Weight Issues

Do you eat when you are not hungry?

Distract yourself with food in order not to have to deal with your feelings or uncomfortable thoughts?

Do you eat a large amount of food in a short period of time?

Do you eat in secret?

If you answered yes to one of more of these questions, you may be an emotional eater. Many people find themselves struggling with the effects of emotional eating. A person may struggle for years with attempts to lose weight only to gain it back again. They know that they use food to meet some emotional need, but have difficulty breaking out of the cycle. It is common to feel distressed about one’s weight and then eat to manage the distress which then leads to more distress about one’s weight. This can lead to feelings of guilt / shame or decreased self-esteem and self-confidence. It can be difficult to believe that you can break out of this cycle.

Research has shown that diets don’t work. Most people gain the weight back within a short period of time after finishing a diet. One reason is due to the sense of deprivation that most dieters feel while on a diet, and another is failure to address the emotional issues that led to the weight gain. Therapy helps an individual understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are contributing to their weight problems. It teaches individuals how to gain a greater sense of control over their emotions and their eating behavior which leads to healthy weight management.

Therapy focuses on improving attitudes about weight / shape / body image, changing behaviors related to eating, and recognizing how feelings such as boredom, anxiety, depression, anger, self-doubt, and loneliness are often managed with food. Therapy can be very empowering in that an individual can learn how to recognize and manage their emotional needs, and not numb themselves to their feelings or avoid them by eating.

Therapy not only provides an opportunity to gain greater self-awareness regarding one’s relationship to food, but also a greater understanding of how one’s social relationships may be helping or hindering healthy weight maintenance.

Areas of specialization:

• Weight Management
• Obesity
• Gastric Bypass Counseling (pre / post surgery)

04.02.2007. 15:06