Authenticity in Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating Disorder Treatment is known to be most successful when the individual decides for themselves that they want to and are willing to get better. According to Center for Discovery, “Individuals who have the willpower and motivation to change are more likely to succeed in treatment and recovery as opposed to those who are simply going through the motions and attending meetings and treatment due to an outside force.”

If the individual is in treatment because they have been forced to be there, they will not be as open to the process as they would be otherwise. Treatment is incredibly difficult, as it is challenging all of the thought patterns and behaviors that the individual has come to depend on to help them cope with life’s difficulties.

Therefore, in order to be successful in treatment, one must have an open-mind to the work and the awareness that this work will be challenging, but rewarding nonetheless. So, how can an individual successfully surrender themselves to the treatment process?

First, they have to decide for themselves that they want to get better. They need to decide that the life that they are living is not working for them or at least have some awareness that there is a more successful and healthy way they could be living that will not negatively impact their well-being.

Furthermore, the individual must have some awareness that treatment is not going to be easy. Sometimes, the first sign of challenge in treatment will send someone to completely shut down if they are not ready or able to do the work. It’s helpful for the person who is entering treatment to have the understanding that the process is going to be a rollercoaster of experience and emotions, but that it is all part of the process.

Secondly, a person will have the most success in Eating Disorder Treatment if they are fully authentic. What is difficult about being authentic in treatment specifically for an Eating Disorder is that the voice of the Eating Disorder is often present and takes away from the rational, logical part of the person’s brain.

The Eating Disorder, if very present, will try and keep secrets in order to stay alive. For example, a person might not be fully honest about what they have been eating on a daily basis because they want to protect the Eating Disorder.

But secrecy does not work in treatment. It will keep you sick. In order to fully surrender to the process of treatment, one must be completely honest. The work that is done is based on how open and honest the person is willing to be, so the most successful treatment happens when the individual is vulnerable and willing to take a serious look at their thought process and behaviors and really challenge them.

What is most important to remember when it comes to individuals with Eating Disorders entering treatment is that the Eating Disorder manipulates the mind. One major part of treatment, then, is learning to separate the healthy thoughts from the sick parts.

If an individual is willing to do the work, they can begin to open themselves up to this process of learning to weed out their healthy thoughts from the Eating Disorder thoughts. What they are learning to do, ultimately, is to figure out who and what their healthy voice looks like, or in other words, who they are without the Eating Disorder.

The question of identity is an integral part of the recovery process for Eating Disorders. Those who learn how to separate themselves successfully from their Eating Disorders and develop a strong sense of their own identities are known to have the most success in ongoing recovery from their Eating Disorders.

Thus, in terms of how one can be successful in Eating Disorder Treatment, the answer really lies in being open, willing, and authentic. The more the individual is willing to authentically and honestly commit themselves to the process, the more successful treatment will be. Yes, treatment is challenging work, and so the more open and willing the individual is to do the difficult work, the more they are setting themselves up for a lifetime of success after treatment.

---

Resources:

Center for Discovery (2019). Why are Some People Successful in Eating Disorder Treatment and Others are Not? https://centerfordiscovery.com/blog/people-successful-eating-disorder-treatment-others-not/

---

About the Author:

Emma Demar, LMSW is a therapist at Intrinpsych Woman on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She holds an LMSW from Fordham University and holds a BA in Creative Writing from Trinity College. Emma recently completed a 2-Year Fellowship at Intrinpsych where she was expertly trained in Eating Disorders and DBT.

She uses a holistic approach in working with her patients, drawing from her background in Psychodynamic, CBT, and DBT, and she likes to begin where the client is and work from a strengths-based perspective. She specializes in Eating Disorders, OCD and related mental health disorders. Emma uses a direct, honest and open approach in working with her patients, who are generally women ages 12 to 32. She freelance writes for various mental health websites, and she blogs on her own website, thattrendytherapist.com.

---

The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer a discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Reviewed & Approved on February 26, 2020, by Jacquelyn Ekern MS, LPC
Published February 26, 2020, on EatingDisorderHope.com