Eating Disorder Therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually in Maryland, Virginia, DC, Florida, Pennyslvania, and New York By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center Photo of one of our office rooms in Rockville, Maryland Eating disorder therapy is truly a game changer when it comes to eating disorder recovery. I know this both as a founder and eating disorder therapist at The Eating Disorder Center in Rockville, Maryland, and as someone who recovered from my own eating disorder and found therapy to be an incredibly necessary component to my recovery. Why Should I See an Eating Disorder Therapist vs. a General Therapist? General therapists often have little to no training in eating disorder therapy. The same way that you would not see a pediatrician for foot surgery, it makes sense to see someone who truly specializes in helping people to find freedom with food, make peace with their body, and practice self-compassion. Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of any mental illness. The consequences of not seeking help can be deadly. Our therapists at The Eating Disorder Center are true eating disorder specialists. They have ample training in the top treatments for eating disorders. Additionally, they have years of experience in working almost exclusively with clients with eating disorders & body image issues. Many of them are also personally recovered from eating disorders or have supported a loved one in recovery. Each have been hand selected through an interview process by our founder, Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, and are caring, compassionate, yet firm when it comes to helping clients to recover from eating disorders. At The Eating Disorder Center we provide outpatient eating disorder therapy for children, teens and adults in Rockville, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia, as well as virtually throughout Maryland, Virginia, DC, Florida and New York. We provide eating disorder therapy for children (12+), teens, and adults in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland for individuals struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, OSFED, ARFID, orthorexia, and compulsive exercise. We also have therapists who specialize in eating disorders co-occuring with trauma, OCD, and mood disorders. Types of Therapy We Use For Eating Disorder Outpatient Treatment We use the top evidence based treatments for eating disorders. We believe that full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. You don’t have to continue to feel so trapped. We tailor a treatment plan to each individual client because no two clients are exactly the same and it makes sense to have a personalized recovery plan. That being said, the following are a few of the treatments that we use for helping people to recover from eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, OSFED, binge eating disorder, orthorexia, ARFID, compulsive exercise, and body image issues. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): DBT is a powerful therapy that utilizes helping clients to hold dialectics when it comes to thinking. Dialectics is the idea that two seemingly opposing ideas can be true at the same time i.e. I can feel really afraid of recovery AND take the recovery actions despite feeling scared. Additionally, DBT uses a variety of tools and skills including ‘opposite action,’ ‘radical acceptance,’ ‘wise mind,’ and mindfulness skills to help clients to cope with urges to use eating disorder behaviors and to ultimately learn how to use more values aligning coping strategies. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT is a wonderful therapy for helping clients to discover if their various thoughts are helpful or unhelpful in terms of helping a client to live accordingly with their true values. Through ACT we can help clients to connect to their true values and separate those from the values of the eating disorder. Additionally, ACT uses a variety of metaphors to help people to cope with unhelpful thinking patterns, as well as a strategy called ‘cognitive defusion’ which helps people to learn how to be less fused or identified with their eating disorder thoughts. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT looks at thinking patterns including ‘black and white thinking’ and helps clients to learn how to recognize and challenge unhelpful patterns of thinking. CBT looks at how our thoughts can lead to subsequent emotions and behaviors, as well as how challenging our thoughts and thinking patterns can lead to us taking more helpful actions. In addition to the other eating disorders, CBT is very useful in the treatment of ARFID, which can include concepts such as food chaining. Family Based Therapy (FBT)-Informed Therapy: We use FBT informed therapy with some teens who we feel would benefit. This involves the parents taking over the serving of the meals and helping their children to eat them. FBT is a useful alternative to residential treatment for some and really empowers the family to serve as an asset in their child’s eating disorder recovery. Parents can truly be incredible allies in the recovery process. EMDR Therapy for Eating Disorders and Co-Occurring Trauma: We also have a therapist who provides EMDR therapy, which is a powerful evidence based treatment for healing the impact of trauma, and can also be used for body image distress and eating disorder recovery. EMDR uses eye movements or tapping and helps clients to become desensitized to traumatic memories and to reclaim their lives following the impact of trauma. