. I observed the eating patterns of people who reported never having had an eating disorder, and noted that the reasons people ate fell into three main categories. My original terms were “Physical Need,” “Physical Desire,” and “Emotional Desire” – which I have since simplified as “Hunger,” “Appetite,” and “Comfort.”

On a typical day, people without eating disorders reported eating for the three different reasons with these percentages: Hunger (75-100%), Appetite (0-25%), Comfort (0-10%). What this means is that some days, a person might eat in this distribution: Hunger (75%), Appetite (15%), Comfort (10%). Another day, perhaps their proportions may be: Hunger (90%), Appetite (10%), Comfort (0%). Occasionally, people without eating disorders reported: Hunger (100%), Appetite (0%), Comfort (0%). However, most often, people without eating disorders ate with some percentage for all three reasons.

When I ask people with eating disorders the reasons why they eat, I often find different ranges for different types of eating disorders. For example, people with Anorexia typically report something like: Hunger (100%), Appetite (0%), Comfort (0%). However, many anorexics resist eating even if they do feel hungry, and only eat if they feel extreme hunger. In contrast, people with Bulimia or Binge Eating Disorder typically report something like: Hunger (0%), Appetite (25%), Comfort (75%). These individuals may actually eat some of the time because they are hungry – but to them it might seem like they are eating because they “want to” but don’t really “need to.” These individuals especially identify with eating for comfort, noting that they use food as a means of coping with intense emotions. People who identify themselves as having a Food Addiction report a slightly different percentage, usually something like: Hunger (0%), Appetite (75%), Comfort (25%). These individuals tend to relate to the concept that they are drawn to the taste of food and “love to eat,” but are less aware of using food as a means of emotional coping.

When you use this worksheet with your clients, begin by explaining the three reasons why people eat. Next, ask your client why they tend to eat on a typical day, so you can get a sense of their percentages for each of the three reasons. Ask your client why they think they “should” eat – any they will probably say something like, “I should only eat when I’m hungry” – which is what many weight loss programs advocate. Emphasize that it’s OK to eat for all three reasons, and then encourage your client to being their journey of Intuitive Eating by simply noticing their current eating patterns. Encourage them to gently ask, “Why am I about to eat right now?” Non-judgmental awareness is the first step in eating disorder recovery!

©2018 by Dr. Dorie McCubbrey. Dr. Dorie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Licensed Addiction Counselor who is passionate about training professionals to effectively guide clients in recovery from eating disorders, through her Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ Certified program. She also meets with clients at her treatment center, Positive Pathways PLLC, located in Evergreen Colorado. Learn more at: https://www.drdorie.com

Article may be reprinted with this author bio.

*****

Want more that this “taste” of EDIT™? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE – GET CERTIFIED

The post Be True To Your Self appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. She guides her clients to learn the real facts about nutrition – in this article, you’ll learn the facts about fats. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle about becoming a client (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

Do you constantly crave sweets?
Do you try to avoid sugar, but eventually binge?
Do you wonder if you have a sugar addiction?

We are constantly bombarded with conflicting nutrition messages; “Eat only foods that are fat-free or low-fat,” “Consume high fat food and lots of protein,” “Avoid all carbohydrates,” “Everyone should follow a Paleo diet,” etc. Let’s step away from the fad diet band wagon for a moment, and consider why it’s important to consume all nutrients in moderation – including carbohydrates.

Foods containing carbohydrates are broken down to glucose in your body, which is the key nutrient. Examples of a few carbohydrate-rich sources are foods containing sugar like desserts or candy – as well as bread, rice, grains, lentils, potatoes, pasta, juice and fruit.

Carbohydrates are an important energy source for your body, which you likely are aware of already. Not only are they important to provide energy for your body but they also provide fuel for your brain to function. Glucose is the only nutrient that can cross into your brain to be used as fuel to allow you to concentrate and think clearly.

What is often not talked about is how important carbohydrates are for the production of making the messenger’s in your brain, specifically serotonin, which is responsible for functions such as making you feel happy and relaxed, as well as helping you sleep, regulate your blood pressure properly, have pain sensitivity and control your mood.

