Blog
-
As I continue to work in the therapeutic space of disordered eating and eating issues, I remain skeptical of the emphasis on the eating behaviors themselves. What I’ve found, time and again, is that eating issues are largely couched in a number of emotionally-rooted issues, including anxiety, concerns about control, phobias and fears, low or externally-based self-esteem and self-worth, and…
-
One of my friends tells her story of growing up with a mother with “issues” rather matter-of-factly, but the details are pretty grim to listen to. “She would stop talking to me for no reason, for days at a time, and put a gift on my bed when she decided she was done being mad at me. We never talked…
-
Happy day to all of us working to reduce the stigma of mental health diagnoses, and to all of us diagnosed. We are the dreamers, the storytellers, the artists, the empaths, the healers, the warriors, the advocates, and the visionaries of the world. Be bold, be loud, and remain open – there is still so much work to do !
-
When individuals begin to see me for therapy, it is very often because they have gotten fed up with some part of themselves that they feel needs changing, fixing, or altogether eradicating. They’ll introduce this part of themselves to me as their “stupid anxiety” or “annoying depression” or “ridiculous obsession with eating,” etcetera. They judge themselves mercilessly for whatever their…
-
Last week was Weight Stigma Awareness week, initiated by the National Eating Disorder Association in 2011 as a means of bringing attention to the impact that weight stigma has on disordered eating, mental health, and healthcare for those with eating disorders or individuals living in larger bodies. It’s an important week for the eating disorder community, and I want my…
-
As clinicians, we are built from the ground up to disregard ourselves. This begins in our training process, when we are instructed on how to listen well to someone. It is made clear that we are ears, not mouths. We’re warned not to bring too much of ourselves into session with us, so as to keep a trained and steady…
-
For whatever reason, psychotherapists are assumed to be masters at navigating relationships. I completely understand this assumption, since we talk about relational health and vulnerability and honesty all day, but I’ve frankly never seen it play out in real life. Our relationships are as challenging and nuanced and messy and human as everyone else’s – and because we spend all…
-
Life is good. There is lots of room for travel, for friends, for Vitamin D and sunshine, for self-exploration and contemplation and laughter and dessert. This is Growth Mode – a period of expansion and stretching out into myself, and I’m grateful for it because I know times don’t always feel like this. There are the grow-y, stretch-y, expand-y times,…
-
I wrote recently about choice-making. Here’s why: I find myself at an influx in several ways – I’m unsure of the very important question of what exactly to do next. I am lucky that I have too many rather than too few ideas. While I’ve loved living in a New England “city” in many ways, a recent trip to Philadelphia…
-
In a conversation on the phone today, my best friend said something brilliant and noteworthy. (He is given to doing this on a whim). He said, “A great many people have compromised their souls in the name of safety and security.” (Told you it was smart. And yes, he actually talks this way, which is one of the reasons why…