The Holiday Season, although considered to be a joyous time, can be extremely stressful for anyone. As a therapist, the holidays are always a topic of conversation between myself and my clients with eating disorders, past traumas, as well as various other mental health concerns. Generally, the Holidays can stir up mental health triggers including […]
Thoughts on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving in Recovery Thanksgiving can be an incredibly difficult holiday for anyone in recovery. A holiday that celebrates and glorifies food, it can feel almost impossible for anyone who struggles with their relationship with food and movement to face it without feeling a certain level of anxiety. Thanksgiving rhetoric around food and movement can be […]
Considering Therapeutic Involvement and Interventions Within the Treatment of Chronic Pain
Chronic Pain September is Chronic Pain awareness month, and unfortunately, in my experience as a therapist, rarely do therapists ask their patients about chronic pain or their experiences with physical pain. In addition, rarely do clients feel that therapy is the place to speak about physical pain issues. That’s what medical doctors are for right? […]
The Privilege of Uncomplicated Visibility
As the protests over the killing of George Floyd and countless others continue and Pride month comes to a close, it is time to acknowledge the profoundly dehumanizing effect of holding one or more marginalized identities in our stratified society. This, and other difficult discussions, have been serious omissions in our blog for various reasons, […]
Coming Home to Your Body: How yoga can both challenge and support eating disorder recovery
Yoga & Eating Disorder Clients Clients normally have one of two reactions when I tell them I’m a yoga teacher. One – “Oh my gosh that’s awesome! Can we do yoga sometime?” or two “Oh……” usually followed by a long silence and palpable anxiety I can feel from across the room. To be honest, more […]
Understanding Trauma Therapy
You are so tired of living with the horrible effects of PTSD. You’re ready to stop letting the memories of your trauma trigger you into a state of distress. Most importantly, you want your life back. Many people are surprised to learn that the most important parts of trauma therapy have nothing to do with […]
Online Therapy for Eating Disorders
Your eating disorder is getting worse. You’re relapsing and not using the tools you learned in eating disorder therapy. Social distancing is hard and you’re bored so you resort to emotional eating or compulsive overeating to fill the void. Many people have been finding that the Coronavirus quarantine has been causing their eating disorders to […]
Binge Eating, Compulsive Overeating, Emotional Eating and COVID-19
During the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s understandable that people who struggle with eating disorders may experience worsening symptoms. Today, I will define binge eating disorder, overeating, and emotional eating. Then, I will discuss possible reasons why you may be struggling more with your eating disorder during the COVID-19 crisis. What is binge eating disorder (BED)? Binge […]
Why don’t sexual assault victims fight back?
A lot of people who have been sexually assaulted are further bothered by self-blame over having not fought back. We have ideas about what “strong” people are “supposed to do” in situations like this that are largely informed by movies and TV, and less so by science. But science actually can tell us a great […]
How to Use Online Therapy or Telehealth to Cope with the Stress from COVID-19
COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives. Suddenly, we had to going about our day to day business as we normally would and begin practicing social distancing. This change is impacting everybody differently. But, our normal routines can no longer be relied upon to keep us sane, grounded and connected. We have to work extremely hard […]