Christian Counseling for Eating Disorder Recovery

It often starts innocently enough. You want to lose a few pounds, so you count calories. Your weight starts to drop. You feel a little high, a sense of amazement that you can control your body this way. But it’s quickly replaced by fear as you become consumed with precisely calculating each meal and snack for maximum satiation with minimum calories consumed.

You check your body multiple times a day. Your inner monologue is full of self-accusation and guilt every time you eat. Your category of foods that are safe to eat grows smaller and smaller. But you never feel small enough. At Lake Forest Christian Counseling, we offer compassionate support to help you find healing, self-acceptance, and freedom from disordered eating.

Eating disorders are common, but they’re often hidden. The illustration above is referring to anorexia, but there are other eating disorders like bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ODNOS that also hijack a life and make it all about food.

How can we gently bring them into the light and offer hope? Eating disorders promise safety, or maybe fulfillment, but they lie. They’re actually destructive and dangerous. Yet, when you’re stuck in this disease, you can’t heal yourself on your own. It takes courage to reach out for help.

Maybe it’s not you who is struggling, but your loved one. You can still get help for yourself. It’s scary to know that someone you love is struggling, but you might make the difference just by learning and getting support.

Let’s talk about eating disorders and why treating them is so important.

Facts and stats about eating disorders

Eating disorders are quite common, but they’re often hidden, so we may not realize that people around us are struggling. One study of American adolescent girls over 20 years found that over 5% met the criteria for an eating disorder. Another study found that people between the ages of 15 and 24 who were diagnosed with anorexia were at 10 times greater risk of death than their peers.

Eating disorders are not only common but also dangerous. Anorexia is often described as the riskiest mental illness, having the highest chance of death of any mental illness. Eating disorders in general “have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, with nearly 1 person dying every hour as a direct result of an eating disorder” (Eating Disorder Recovery).

That’s why if you or someone close to you is exhibiting signs of an eating disorder, getting help is crucial – it can save a life. Whether you want help for anorexia recovery or for treating another eating disorder, change is possible, but don’t try to make that change alone.

The DSM-V, which gives diagnostic criteria for mental disorders, recognizes anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and two general categories: Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS). Your family physician or mental health professional, or both, can work with you to discuss your symptoms and find a diagnosis, which will help you achieve your individualized treatment plan.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA):

“Eating disorders are serious, potentially life-threatening conditions that affect a person’s emotional and physical health. They are not just a ‘fad’ or a ‘phase.’ People do not just ‘catch’ an eating disorder for a period of time. They are real, complex, and devastating conditions that can have serious consequences for health, productivity, and relationships.”

It’s important not to underestimate the potential health consequences of eating disorders. They can affect the heart, brain, hormones, and gastrointestinal system. They can lead to heart failure, dehydration, blocked intestines, esophagus rupture, amenorrhea, osteoporosis, hair loss, kidney failure, and anemia, among other health problems.

Depending on which eating disorder(s) an individual has, the health risks will vary, but no matter which eating disorder it is, it will have negative effects on the body.

Steps to Eating Disorder Recovery

NEDA outlines a five-step process for eating disorder recovery, but it’s important to know that recovery is a complex and individualized process:

“The Stages of Change in the process of recovery from an eating disorder are a cycle rather than a linear progression. The person may go through this cycle more than one time or may need to revisit a particular stage before moving on to the next.”

Here are the five stages of change. You or your loved one may have already attempted to address the ED before a relapse occurred, or maybe this is the first time you’re considering that the symptoms may point to a serious problem.

Regardless of where you are on the journey, these stages of change will be a part of the recovery process:

1. Precontemplation stage: There is an awareness of symptoms, but still a denial or rationalizing of what they might mean. At this stage, the individual and/or loved ones need to work on recognizing the severity of the issue and not giving in to denial.

2. Contemplation stage: This step is when the individual recognizes there is a problem and is willing to get help, but still faces strong fears about changing. At this point, it’s important to get counseling for an eating disorder, as well as consult a physician. Family members can also seek support and counseling for knowing how to best support their loved one. NEDA advises that with a child under 18, parents should insist on professional help.

3. Preparation stage: Here, there is an acceptance of change being needed, but exactly how that change will happen is still a work in progress. This is when a treatment plan is developed, and when family members are encouraged to discover what their role is in the treatment plan.

4. Action stage: Action happens when the individual is ready to carry out the treatment plan and confront the disorder. Lots of support will be needed every step of the way. Triggers need to be removed, boundaries established, and fears faced. Sometimes an individual will attend group counseling, need hospitalization (especially in anorexia nervosa treatment), or need residential treatment.

5. Maintenance/relapse stage: Maintenance occurs when the action stage is maintained for at least six months. During this time, the recovered individual also can confront past triggers and manage them successfully. Relapse may occur at any time, so it’s important to stay vigilant.

NEDA also outlines a sixth stage that can happen at the same time as the fifth: the termination stage and relapse prevention, which means treatment can be ended while healthy behaviors and coping mechanisms continue. Relapse prevention needs to occur on an ongoing basis:

“To prevent relapsing do not forget to ask for help, communicate your thoughts and feelings, address and resolve problems as they arise, live a healthful and balanced life, and remember that you would not have made it this far if it were not for your strong determination and dedication toward recovery.”

Are you ready to start your journey of eating disorder recovery today? Contact one of the counselors in our counselor directory today. Ask for information about anorexia treatment, bulimia treatment, binge eating treatment, or counseling for eating disorders.

Do’s and don’ts in treating eating disorders

It’s incredibly challenging to be a support person for someone struggling with an eating disorder. The Eating Recovery Center offers some do’s and don’ts for caregivers to remember during the challenging recovery process:

• Do talk honestly to your loved one, express your feelings, and practice active listening.
• Do express your desire to see them recover and your concerns for their health and well-being.
• Do take care of yourself throughout the process to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue.
• Don’t give up; know that this will be a long and non-linear recovery process.
• Don’t take things personally; an eating disorder is often linked to lying and shame, but your loved one is in distress and is not trying to hurt you.
• Don’t try to control their behavior; instead, talk with professionals about how you can support them and set healthy boundaries, depending on your role in their life.

If you are the one struggling with disordered eating, Very well Mind offers some don’ts for eating disorder recovery:

• Don’t try to recover by yourself.
• Don’t lose hope, no matter how many times you’ve tried to recover, and no matter how serious your eating disorder is. You can recover!
• Don’t wallow in shame and secrecy. Take a step of courage, talk about your struggle, and know you’re not alone.

There is hope for eating disorder recovery, and it starts by reaching out for help. Contact Lake Forest Christian Counseling today for your risk-free initial session. When you meet with a Christian counselor for eating disorder recovery, you can expect to find compassionate, faith-based, long-term support, hope for the future, and the knowledge that you are not alone.