Eating disorder therapy is a safe space to unpick the deep-seated emotional reasons for food and body image concerns. A specialist therapist can help you gradually change troubling behaviours and create a more healthy relationship with food and your body. Inpatient eating disorder treatment offers 24-hour care and intensive support. It includes individual counselling and psychotherapy, group therapy sessions, keyworker nursing and dietary guidance.
Counselling For Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are a serious and life threatening condition. They develop when a person’s behaviour around food becomes dangerously out of control – if untreated they can lead to death. Often eating difficulties are a way of masking other difficult feelings and so it is vital that people seek help early. Typically there are underlying issues that precipitate disordered eating like low self-esteem, perfectionism and obsessive compulsive tendencies. Long periods of food restriction can cause severe vitamin and nutritional deficiencies that impact upon physical health and mental wellbeing.
Treatment consists of psychological therapy (CBT – adapted to eating disorders) alongside some nutritional support. Patients are helped to think through the advantages and disadvantages of changing their current behaviour and to take a more balanced view of themselves in relation to shape and weight. They are also helped to recognise and challenge the various dietary rules they adopt, together with the beliefs that maintain them. Depending on the type of central london eating disorder counsellor, therapists may also help patients to adjust problematic thoughts and behaviours.
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder (BED) is a common but complex condition. It involves regularly eating large amounts of food in a short time and feeling compelled to do so. This overeating leads to feelings of a loss of control. People with this eating disorder may feel guilty after binging and compensate by making themselves sick, using laxatives or excessive exercise. They also tend to have a very low self-esteem and low body image.
Psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), is the main treatment for binge eating disorder. It helps patients to examine the patterns of thinking and behaviour that contribute to the condition. They may also be offered medication or a diet. Beat’s HelpFinder tool can help you find a local eating disorder clinic.
Orthorexia Nervosa
Although orthorexia nervosa is not listed in the DSM-5 and ICD-10, this disorder has received increasing attention among eating disorders clinicians due to its rising prevalence in western societies with an emphasis on healthy eating. Personality traits such as perfectionism and neuroticism, a history of dieting, and body dissatisfaction are common risk factors for developing this condition. The primary symptom of this eating disorder is an obsession with healthy foods, which can lead to rigid dietary restrictions and excessive preoccupation with food purity. In addition, individuals with this disorder often experience psychological symptoms such as denial, low self-esteem, and feelings of depression and anxiety.
Therapy for orthorexia nervosa typically involves psychoeducation, nutritional counseling, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT involves changing maladaptive thoughts and beliefs that are associated with the disorder. Nutritional counseling focuses on addressing nutritional deficiencies and imbalances that result from restrictive diets while also promoting a healthier relationship with food. Psychoeducation can be provided on a one-to-one basis or in group sessions.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterised by binge-eating and compensatory behaviours such as vomiting, misuse of laxatives or excessive exercise. Those suffering from bulimia often hide their eating and compensatory behaviours, which makes the condition difficult to diagnose. It is often a hidden illness that can lead to serious physical health complications, including heart and kidney problems, esophageal damage, constipation and dental issues. People with bulimia may also suffer from low self-esteem and depression, and they are at higher risk of other mental health disorders. This can make it harder for them to seek treatment, but if they get help early on, the chances of recovery are much better.
Cognitive behavioural therapy can help people understand the negative thoughts that contribute to their bulimia and learn new emotional and behavioural responses. Interpersonal psychotherapy can improve relationships and teach skills for dealing with conflict, and occupational therapy can help people return to their normal lives away from their eating disorder.
Conclusion
For children and young people, the Royal Free London CAMHS eating disorder service offers a virtual bulimia treatment programme. This includes guided self-help therapy and a therapist based treatment programme. This involves helping people to develop regular eating patterns, which help to replace binge behaviours with more healthy coping mechanisms such as exercising and dieting (but not purging). It also helps them to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of change.