Have you put carbohydrates into a “bad food” category? Especially sugar – have you told yourself that you should never eat sugar, because you have a “sugar addiction”? If so, do you find you restrict sugar and then binge on sugary foods or other carbohydrates, which can often lead to a feeling of being out of control? Your brain knows you will feel better, think more clearly and sleep better if you eat carbohydrates – therefore, if you avoid them, your brain will keep reminding you to eat them until it often becomes an overwhelming need to over consume them (often snack foods, like chips, crackers, pastries, candy or dessert). This tendency of using food as if it were a drug to help you feel better, can lead to weight gain which then reiterates your belief that carbohydrates are “bad.”

Have you ever been on an Atkins diet? Most people describe they get incredibly irritable and can’t think clearly when they follow a low carbohydrate diet, such as Atkins. This is because their carbohydrate intake is so low that they have no fuel for their brain to function properly nor can they make serotonin effectively.

What if you practice getting away from the thought that “carbohydrates are bad” and “sugar is addicting,” and instead focus on telling yourself carbohydrates are essential to consume throughout the day to help you decrease binges, think more clearly, and provide you with a more stable weight. Practice getting away labeling food as good and bad and instead work on incorporating everything in moderation – including sugar!

*****

Looking for guidance with NUTRITION? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Sugar Craving: Why Am I Constantly Eating Sweets? appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. She guides her clients to learn the real facts about nutrition – in this article, you’ll learn the facts about fats. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle about becoming a client (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

As a Registered Dietitian, part of my role is to provide education about nutrition. I recently taught a class on emotional vs. physical eating. I started the class by asking who felt they were an emotional eater, at which point about half of the class identified they emotionally ate. How about you? Let’s identify what exactly physical vs. emotional eating means, and discover which category you fall into majority of the time.

After I spent some time explaining this chart, the whole class was able to identify that they all do indeed emotionally eat. The reality is, we all emotionally eat at times – but, we each have differences in the frequency that it happens and the quantity of food consumed. We all link food with certain memories and we’re either taught or have learned to use food for enjoyment, to comfort ourselves, or try to satisfy a particular emotion we’re feeling. There is actually nothing wrong with some emotional eating; I bet you didn’t think you’d hear that from a dietitian!

Emotional eating does become a problem, though, when it begins to affect someone’s weight negatively – with significant fluctuations, either up or down. Emotional eating is also a problem if it starts to control someone’s life to the point where food becomes their primary coping tool, leading to a complete loss of the ability to eat according to true physical hunger/fullness cues.

So, maybe it’s time to stop beating ourselves up if we have a little something because it just sounds comforting or good. What would happen if you actually acknowledged that some emotional eating is normal, and give yourself permission to have food at times for this purpose? The key is to make sure you have a balance of other coping tools you also incorporate as well so you have balance.

*****

Looking for guidance with NUTRITION? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Eating Disorders: Physical vs. Emotional Eating appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I’d like to introduce you to Janelle Hunt, who is a Registered Dietitian and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. Janelle worked with me at my previous office location in Denver, Colorado. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate clinician, who specializes in nutritional counseling for people in recovery from eating disorders. In this article, you’ll learn about how a dietitian who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders can help you as a client. If you’re “hungry for more,” please contact Janelle (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie

My name is Janelle Hunt, and as a Registered Dietitian, I’m excited to be joining the team of therapists at Positive Pathways! I’ve specialized in treating Eating Disorders for the past twelve years, and I am an EDIT™ Certified Counselor who can offer nutrition counseling and much more. I welcome the opportunity to be a guide on your journey of recovery!

What can I expect when I work with a dietitian?
I’ve found that many of clients have either had bad experiences with dietitians or are confused at the role an eating disorders dietitian can play in their recovery. First of all, I’m not going to change everything you are currently eating! I focus on taking the judgment out of what you eat or don’t eat and help you learn to understand your intuitive cues. Your current and previous behaviors and dietary intake have likely played the role as a coping tool, so it’s important to understand this and give yourself grace during the recovery process. We work together as a team, and I find a balance to point out ways we can work on adjusting your dietary intake to help you decrease behaviors and meet your individual goals.