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): We are action oriented therapists and love to give clients homework and set goals with them. Additionally, we love helping clients with food and snack exposures as well as the response prevention element. ERP is an excellent treatment for eating disorders, and is also the gold standard for the treatment of OCD. We have therapists who truly specialize in co-occurring eating disorders and OCD, helping clients to reclaim their lives from exhausting compulsions and constantly thinking about food and their body. HAES and Intuitive Eating: It’s important to note that we are HAES informed providers and compassionate support people of all shapes and sizes in their eating disorder recovery. We believe this is a crucial element of eating disorder recovery and that all therapy should be HAES aligned. Additionally, we are trained in intuitive eating and use these concepts when applicable depending where a client is in their recovery. These concepts are generally not recommended for early recovery where hunger cues may be off, so typically we introduce them later. Reach Out To Schedule With an Eating Disorder Therapist! You or your loved one deserve to make peace with food, find body acceptance, and discover self-compassion. We would love to help. You don’t have to continue to feel so trapped and miserable. We have therapists who also have after school/work availability-as of 9/30/24 (spots fill quickly so this is subject to change). We offer in office appointments (with free sparkling water and coffee) on comfy couches in Rockville, Maryland, or virtually in Maryland, Virginia, DC, Florida and New York. Reach out via the contact form on our website to schedule a FREE 15 minute consultation with an eating disorder therapist to see if it’s a good fit! Schedule a free 15 minute consult for eating disorder therapy in MD, VA, DC, NY, FL, or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. 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
By: Olivia Kline, EDC Administrative Assistant Reviewed by & in Collaboration with Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C Entering adulthood is a tricky phase in life. Many may also experience stress and anxiety in anticipation of entering adulthood. You may start to gain new responsibilities as an adult but still depend on parents or guardians for some things. Society tells us that once we become adults we must be fully independent and have our lives figured out, but that is rarely the reality for most of us. There is so much uncertainty to live with as a young adult and can be a tricky stage to manage. We start to gain some freedoms, but also may still live with parents/guardians or live with them on breaks from school. It can feel weird and may be difficult to balance. The following are some tips from The Eating Disorder Center, which provides eating disorder therapy in Rockville, Maryland, and virtually throughout Maryland, Virginia, DC, and Florida, around navigating the transition to “adulting” while in eating disorder recovery. 1. Try to take off some of the pressure, take things one step at a time, and put your first job into perspective. In addition to figuring out this new, uncertain stage of life, society puts immense pressure on young adults to find a job and be fully independent. This can feel scary since it seems expected for young adults to have it all figured out. It is okay if you don’t have it all figured out. Adulting is hard. Try to take things one step at a time. Do job searching and see what interests you; the job you choose now does not have to be your job forever. You can look at your first “real world” job as a learning experience! Take the opportunity to learn what you like and don’t like about this job and have that help guide you in your next employment opportunity. 2. Think about who can be part of your support system (yes, adults have support systems too)! With “adulting” there can also be the fear of being alone. It can be hard to think about being alone as you enter adulthood. Try to think about who is part of your support system now, and how to integrate them in this new stage in life. While society encourages independence, especially in adulthood, it is okay to lean on loved ones. It is also okay to live with a roommate or at home with family! You can still be independent while living with others. It is okay to take things one step at a time. It’s important to note that the transition to adulthood doesn’t have to mean that you never ask for support from loved ones or family. While of course things may change as you gain more independence, many adults still lean on their families or other members of their support system at times. 3. Prioritize working your recovery from an eating disorder. On top of all the overwhelming feelings of being an adult, it can be stressful to manage eating disorder triggers and recovery during this stage. You may feel like with the pressure of finding a job and being independent, there is less time for self-care, eating meals, and staying on top of your recovery from an eating disorder. It can feel hard to fit things into your schedule however, you deserve to prioritize yourself and your recovery. It’s important if you are struggling to seek help from an eating disorder therapist as it relates to both “adulting” or anxiety around anticipation of “adulting,” as well as eating disorder recovery. As sometimes, this can be one of a variety of issues that is underlying the development or maintenance of an eating disorder. 4. If you are not yet in the ‘adulting’ stage but anticipating it with anxiety, it’s important to spend less time ruminating on this topic. Worrying vs. planning are two very separate things. Planning is preparing for the future in an action oriented way that usually occurs one time until you come up with a new plan. Whereas, ruminating or worrying is replaying over and over your fears in a way that increases anxiety and isn’t productive. If you find that you are spending a lot of time worrying about the transition to adulthood, it’s important to discuss this anxiety with a therapist and spend time out of session interrupting your mind if you notice that you start ruminating on this. One affirmation that I like to interrupt rumination is, “I will trust my future self to handle any future problems” or “I will deal with that if and when it happens.” Ruminating about the future is like riding a stationary bike, it doesn’t get you anywhere. It also can serve to increase anxiety about the future. Speak To A Therapist If You Are Balancing Entering Adulthood With Eating Disorder Recovery At the Eating Disorder Center, we understand how anxiety provoking it can feel to think about entering adulthood. We are here to help you through your eating disorder recovery journey and juggling with this new stage of life. Reach out to us via our contact form or call us at 301-246-6856 to get started with a free 15-minute consultation with an eating disorder therapist on our team. Schedule a free 15 min consult for eating disorder therapy in MD, VA, DC, NY, FL, or recovery coaching worldwide. Click here. 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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