As a licensed professional counselor, my work across various therapeutic settings—from private practice to residential treatment facilities—has cultivated my passion for and expertise in understanding eating disorders and their complex origins. My experience treating adults with eating disorders has shaped my approach to treatment and fueled my dedication to this specialized field. Today, I want to share some insights about the often-overlooked connection between trauma and eating disorders, and how addressing both is essential for healing. How Do Eating Disorders Develop? When patients ask me why someone might develop an eating disorder, I explain that there isn’t a single cause—eating disorders are multifaceted conditions with various contributing factors. Many eating disorder myths suggest these conditions are simply about vanity or control, but the reality is much more complex. Some of the most common factors I’ve observed in my clinical practice include: Soc...

Inside the mind of a Division I student-athlete, recovered from a 15-year-long eating disorder. One Pound Another bad practice. That’s three days in a row. Not good, not good.  I had plenty of bad diving practices throughout my 15-year career. “Bad” had varying degrees from I didn’t go in the water straight to I struggled implementing my coach’s changes to I got kicked out. The latter, more severe “bad,” usually meant my coach was so frustrated with me for not making changes or executing correctly that it was just better to stop. As my fellow athletes know, we’re taught to avoid cementing bad habits into muscle memory. If you do it wrong too many times, the body will remember the incorrect move more than it remembers the correct one. During my sophomore year at Stanford University, this particular series of “bad” practices was that I wasn’t completing my dives. For instance, my back 2-1/2 somersaults (off the 3-meter springboard) were more like 2-1/4’s. I wasn’t spinning as fast as I should and just not as powerful. My coach called me over to talk at the side of the pool deck. He looked very perplexed and asked me, “what’s going on?” I wish I knew. I don’t want to be slow or not make my dives either. I looked at him with an equally perplexed face but also staring down at the ground, feeling ashamed. “Have yo...

In the complex field of behavioral health, pushing the envelope in pursuit of innovative approaches to patient care is at the forefront. This holds especially true for Disordered Eating – a complex and oft-misunderstood facet of mental health which requires precise and reliable assessment methods. Diagnosing eating disorders can be challenging due to the complex variables that are commonly associated with the diagnosis: the varied symptoms they present the specific diagnostic criteria that may not capture the full spectrum of disordered eating behaviors the frequent co-occurrence of other mental health conditions the denial and shame individuals often experience the lack of awareness and stigma surrounding eating disorders the potential overshadowing of physical health complications These factors highlight the need for thorough assessments that take into account comprehensive histories and utilize multidisciplinary collaboration. Overall, a careful consideration of individual experiences and cultural contexts is required to ensure accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment planning. For many patients the easiest first step to get diagnosed with an eating disorder is an online diagnosis evaluation. As a rule, eating disorder sufferers tend to be hesitant to seek help in person due to feelings of shame, fea...

This content has been updated from previous article on February 15, 2021. The intersection of eating disorders and OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, stands out as a significant and intricate crossroads. Although commonly understood as separate conditions, these two disorders often share a common thread, revealing intriguing insights for both understanding and intervention. Even as far back as the 1930s, scientists have recognized a clear connection between OCD and eating disorders. This article uncovers the intricate dynamics between the two, aiming to enhance awareness and inform more effective health practices. Deconstructing Stereotypes of OCD and Eating Disorders Common misconceptions cloud our understanding of both eating disorders and OCD. Eating disorders often carry the stereotype of being a vain preoccupation of young women overly concerned about their appearance, while OCD might be simplistically imagined as an overzealous commitment to cleanliness or order. Cont...

This content has been updated from previous article on February 12, 2021. Eating Disorders affect an astonishing nine percent of people worldwide, or about 28.8 million people in the United States. That means that everyone probably knows somebody who lives with an Eating Disorder. These disorders are not only unnervingly common, but they are also dangerous. On average, someone in the United States dies from an eating disorder every 52 minutes. That makes Eating Disorders the second-deadliest mental health condition, second only to opioid abuse. Yet, as pervasive and dangerous as eating disorders are, they do not play a significant role in our public discourse. People often shy away from talking about eating disorders for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, this leaves room for myths and misunderstandings to take hold. It’s time to break that cycle by busting some of the most common myths about eating disorders. Myth: Only Teenagers Live with Eating Disorders Truth: Eating Diso...

The holiday season begins with giving thanks and ends with making resolutions and in between there are family gatherings, office parties, and Christmas movies. What ties the winter holidays together is the special foods, from turkey at Thanksgiving to gingerbread houses and yuletide logs. Even Christmas music rejoices in the food and drink of the season, making it an especially fraught time for those who struggle with eating disorders. Eating disorders indiscriminately affect all communities impacting 9% of the population worldwide. Eating disorders are also the second deadliest mental disorder after opioid overdose, making the holiday season a treacherous time for those in recovery. Contrary to popular belief, less than 6% of those with eating disorders are medically underweight and in many communities of color underdiagnosed as well. Common expressions of disordered eating include: anorexia, bulimia, restrictive eating, over exercising, body dysmorphia, binging and purging. Beyond the ubiquity of food and drink during the holiday season, it is also a time of reunions and performance-related gatherings large and small. These annual events may be triggering for those with disordered eating by re-exposing them to people at the center of the trauma, abuse, or attachment issues at the onset of their eating disor...

3 Steps You Can Take Now to Combat the Effects of Scrolling It’s the perfect storm. You stare at a Zoom screen all day, in close proximity to the snack cabinet during on and off quarantines. New Year’s resolutions get less resolute by the day as January creeps along, and 80% of people fail. Increases in mental health crises as pandemic stressors move from overwhelming to devastating. When you add social media scrolling, our nation’s favorite pastime, it’s easy to see how quickly body images concerns become more serious mental health problems. The Undeniable Connection Between Social Media and Disordered Eating Body image and disordered eating challenges start terrifyingly young, with some research showing that children as young as 3 are already unhappy with their bodies. But instead of growing up in a body-positive culture focused on nutritious eating and strong bodies, preteens’ vulnerabilities are further exploited by soci...