What can I learn about nutrition to support my recovery?
Certain nutrient deficiencies or the way we eat can greatly impact depression, anxiety, mental function, as well as how we feel physically. So, it’s my job as an eating disorders dietitian to guide you to achieve an overall better sense of well-being. I will help you work on eliminating your good and bad thinking around food as I believe we can incorporate all food into our lives and enjoy it. Many clients who have struggled with disordered eating often have a significant amount of nutrition knowledge, but I can help you sift through this information to determine facts vs myths. I work at your pace but am here to help push you just outside of your comfort zone.

My hope is that this helps clarify my role as an eating disorders dietitian, and helps to ease any fears. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like to set up a complimentary consultation. I hope to meet you soon!

*****

Looking for NUTRITION COUNSELING? Contact Janelle Hunt, MS, RD – the author of this blog article. She is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in nutritional counseling for eating disorders. – EMAIL JANELLE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE

The post Eating Disorders Dietitian & Nutrition Counseling appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

Cheesecake and poundcake and fruitcake, oh my!  It can be challenging to be surrounded by so much food during the Holidays. You might tell yourself you just won’t have any of those sweet treats you really like… only to find yourself obsessing about eating them, and then ultimately binge eating and possibly purging. What would it be like to make peace with food this year during the Holidays? Binge eating help is here! Try these Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ strategies at the next Holiday Buffet or Family Gathering you attend:

1. Check in with your hunger.  Your body’s unique hunger signals are a direct link to your intuitive wisdom. When you pause to align with your hunger, you can work with your body to overcome anorexic avoidance or binge behaviors. How hungry are you right now?  What subtle signs indicate you are feeling hungry? What specific food would best satisfy your hunger?  Is that specific food available at the buffet or party you’re attending?  If not, what can you substitute to adequately address your body’s need for specific nutrients? Do you have a snack with you which you could enjoy instead?

2. Check in with your desire.  The sight and smell of food can trigger a desire to eat. These desires for food can feel confusing and sometimes overwhelming. When you pause to notice your various desires for food, you can clarify your true desires and eat intuitively rather than impulsively. What specific foods do you have a desire to eat right now? Are there some which have more appeal than others? If you could only choose one specific food, which would you select? How much of that food do you need to satisfy your desire? Would you rather have a few bites of several different foods?

3. Check in with your emotion.  Eating disorder behaviors can be a way to avoid feeling intense emotions, so it’s not so much what you’re eating as what’s eating you. When you pause to notice what you are feeling and why you are feeling this way, you can begin to address your true needs (which may or may not be for food). What are you feeling right now? Can you identify a primary emotion — glad, sad, mad? Can you describe what you are feeling in more detail, noting its intensity and where you feel it in your body? What message does this emotion have for you — and does it involve eating?

Recovery is about reconnecting with your Intuitive Wisdom regarding what, how and why you eat — you can make peace with food!

Article may be reprinted with the author bio below.

©2014 by Dr. Dorie McCubbrey. Dr. Dorie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Licensed Addiction Counselor who is passionate about training professionals to effectively guide clients in recovery from eating disorders, through her Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ Certified program. She also meets with clients at her treatment center, Positive Pathways PLLC, located in Evergreen Colorado. Learn more at: https://www.drdorie.com

*****

Want more that this “taste” of EDIT™? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE – GET CERTIFIED

The post Binge Eating Help for the Holidays appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

I remember what it was like when I was struggling with eating disorders – I tried to hide my eating disorder behaviors from others, I justified my actions if I was confronted, and I denied that I had a problem. I felt ashamed about my eating disorder behaviors, confused because I couldn’t control them, and afraid to ask for help. To cover up all of those uncomfortable feelings, I turned to my eating disorder even more. Can you relate?

Eventually, I had a moment of honesty with myself – I admitted that I had an eating disorder, and that I needed help. I had a friend who was in school to be a social worker, and I contacted her to see if she had any resources for me. She told me about eating disorder support groups in my area, and suggested that I start there. What?!? Walk into a room full of people I don’t know, with the label eating disorder stuck to me?

