Expired Mindsets by Charryse Johnson LCMHC NCC

Author:Charryse Johnson LCMHC NCC [Johnson, Charryse]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781637303849
Publisher: New Degree Press
Published: 2022-04-03T12:01:00+00:00

During Elena’s first visit to my office, she was very clear her desire was to focus on the specialized support I offer for eating disorders.

She was working with another therapist and did not feel their work adequately addressed this area. I immediately educated Elena on the mind-gut connection and the ways in which disordered eating symptoms are directly connected to our emotions.

Whether someone restricts themselves by eating less food than their body needs or binging by eating more than their body can safely consume at one time, the underlying motives can be similar (Mehler and Andersen 2017).

There is often a desire to use food as a means of avoidance or to control the intensity of other emotions that feel overwhelming.

We all have conscious and unconscious thoughts about food and eating (Grilo and Mitchell 2010). Exploration of how we engage with food beyond biological necessity can hold discoverable meaning toward our emotional well-being. Food may be used to:

• exercise a sense of control and autonomy.

• create feelings of superiority through adherence to food rules and restriction.

• numb out and disconnect from situations outside of our control.

• self-soothe and provide comfort when feeling emotions such as stress, anxiety, or sadness.

Early in our session, Elena admitted she was fairly stubborn. It was as if she was trying to warn me she could be a threat.

I smiled and said, “Persistence when channeled in the right direction can be powerful but being stubborn at your own expense is like seeing your exit and choosing to drive in circles while being frustrated you’re lost.”

Elena wanted to immediately work on modifying her behaviors without exploring the underlying emotions but honoring this desire would have thrust her into a real-life game of whack-a-mole.

Healing from our maladaptive coping patterns is not a matter of getting great advice or a series of steps to follow. We must work to develop a depth of personal insight that sheds light on:

• what our coping patterns reveal about our mindset,

• how our patterns have developed over time, and

• why we maintain patterns that provide short-term relief followed by long-term consequences.

In Elena’s mind, being stubborn meant resistance to change.

She was afraid shifting her beliefs around her relationship with food would require her to change her identity and her convictions and abandon the habits she had always known.

Elena, like many, wanted to maintain what she considered the best of both worlds.

She wanted to feel better while holding on to the outdated messages and belief systems fueling her struggles. In her mind, minimizing the magnitude of her eating disorder would make it simple to overcome and protect the view she had of herself.

Admit when there are issues.

* * * *

The first two weeks Elena seemed motivated despite achieving what she considered minimal success.

We spent time exploring her current relationship around food as well as the emotions that surfaced during food experiences, she found overwhelming. In Elena’s case, making decisions around what to eat and preparing meals was challenging. As a result, she would delay her meals and experience intense hunger cues around mid-afternoon.

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