Archive for June, 2009

Can a “Practice” Help You Recover from an Eating Disorder?

June 28th, 2009

The sad truth is that only 32% of all people who have had eating disorder treatment are still in recovery after one year.  Many people spend thousands of dollars and months of their lives on treatment and still don’t recover.   As soon as one of those pesky, high-risk situations comes along, the person has a setback and soon is in full relapse.  Conversations with former patients highlight the difficulties they experience after treatment.

There are a number of strategies that can help prevent relapse, but one of the most successful is to develop a spiritual practice. Spiritual practice can provide a rock-solid foundation for recovery. 

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How to Build an Eating Disorder Treatment Center

June 15th, 2009

I had the good fortune to work at another eating disorder treatment program in the early 1990s. I learned a lot about eating disorders, and I saw first hand what I liked and didn’t like about treatment! Later, when I was in private practice, my clients included many young women who were athletes at the University of Arizona. I couldn’t help noticing how many of them went into treatment over the summer only to relapse once they returned to school in the fall.

At that time I was working on my PhD at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco. While studying Clinical Behavioral Medicine, I was introduced to concept of stress-related illness. It didn’t take long to recognize that many illnesses — including eating disorders — were the result of chronic stress. I knew then that an effective eating disorder treatment program would have to offer much more than traditional psychotherapy.

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Are Eating Disorders Hereditary?

June 3rd, 2009

Biological Theories and the Development of an Eating Disorder

One of the questions that seems to arise again and again is, “My aunt and my mother had an eating disorder.

  • Is it hereditary?
  • Am I at risk?

The high incidence of eating disorders in families has led researchers to think that there might be a genetic influence in the development of them. Studies have shown that 58% to 76% of the occurrence of anorexia nervosa can be attributed to genetic factors.

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Hospital’s Failings Lead to Graduate’s Death

June 3rd, 2009

A recent article in a British journal, The Haringey Independent, documents the tragic story of yet another young woman who lost her life because the hospital where she sought treatment failed to connect the dots between seriously low body weight and a history of alcohol abuse.

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Emotional Freedom Techniques

June 2nd, 2009

The Wikipedia Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) from Gary Craig and Wikipedia definitely put Emotional Freedom Techniques in the alternative medicine and energy psychology arena or what some people would refer to as “woo-woo”. I might have thought the same myself of Emotional Freedom Techniques except I had the good fortune to attend Gary Craig’s first training session in the mid-1990s.

The underlying philosophy of Emotional Freedom Techniques rests with the belief that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body’s energy field.As a person thinks about a disturbing memory or emotion and simultaneously taps on a series of 12 specific pressure points on the body, he or she is helped to free himself or herself from such disturbing thoughts through altering the body’s energy field, thus restoring it to “balance.”

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Treatment of Eating Disorders and Anxiety

June 1st, 2009

I read a newsletter the other day about how knitting can help alleviate anxiety for patients in an eating disorder treatment center. According to a study published in Eating and Weight Disorders: Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity, “theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that performing a concurrent visuospatial task reduces the emotional intensity of distressing images.” To determine whether a “visuospatial” task like knitting could reduce the anxious preoccupation experienced by anorexics, the researchers provided knitting lessons and free supplies to 38 women who were being treated for anorexia in a specialized eating disorder unit.

They found that 74% of the women reported that knitting lessened the intensity of their fears and thoughts and cleared their minds of eating disorder preoccupations. An equal number reported it had a calming and therapeutic effect, and 53% reported it provided satisfaction, pride and a sense of accomplishment.

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