By Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-CStruggling with ambivalence in eating disorder recovery is so common. However, it can be a real stuck point on the road to recovery so it’s crucial to be able to work through the ambivalence with a skilled eating disorder therapist. So many folks struggling with eating disorders are caught in a state of ambivalence i.e having mixed or contradicting feelings about recovery and at The Eating Disorder Center, an outpatient eating disorder therapy practice based in Rockville, Maryland, this is something that we help our clients to move through so that they can reach full recovery. Many clients with eating disorders struggle with anosognosia-essentially where they can’t see how ill they truly are. That coupled with a society fraught with anti-fat bias and diet culture can make it easy for folks to feel ambivalent about the recovery process. Often there is a part of them that wants to recover and a part of them that feels pulled to continue in the eating disorder. Some Tips for Working Through Ambivalence in Recovery: 1.Ask yourself what your life will look like 5 years from now if you stay stuck in an eating disorder vs. five years from now if you fully recover. Get descriptive and detailed. 2.Reflect on your worst eating disorder day and journal about how that felt for you. 3.Explore with a therapist the factors that are strengthening the part of you that may feel a pull to the eating disorder, and see how you can diminish ones that are within your control i.e. finding healthier ways to get your needs met. 4.Explore your true values vs. the eating disorder’s values. List out the ways that the eating disorder may keep you from your true values. What is the cost to your life if you stay stuck in an eating disorder? 5.Recognize that you can FEEL ambivalent AND take recovery actions anyways. Feelings are not facts and it may take some time for your mind to catch up once you begin to challenge the behaviors. 6.Reflect on what prompted you to want to recover from your eating disorder in the first place-and work to connect with and strengthen that part of you. 7.Lean on your support people and your treatment team in moments when ambivalence may be telling you to ‘throw in the towel on recovery.” The Bottom Line Ultimately you deserve a full life. One that you cannot have if you stay stuck in an eating disorder. If you are struggling-consider reaching out for help. You deserve to be free from this and to live a life according to your true values. Full recovery is 100 percent possible. Book a free 15 minute phone consultation for virtual eating disorder therapy throughout Maryland and Virginia. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com By Megan Samuels, LMSW, Outreach CoordinatorA thinking trap, also known as a cognitive distortion, can be a way that your perception or interpretation of something (such as an event) is driving an irrational or unhelpful thought. Here are some common cognitive distortions that I hear from clients who are struggling with food and/or body.
The first step to working on thinking traps is to educate yourself about them and then to identify them when they come up for you. This could look like having a thought and then reminding yourself that this thought is a thinking trap. Once you get comfortable identifying and acknowledging thinking trap thoughts, you can begin to counter them with a more helpful statement. This could be a direct statement or a distraction from the thinking trap. For example, if you had the thinking trap thought of, “I shouldn’t be eating this food,” then you can counter it by saying something like, “all foods can fit into my life and although this food may be scary, it will not hurt me.” We also have an All Foods Fit Guide that may help you come up with a more helpful statement - check it out! You can also distract yourself from the thinking trap. This could look like having the thought, “I shouldn’t be eating this food,” and then redirecting yourself to watch TV, talk to a friend, or engage in self-care. By doing this, you are essentially not giving more attention to the unhelpful thinking trap thought. In turn, using a more helpful counter statement or a distraction technique can decrease the anxiety, depression, and eating disorder urges that may be fueled by that unhelpful thought. Activity: Let’s practice by looking at the three types of thinking traps that I outlined above. Below you will see each of the three thinking traps and some questions to start with.
These are just a few ways to tackle those pesky thoughts that may be contributing to anxiety, depression, and eating disorder urges. This process derives from a therapy modality called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This type of therapy is often used in the treatment of eating disorders. Want more? All of our therapists and coaches at the Eating Disorder Center use this modality alongside other modalities and have received additional training specific to the treatment of eating disorders. The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping teens and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in New York (NYC), Florida, and California, serving those in cities including Palo Alto, San Francisco, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, San Jose, and Beverly Hills. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com
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The Eating Disorder CenterWe are a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center in Rockville, Maryland.
We also provide eating disorder recovery coaching to people worldwide via Zoom. Click here to book your free 15 minute phone consultation! Phone: 301-246-6856 Email: [email protected] Archives
February 2025
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