I just started therapy for emotional eating
tiffnkailey
Posts: 150 Member
Was curious if anyone was in therapy for emotional eating? What kind of things did your therapist do with you? My biggest problem is night time snacking.
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Hello. Yes, I have been to a therapist for emotional eating. The "eating" part is really part of the emotional part. Recently, I have worked with a "light worker," that was really amazing. Emotional eating remains a problem.2
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Mindful eating exercises. Identification of triggers (social, environmental, etc.). Identification of self-talk patterns. Taking a deep look at what hole in my life/heart I’m trying to fill with food.
I’m been in therapy for over 10yrs now. Emotional eating (and at other points in my life, binge eating and occasional purging/restricting) is a symptom of my mood and anxiety disorders and a response to childhood trauma. It’s a hard thing to be rid of because it’s a hard wired coping mechanism. It has served that purpose for the past 37years and needs to be recognized as a disruptive coping mechanism in order to be replaced by healthier coping mechanisms.
its hard work to face yourself. Remember to be kind to yourself in the process.7 -
I started seeing a therapist for postpartum last year. I asked her for help with emotional eating and she said- just practice compassion for yourself- have compassion when you want to overeat and don't, have compassion when you do. So basically she wouldn't really help with the issue? Maybe she thought I wasn't in a place to work on it. I have tried to practice her advice though and have felt more peaceful. She recommended the book- The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion by Germer. I'm curious what your therapists recommend for this.3
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Those it work? I tend to eat my cravings and more or just simply not eat and then just eat a lot.0
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Whether or not it works does not at all depend on your therapist, in my experience, though the right therapist is absolutely a plus. The success of therapy depends almost entirely on you.1
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I have been seeing my current therapist for a couple of weeks focusing on my emotional eating. What we have been working on is writing out my emotions in a journal as well as the food that I am eating. For example, if I want to eat something I need to ask myself why I want to eat, what emotion am I feeling, and what food am I want. I then eat what it is that I was wanting and further reflect after. How did that food make me feel afterward, has my emotion changed or is it the same. A lot of my issues are strong emotions like depression, anxiety, and stress, so I see that when I have a strong emotion, I then eat, and then my emotions become stronger based on the food item I have eaten. I have found that most of the time my emotions change more positively after I eat more nutrient rich food. I have been really focusing on finding foods that are low calorie but high nutrients to reach for when I am hungry. This so far has resulted in less processed foods, more stable emotions, and staying within my macros for the day. Which in turn has resulted in more energy and being more active. I currently am not weighing until once a month, so I'll keep you updated if it works as far as the scale, but I am just taking it one day at a time.0
