Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part VI

Expressive Therapy

An essential part of expressive therapies is the idea that all individuals have embodiment and practice, that is, they experience their body in a different way.

For example, an individual may experience their body differently when full or not full or purging or not purging than others do.

Expressive therapy works toward the goals of re-establishing bi-directional pathways in the brain and obtaining an integrated sense of self.

For example, in dance movement therapy, we might have somebody move the feeling of fear or fullness as a nonverbal way of talking about these feelings.

This helps the individual to find a new way to use their verbal pathways in relation to their disorder.

Using yoga, dance movement, or art therapy helps individuals become a bit objective about their disorder and to experience it in a different way instead of using verbal methods that have always “looked” a certain way.

Finally, we integrate mindfulness throughout all of this. Really, mindfulness is what helps us to engage in the moment. If an individual is obsessing about their body or food, they are NOT in the moment.

One of my favorite definitions of mindfulness is waking up automatic behaviors to participate and be present in our lives. This really is just a way that we are able to be in the moment and helps us to work on refeeding and nourishing someone who is struggling with anorexia.

It also focuses on meaningful questions such as “how do we really enjoy the moment?” or “what are we missing when we aren’t in the moment?” As we teach someone mindfulness, we are teaching them to learn to be on the riverbank of their thoughts and feelings.

Most individuals with anorexia have taken several steps back from this riverbank, so we are trying to teach them to build awareness.

What you will typically notice, as you begin doing mindfulness work with individuals with anorexia, is that they are really mindful of thoughts and that their thoughts have become more their eating disorders’ than their own.

As such, they become less aware of their own emotions and, so, as we start mindfulness, we start building on body sensations and then grow to emotional feelings. For those who are stepping back from the riverbank, there are points of their lives where they cannot be. When they can’t be on the riverbank, they end up in the river.

That is a huge motivator, and we don’t want to end up in the river because we don’t want to get carried away by the tides.

Another metaphor we use is to for someone to watch their thoughts and feelings as if they are watching a movie or watching the cars go by from the sidewalk.

Expressive therapies such as these are an essential component of treatment for anyone and any age.

You may get some resistance about these therapies so you want to work to get these individuals motivated to try different things and to break through the resistance with some energy that these strategies can be helpful.

You also want to get them on board with practicing mindfulness regularly because awareness is a powerful tool that they get from mindfulness and that helps in recovery. All of these treatment strategies, together or separate, can be effective in treating anorexia nervosa.

Please See

Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part 1
Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part 2
Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part 3
Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part 4
Best Practices for Effective Anorexia Treatment – Part 5

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Source:

Virtual Presentation by Melissa O’Neill in the May 17, 2018, Eating Disorder Hope Online Conference II: Anorexia Hope & Healing in 2018.

Please view the press release Here.

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Author:
Melissa O’Neill’s role involves collaborating with others to create the vision and curriculum for all group programming offered at Timberline Knolls. She also clinically supervises the talented specialists who facilitate groups all over campus. Early in her career, Melissa spent time in residential care, working with children with significant trauma histories. She then ran a substance abuse IOP followed by several years in private practice. She also managed an IOP/PHP program for Eating Disorders and Mood Disorders.

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Transcript Editor: Margot Rittenhouse is a therapist who is passionate about providing mental health support to all in need and has worked with clients with substance abuse issues, eating disorders, domestic violence victims, and offenders, and severely mentally ill youth.

As a freelance writer for Eating Disorder and Addiction Hope and a mentor with MentorConnect, Margot is a passionate eating disorder advocate, committed to de-stigmatizing these illnesses while showing support for those struggling through mentoring, writing, and volunteering. Margot has a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.

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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.

Published on September 21, 2018.
Reviewed & Approved on September 21, 2018, by Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC

Published on EatingDisorderHope.com