My friend explained that other people at eating disorder support groups probably felt the same way when they went to their first meeting. She added that although I might not know anyone, that we would all share a similar experience – and that I would quickly feel understood and connected with others. Really? There are other people like me? I won’t have to feel so alone any more?

I contacted the facility where the eating disorder support groups were held, to get some additional information, and to ease my worry about what to expect. I learned that there were usually 4-6 people at the eating disorder support groups, and that the groups were led by a therapist who had her own recovery experience. I finally tried my first group, and I was immediately welcomed into the room. We discussed strategies for recovery, and I felt such hope! Does this sound good to you?

As a result of my own eating disorder recovery, I became inspired to guide others with what I had learned. As a Licensed Addiction Counselor and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, I have been leading eating disorder support groups and providing eating disorder counseling for more than 20 years. The eating disorder support groups we provide at Positive Pathways are very similar to the original groups I attended. Would you like to try a group?

The format of our eating disorder and addiction recovery support group features check-ins about your week (what is going well, and where you are feeling “stuck”). After each check-in, group members offer feedback and strategies they find helpful to support their own recovery. We then have discussion about Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ recovery skills, and topics from addiction recovery books. In nice weather, we meet outdoors!

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Want to try a SUPPORT GROUP? Dr. Dorie starts new groups when there are enough people who express interest to attend. Please let her know you wish to participate, and what days and times are best for you. Each group is typically 90 minutes. EMAIL DR. DORIE

Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions.  She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE – GET CERTIFIED

The post Eating Disorder Support Groups appeared first on INTUITIVE THERAPY™ | Healthy Weight Loss | Eating Disorder Recovery Coach.

It’s the New Year – and according to Time Magazine, 39.6% of people surveyed set a resolution to lose weight this year. According to the Center for Disease Control, more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese (BMI ≥ 30). Some of the health risks commonly associated with obesity include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. Many people who are overweight or obese want to lose weight as a means of reducing these risks.

However – typical diets, exercise and weight loss programs address the symptom of excess weight through the control of caloric intake and expenditure. The Binge Eating Disorder Association reports that about one-third of people enrolled in commercial weight loss centers have Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – and dieting has been shown to cause binge eating, especially in people who already have BED. There is only so much “willpower” that can be used as a means of adhering to restrictive diets, and numerous studies have shown that 90-95% of dieters regain any weight they lose within 1-5 years.

Diets don’t work – so what will work to lose weight (and keep it off)? Here is some “Don’t Diet” food for thought:

• Stop Trying to Lose Weight – instead, focus on health gains. According to Linda Bacon, the author of Health At Every Size and founder of the HAES™ community, overall health is more important than any number on a scale. In fact, many people who are a “normal weight” or “underweight” may not be healthy. Who is to say what BMI is truly healthy for each individual? With health as a goal, the achievement of a healthy weight is a natural outcome.
• Don’t Deprive Yourself of Foods You Love – practice intuitive eating and mindfulness skills to enjoy your favorite foods. Discover how to abandon your “food rules” – good/bad, always/never, clean/forbidden – and truly enjoy a healthy sense of freedom with food. Giving yourself permission to have all food doesn’t mean that you’ll eat all of it at once – that’s “impulsive eating.” Trust your intuition!
• Start Loving the Body You Have Now – your body can’t change instantly, but your mind can. Why not think positive thoughts about how your body looks and everything that your body can do – you’ll feel better, and also take better care of yourself. Self-Love (which is the first EDIT™ principle) is about much more than loving your body, but it’s a great place to start!

Article may be reprinted with the author bio below.

©2014 by Dr. Dorie McCubbrey. Dr. Dorie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Licensed Addiction Counselor who is passionate about training professionals to effectively guide clients in recovery from eating disorders, through her Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ Certified program. She also meets with clients at her treatment center, Positive Pathways PLLC, located in Evergreen Colorado. Learn more at: https://www.drdorie.com

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