Eating Disorders

An eating disorder has much to do with power, control, enmeshment with family, and a struggle for self identity and worth.

Eating disorders are one of the addictions.

The food is most often a picture of how the person is operating, i.e.:

• Critical, exacting, and withholding from oneself (anorexic pattern)
• Feeling empty, constantly filling (over-filling), then feeling guilty – doesn’t deserve to be satisfied/full, so purges or does some kind of compensatory behavior to rid the body of the food (bulimic pattern).

Refer if you are not specifically trained to work with eating disorders. Anorexia has a high fatality rate.

Refer if you notice significant weight loss or unusual physical characteristics such as tooth enamel worn away from purging, body excessively thin, or excessive fatigue from over-exercising.

Refer when you question whether hospitalization and/or medication are necessary.

Refer if, over time, the counselee is not gaining insight into underlying issues, is not putting on the necessary weight, or is continuing to use compensatory behaviors such as excessive exercising, diuretics, purging, etc.

It is often important, for those 18 or under, to refer the family for therapy so that each member can understand their role in creating or provoking this dynamic within the family.