Therapy/counselling for overeating

[MsPea]

anyone have any experience of this?

I'm using CD to address the physical side of my problems with overeating but I am seriously considering getting some therapy or counselling to deal with the mental issues and to try to address my unhealthy relationship with food.

Problem is that I don't know where to start as I've never had any sort of therapy and have no real experience of the industry/regulatory side. I don't even know what sort of therapy is best or how to access it. A lot of psychotherapists seem to be jacks of all trades - is it best to find someone who specialises in eating disorders?

If anyone was willing to share their experiences with me or to recommend how best to go about finding someone suitable, I'd be really grateful.

Any comments/ help much appreciated. Thank you my lovelies.

xxx

 

[podgyman]

Hi,
i am not a medical professional, i think you will maybe have to go privately to get this. The simple answer would be to go to your GP, they would be able to find someone to help you from a purely counselling side of things and help make sure it is someone who isn't a quack!
There is a lot to be said about understand our relationship with food, i would maybe be a bit cheeky and suggest that as you are on CD that you CDC *should* be providing some support regarding changing your relationship with food, given you are paying her....
Now if theres more deep issues then i understand that might be unreasonable but part of the deal with cambridge as i understand it is that you lose the weight and they help bring you back to a good understanding of a balanced diet

 

[spangles]

I think th op has deep-seated issues with food, and it would be unfair to imagine that a CDC is qualified to deal with this. Even lighter life, where you pay extra for the group therapy sessions, the counsellor isn't trained or qualified like a psychotherapist is likely to be.

I'm going down the therapy route after cd. I planned to do it during the diet, but from the perspective of abstainance, I seem to have a logical, calm attitude to eating. I can't get in touch with what was triggering the irrational, self-harming behaviours I compulsively showed around food. But I'm not so optimistic to believe they've gone for good.

As to the question of where to find help - some years in the past I was referred by my GP to a general therapist who was of moderate use. More recently I've moved area and my new GP offered to refer me to our local eating disorders clinic (as an out patient!) but I wouldn't be able to take time off work every week to go. So I shall have to go privately.

There's a website called something like 'find a therapist' - I'm on my phone so I can't check - but it showed me all the therapists in my area who say they have experience with eating disorders. When I'm ready, I'll choose from there... But so much of therapy is about the personal relationship, so if we don't click, I'll move on.

In the last ten years or so (since my last therapy) CBT has become the default option for treating eating disorders. I've no experience of it, and I wonder that I'm too cynical (CBT books rub me up the wrong way) - but I haven't tried it properly and I probably should.

 

[IWillBeAYummyMummy]

My CDC reccommended CBT to my mum. The NHS waiting list is 18 months for it though x

 

[AnnieAnnie]

I used the b-eat website (specifically for easing disorders) which has a list of cllrs and the methods they use & fees. Mine cost about £50 for a 1 good session. It was usefuk, but in the end it became more about her & her experiences & she was quite unreliable. Other cllrs may be better.

I did discover a lot though, so it was helpful. Apologies if this sounds very self indulgent & irrelevant to you, but may help. It was useful because I told her certain behaviours & she explained edgy I had them & how it was damaging. It certainly made me much more aware of how my life fitted in with my disorder, something I hadn't thought about before. For example, I'm the least organised person in the world & my life is usually chaos & drama. She explained that order would make the eating disorder better & that the chaos I was creating was about injecting interest & stress in to my life. Like little adrenaline rushes but over relatively boring things such as always leaving the house 5 mins late to see if I can be on time. I certainly do feel better & have food more under control when there is more order in my life.

She also told me a useful technique which was to think about food (when I was eating for the wrong reasons) as a drug. So if I'd had a bad day & was thinking about a bag of chips on the way home, compare it to using drugs. Because essentially by over eating carbs, you are altering your blood sugar so you feel sleepy. So when I was considering the chips, I'd think "would I stop for cannabis right now?' & that would help me not too. When I use food like this it helps me to see it not as food (as that's not what it really is) but as a way to alter the way I'm feeling. I also imagine the food physically pushing down my feelings further in to my body & how damaging that is. No matter what I think, it's better out because the feeling passes.

When I did Cambridge first time round I thought that the pain of it & the excitement of being slim & how proud I was of myself would keep me there. I was wrong. I need to put systems in place so that I can deal with the urges, which inevitably return. Exercise is the best I think, as it reduces stress & releases endorphins; along with eating low carb. There are some trigger things which it is just easier for me to not eat rather than eat them & exercise willpower. Seemingly a lot of people with eating issues have more success at keeping them at bay with low carb (there are a couple on the Atkins board).

I'm going to use a slimpod when I'm eating again to improve my relationship with food. There seem to be some good results (again, a board on here for it). I don't get on with CBT, I can't help finding it patronising & when I'm about to overeat it is too logical for such an illogical act.

