Treatment of Eating Disorders: Therapy and Counseling

Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness with at least one person dying every 62 minutes as a direct result of an eating disorder, according to statistics by National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD.org).  In the United States, at least 30 million people of all genders and ages suffer from an eating disorder.

For more information about specific Eating Disorders that we treat, and how we treat them, please click on the below links:

Eating Disorders are highly treatable using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E), Intuitive Eating, and HAES.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a treatment modality that involves two core components, Cognitive Therapy AND Behavioral Therapy.  The Cognitive component of therapy first involves learning to identify distorted or “faulty” thoughts that lead you to doing compulsive behaviors. The Behavioral component of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy involves changing our behavior, or response to the original thought or obsession.

Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating is a nutrition philosophy, founded by dieticians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, that rejects diets and diet behaviors.  The philosophy encourages you to listen to your bodies for hunger and satisfaction cues, eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full, and trust your inner body wisdom.  The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating are as follows:

  1. Reject the Diet Mentality
  2. Honor Your Hunger
  3. Make Peace with Food
  4. Challenge the Food Police
  5. Respect Your Fulness
  6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
  7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
  8. Respect Your Body
  9. Exercise – Feel the Difference
  10. Honor Your Health

Health At Every Size (HAES)

HAES is an inclusive movement that supports people of all sizes, weights, and body types in addressing health directly by adopting health behaviors.  HAES does not focus on weight as the sole indicator of health.  Being thinner does not necessarily make a person healthier or happier.  A “healthy body” aligns with more than one body type and across a wide range of weights.