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By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center  Your recovery from an eating disorder has been going pretty well. You have been able to be more flexible with food and movement, and negative body image is no longer totally running your day. When suddenly there is a big life stressor. Maybe it’s transitioning back to school, moving, changing jobs, or having a child. You hardly notice at first but you are cutting back on the variety of what you are eating and noticing yourself becoming more rigid with food and movement. The eating disorder voice in your head is louder again and suddenly things that used to not be scary anymore are anxiety provoking again. If you are someone who struggles with binging and/or purging those behaviors have picked up again. You have relapsed back into eating disorder behaviors. As an eating disorder therapist in Rockville, Maryland and founder of The Eating Disorder Center, serving clients in Rockville, Maryland and virtually in Maryland, Virginia, DC, Florida & New York-the following are some of my tips for how to cope if you noticed that you are slipping or have relapsed in your eating disorder recovery. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland for teens and adults struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, OSFED, ARFID, orthorexia, and compulsive exercise. We also have therapists who specialize in eating disorders co-occurring with trauma, OCD, and mood disorders. 1. Work to be compassionate with yourself for this slip or lapse in recovery. Beating yourself up for struggling more intensely with an eating disorder is not productive or helpful when it comes to eating disorder recovery. Instead, think about how you would talk to a loved one or a small child. There’s a quote I love that says, “when a child is learning how to walk and falls down 50 times, they never think to themselves-maybe walking isn’t for me.” It’s the same with eating disorder recovery. Just because you have never gotten to full recovery does not mean that it isn’t possible for you. You can practice kindness by saying something like, “I know this is disappointing and hard. However, what matters is that I pick myself back up and keep trying. I deserve to keep working on my recovery.” 2. Start to notice what might have played into this recent slip or relapse. In dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) we can do something called a behavior chain analysis. This starts out by looking at what are the vulnerability factors that lead to this recent emergence of eating disorder behaviors. Examples of vulnerability factors could include:
The rest of the behavioral chain analysis involves looking at a specific eating disorder behavior and all of the thoughts, feelings, and external factors that played into the behavior occurring. Then, we can start to look at where in this behavioral chain we might be able to do something different in the future. As well as how to plan for possible vulnerability factors. 3. Think about how you can add or increase support. When someone is struggling more intensely with eating disorder behaviors, this does not at all mean that you have “failed” or that you are “starting back at square one.” Rather, often it just means that you might need to add or increase support. You could consider adding a therapist or recovery coach-if you do not have one. As well as increasing sessions temporarily i.e. to 2 times per week or more. You might also consider adding in a group, or practicing reaching out to your support system more. In my own past eating disorder recovery when I was deeply struggling, I was fortunate to be able to have multiple sessions a week with an eating disorder therapist, recovery coach, and RD, and sometimes for multiple sessions each week. I also leaned pretty heavily on my treatment team, and emailed them between sessions when I needed additional support. If you are looking for an eating disorder therapist or eating disorder recovery coach, you can reach out to my team via the link here. Full Recovery Is Possible. If you have recently slipped or relapsed in your eating disorder recovery this does not mean that it is impossible for you. You deserve to reach out for additional support and to lean on your current support system. Eating disorders are treatable and you deserve to be free from this. Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom. 🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, NY, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy 🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, 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, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. 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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Coping Skills for When You’re Struggling with Compulsive Exercise during Eating Disorder Recovery11/25/2024  The Eating Disorder Center offers therapy for eating disorders and body image issues in Rockville, Maryland, with services extending to Bethesda, Potomac, Gaithersburg, and Olney, as well as virtually across Maryland. We also provide eating disorder treatment in Arlington, Virginia, throughout the state of Virginia, and in Washington, D.C. Our clinicians use effective treatment modalities, including CBT, DBT, and ACT, to help clients find freedom from compulsive exercise, eating disorders, and body image struggles. What is Compulsive Exercise? We live in an exercise-fixated world, so our relationship with movement can be complicated. Some people who struggle with compulsive exercising may also struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, disordered eating or an eating disorder. It can be difficult for people who are struggling with compulsive exercise to stop the cycle of exercising, as exercise may have been used as a way for someone to meet their needs (i.e. being able to manage the feeling of loneliness or anxiety). Living trapped by compulsive exercise is exhausting. It’s a tiring cycle that can feel really difficult to break out of on your own. Also exercising can be so praised in our society that it might be hard for others (or yourself) to recognize that you have a problem. Free Coping Tools Handout: We are excited to share that The Eating Disorder Center created an infographic that provides coping tools for people struggling with compulsive exercising. These tips can help you at the start of your journey when trying to make small changes towards recovery or if you are further along in recovery, they can add some skills to your “toolbox.” This handout is meant to help folks at any stage of recovery who may be struggling with compulsive exercise. Download the free PDF HERE! We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland for teens and adults struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, OSFED, ARFID, orthorexia, and compulsive exercise. We also have therapists who specialize in eating disorders co-occurring with trauma, OCD, and mood disorders. Looking for specialized help from a clinician? Reach out to our administrative team at The Eating Disorder Center to schedule a free 15-minute consultation with a therapist on our team. Our therapists are passionate about treating the entire spectrum of eating disorders, including those who engage in compulsive exercising. Give us a call at 301-246-6856 or fill out our contact form. Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom. 🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, NY, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy 🌍 Offering recovery coaching worldwide 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. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland. 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
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