Weight Issues/Overeating

The diet industry is booming because of the emotional toll that being overweight exacts on individuals, despite that most research suggests that over 95% of all those who lose weight will gain it back within a year.  Therefore, diets don’t work.  More than the food you eat and your habits need to be examined in order to successfully manage your weight.  And perhaps even more importantly, the motivation that created these habits needs to both be understood, and attended to.

Societal contempt is often projected onto individuals with eating disorders.  This not only causes emotional pain, but also may cause problems in their relationships with themselves, relationships with others, depression, and anxiety.  Some may even experience prejudices at work or at home.  Many overweight individuals will experience body hatred and self hatred.  This self hatred in some is so extreme that they may even have thoughts about death or suicide.

Hilda Bruch in 1973 did research that suggests that food fills an emotional void.  She theorized that eating disturbances are related to an inability to identify feelings, including physical sensations and emotions.  Therefore, food may be used by many to squelch feelings that haven’t even been identified.  In times of stress, anxiety, sadness, food can feel helpful to all of us.  But for compulsive overeaters, food may be more than an occasional friend; it may be one of only a few resources for emotional comfort.  This is how food can become a form of self medication.  Food used as self medication can become an addiction, like any compulsive behavior or substance.

Finding a therapist who is non-judgmental and sensitive to food issues is of the utmost importance.  Often clients experience shame and embarrassment about food and weight issues.  I want to emphasize my compassion and care for all my clients, and especially those who have issues with compulsive eating. 

Finally, it may be important for some to know I work with clients from a psychodynamic, as well as a cognitive behavioral approach.  My work with clients who struggle with compulsive overeating, more specifically, includes looking at the underlying motivations and messages for compulsive overeating and finding a food plan that works for that individual.  I also assist clients in finding additional resources to further their recovery and growth.