ARFID: Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
What is ARFID? One of the less well-known eating/feeding disorders is Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID. While this diagnosis was previously called “Selective Eating Disorder,” the former name could be misleading, as an ARFID diagnosis goes beyond...
Navigating Difficult Sexual Conversations
Talking about sex can be intimidating, even when you’re discussing the lighter side like favorite positions or fantasies you’d like to share with your partner. However, when tough topics surface, the situation becomes even trickier. Difficult sexual conversations can...
Eating Disorders and Cognitive Distortions
One of the more recognized features of eating disorders and body dysmorphia is the individual’s inability to view themselves accurately. For instance, someone with anorexia may perceive their body to be much heavier or wider than it actually is, and an individual with...
Three Keys to Maintaining Passion in a Long Term Relationship
A popular inquiry I get from many of my clients is “how to keep passion alive in a long-term relationship.” Dr. Cheryl Fraser is emphatic that it can be done. She points out that even though it is possible, the majority of long-term couples don’t do a good job of...
Dating and Body Image
The process of dating can bring up feelings of excitement and adventure, but on the downside can also trigger one’s insecurities. For someone who deals with negative body image or body dissatisfaction, the idea or actual process or dating someone, whether in pursuit...
The Three C’s to Pleasing Your Lover
Everyone wants to please their lover; however, there can be a number of barriers in place that make it difficult. These barriers may include a lack of experience, either with sex, in general, or with a new partner. Often, one’s upbringing can lead to sexual...
Medical Conditions and Body Image
Living in a society that focuses on body image is a challenge and can take a toll on an individual’s self-esteem. Now, imagine, that you are living with a chronic illness, disability, or other medical condition. Due to the pathophysiology of the condition itself,...
After the Fact: How to Tell Your Partner That You Cheated
We're naturally used to feeling empathy for those who have been cheated on. But if you're the one who cheated, let's be real – telling your partner may be one of the hardest conversations you ever attempt. Here we're going to suspend judgment and finger pointing,...
Athletes and Eating Disorders
When I work with clients who struggle with eating disorders, very often I find that they have a history of being athletes, whether high school, college, or professional. Through my experiences with these clients, I’ve realized that life as an athlete can be tricky to...
The Dangers of Being an Uninformed Consumer of Pornography
We are a world of consumers. We browse, purchase, read, and view products every day. As consumers, we like to inform ourselves about the things we invest our time and money into. We purchase organic food at our grocery stores; we research a company’s founder before we...
Jews and Eating Disorders
No One Is Immune Jews get eating disorders, too. I say this because being in the Jewish community myself, I can attest to the shame and stigma that many hold around mental illness, including eating disorders. But just because eating disorders are not talked about or...
How Accessibility to Pornography is Harming Our Society
We live in a time where we are surrounded by amazing technological advances. Convenience is key, and it plays a major role in our decision making. We go grocery shopping using only our phones and get our purchases delivered to our homes within the hour. We conduct...
Mindfulness and Eating Disorder Recovery
Over the last 30 years, mindfulness has gained considerable acknowledgement in the practice of psychology and is an integral component of various theoretical approaches to psychotherapy. Research studies have demonstrated the positive effects of the practice of...
Defusion and Acceptance in Eating Disorder Treatment
Various psychotherapeutic approaches are used in the treatment of eating disorders. Since these disorders are so complex and multifaceted, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. One of the newer theoretical approaches that can be implemented in treating eating...
Bulimia and Alcohol Abuse
One of my recent blog posts focused on the comorbidity and link between eating disorders and substance use. In this post, I want to specifically focus on the co-occurrence of alcoholism and bulimia. Research has demonstrated that 34% of individuals with bulimia...
Weight Stigma
An Obstacle in Treatment As an eating disorders therapist, one very challenging part of my work with clients is addressing the impact of societal values and messages on their recovery. Clients who have larger bodies or don’t meet society’s “thin ideal” can work...
Grooming in Childhood Sexual Abuse
As a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of trauma and PTSD, I have worked with many survivors who have unfortunately experienced sexual abuse in childhood. Today I wanted to focus on the topic of grooming which is often present in ongoing childhood sexual...
Eating Disorders and Substance Use
A few months ago, I wrote a post about eating disorders and co-morbid disorders, meaning conditions that tend to occur along with eating disorders. One of these co-occurring conditions was substance use, which can be used as a way to aid with eating disorder...
Restricted Eating – What Are the Effects?
For people who want to pursue weight loss, whether for health reasons or to meet a certain beauty standard, restricting food intake seems to be the go-to logical, straightforward pathway to do so. The common rationalization behind this is as follows: restricting your...
When Your Sibling Has an Eating Disorder…
A few months ago, I heard a woman, Kym Piekunka, speak about eating disorders. Kym didn’t struggle with an eating disorder herself, nor is she a physician or mental health clinician who had formal training in these conditions. However, as a sibling of someone who...