Hope this may have helped, sorry to digress from your initial question. It's definitely worth a go, but the slimpod may be a cheaper option to try first. Good luck with whatever you decide

Sorry for any rogue words, have written this on my phone & the predictive text is random!

AA

 

[AnnieAnnie]

I used the b-eat website (specifically for easing disorders) which has a list of cllrs and the methods they use & fees. Mine cost about £50 for a 1 good session. It was usefuk, but in the end it became more about her & her experiences & she was quite unreliable. Other cllrs may be better.

I did discover a lot though, so it was helpful. Apologies if this sounds very self indulgent & irrelevant to you, but may help. It was useful because I told her certain behaviours & she explained edgy I had them & how it was damaging. It certainly made me much more aware of how my life fitted in with my disorder, something I hadn't thought about before. For example, I'm the least organised person in the world & my life is usually chaos & drama. She explained that order would make the eating disorder better & that the chaos I was creating was about injecting interest & stress in to my life. Like little adrenaline rushes but over relatively boring things such as always leaving the house 5 mins late to see if I can be on time. I certainly do feel better & have food more under control when there is more order in my life.

She also told me a useful technique which was to think about food (when I was eating for the wrong reasons) as a drug. So if I'd had a bad day & was thinking about a bag of chips on the way home, compare it to using drugs. Because essentially by over eating carbs, you are altering your blood sugar so you feel sleepy. So when I was considering the chips, I'd think "would I stop for cannabis right now?' & that would help me not too. When I use food like this it helps me to see it not as food (as that's not what it really is) but as a way to alter the way I'm feeling. I also imagine the food physically pushing down my feelings further in to my body & how damaging that is. No matter what I think, it's better out because the feeling passes.

When I did Cambridge first time round I thought that the pain of it & the excitement of being slim & how proud I was of myself would keep me there. I was wrong. I need to put systems in place so that I can deal with the urges, which inevitably return. Exercise is the best I think, as it reduces stress & releases endorphins; along with eating low carb. There are some trigger things which it is just easier for me to not eat rather than eat them & exercise willpower. Seemingly a lot of people with eating issues have more success at keeping them at bay with low carb (there are a couple on the Atkins board).

I'm going to use a slimpod when I'm eating again to improve my relationship with food. There seem to be some good results (again, a board on here for it). I don't get on with CBT, I can't help finding it patronising & when I'm about to overeat it is too logical for such an illogical act.

Hope this may have helped, sorry to digress from your initial question. It's definitely worth a go, but the slimpod may be a cheaper option to try first. Good luck with whatever you decide

Sorry for any rogue words, have written this on my phone & the predictive text is random!

AA

 

[MsPea]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Lots of food for thought if you'll excuse the pun.

I want to have counselling/therapy because I'm not sure why I overeat in the first place and I would like to get some help to address this and also to learn some techniques and behaviours to stop myself constantly thinking about food and when I can next get my hands on a packet of biscuits. I've found CD pretty easy so far but am worried that once I go back to eating 'real' food I won't have broken my old bad habits and will pile it back on. Am determined that will not happen and will do whatever's necessary to stop it.

It may be that I'm just greedy and a bit bored with work/life so use food as something to look forward too and motivate me but I would like to talk to a professional to find out.

I have no experience of CBT but am willing to give it a go - although if others have found it patronising I may struggle with it! Otherwise I will speak to my GP but living in London I suspect the waiting lists will be too long and I will have to go private.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences (that sounded very therapist-like didn't it?!) with me - much appreciated. This forum really is a fantastic source of support.

xxx

 

[fat_2_fabulous]

I went to a group session with different types of people with different eating problems.... Bulimia, overeating etc. we all went through the same workshop.

It eas definitely worth it.specially speaking to people who have been through the same. U can go to it through ur gp xxx

 

[MandyMc]

BACP [British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapists] website gives an official list of registered counsellors. Your GP will know of some in your area who may offer low cost or free sessions as the fee for a session can be quite high. Various people have mentioned CBT [Cognitive Behavioural Therapy]. This aims to be short-term as you do lots of practical work on your food and eating issues and don't look at your background with food very much. Other kinds of therapy may take longer as you will be talking in-depth about the roots of your problem with food.

I think the most important thing is to find a counsellor you like who specialises in over eating. A lot of professionals have had more experience with bulimia and anorexia.

 

[girlygirl1]

You might try a couple of the excellent books now available on all aspects of disordered eating behaviour.

There is a company called HAZELDEN. They supply some truly wonderful books. Offhand I can recommend FEEDING THE HUNGRY HEART by Geneen Roth. Also, FREEDOM FROM FOOD - alas I cannot recall the author at this second!

Have a look at this company's booklist. I found these books and others very very helpful when I was at my heaviest - and quite honestly feared I would never ever overcome my eating disorder.

Good luck!