The Eating Disorder Therapist

Making sense of your eating disorder through psychological formulation If you’re lost in the jungle of your eating disorder, without a map to guide you safely, you probably feel intense confusion and overwhelm. Why can’t I just eat normally? Why the constant obsessions with food? What is wrong with me? You likely feel terribly alone. To begin to unravel the tangled ed vines that have wrapped themselves tortuously around you, and to shed some awareness and understanding of the complexity of the issue, therapists sometimes use the tool of psychological formulation. Psychological formulation aims to piece together the different parts of the jigsaw, to bring light and clarity. It provides a zoom-out perspective of the eating disorder, as a coping strategy. It peels back the different layers of the psychological onion offering insights and hope around change. In this episode, I explore a psychological formulation and how you can use this as a tool in therapy. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.

In this episode, I explore navigating weight change in recovery and addressing fears around this. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.  

Are you desperate for change but every time you venture to the edge of your comfort zone, panic ensues, and you retreat at speed? The overwhelming fear is so paralysing for you that it feels dangerous and distinctly wrong to venture forward. It’s understandable to be conflicted and ambivalent about change, as an eating disorder is a coping strategy. In this episode, I explore how to heal the deeper roots so you can move beyond your comfort zone. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.

In this episode, I dive into 3 ways to inspire transformative and glorious change in eating disorder recovery. I hope that you find it helpful.     Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.

Change is a complicated and nuanced factor. Ultimately, an eating disorder is a coping strategy, so there will always be some inevitable ambivalence around change. In this episode, I explore 5 factors that help support a client's change. I hope that you find it helpful. Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.  

In this episode, I explore how to navigate feeling full. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website ONLINE COURSES - link to all courses HERE Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.  

In this episode, I dive into the psychology of eating disorders. I hope that you find it helpful. Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website ONLINE COURSES - link to all courses HERE Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.

In this episode, I explore how food can become your best friend and primary turn-to, when you have an eating disorder. I consider how this can be a substitute for healthy relationships with other humans and how to begin to foster more positive connections with others. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website ONLINE COURSES - link to all courses HERE Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.        

Food rules can be sneaky and subtle. You may consider that you don't have any! If you are struggling with food noise and angst around eating, then food rules will be likely in the background. In this episode, I explore some of these more subtle and lingering rules. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website ONLINE COURSES - link to all courses HERE Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.      

In eating disorder recovery, you’ll be searching for the latest mindset hack or magic technique to miraculously propel you out of food obsession and into the land of peaceful eating. You’re absorbing YouTube recovery content like it’s a full-time job and following the progress of inspiring recovery warriors on socials. You might watch ‘What I Eat in a Day Content’ on repeat, in a search of the perfect meal plan, so that your body can recover in the ‘right way’.  The ideal recovery fantasy is a thing! Perhaps you are fixated on healthy eating, bordering on orthorexia whilst searching for the plan that will transport you to recovery land, without having to embark on embracing your forbidden foods or anything that could contaminate your system. Sometimes you can search for every possible solution without returning to some of the basic and fundamental recovery practices. You’re metaphorically rearranging the skidding deckchairs on the sinking Titanic, rather than addressing the core issue that’s sinking you deeper into the sea. It is the boring and unsexy work of regular eating in eating disorder recovery. In this episode, I explore the importance of regular eating and how to practically put it into practice.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   To find out more about my work:- Go to my Website ONLINE COURSES - link to all courses HERE Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating - a course to help you heal your relationship with food. Online Breaking Free from Bulimia - a course to help you break free from bulimia nervosa. Eating Disorders Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with eating disorders. Body Image Training for Professionals - training for therapists in working with clients with body image issues.