Trauma and Eating Disorders

Dr. Kim Dennis and Megan Ross of Timberline Knolls

Hosted by Dr. Kim Dennis & Megan Ross of Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center
March 26, 2015

EDH: Welcome to today’s #EDHchat! Our topic is about trauma and eating disorders. Special thanks to Timberline Knolls today for helping us make this twitter chat possible!

We would like to start by welcoming our special guests, Dr. Kim Dennis & Megan Ross. Dr. Dennis is the CEO and Medical Director of Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center. Megan Ross is the Director of Program Development and Trauma Awareness at TK.

It’s great to have you both here today! Let’s get started with some of our questions.

Dr. Dennis, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. What is your role at Timberline Knolls?

Dr. Kim: I am the CEO and Medical director. I started at Timberline Knolls a decade ago, before we opened to help create the program.

I am a psychiatrist, trained at University of Chicago, specializing in treating girls and women with eating disorders, trauma and addiction.

Also, I am proud to say I am a woman who has recovered from an eating disorder, trauma and substance abuse. Having the academic training, as well as a personal background in these areas, has enabled me to approach this work with compassion, understanding and gratitude.

EDH: Thank you so much for sharing, Dr. Dennis! Megan, Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background, too. What is your role at Timberline Knolls?

Megan: As director of Program Development and Trauma Awareness at Timberline Knolls, I support the needs of residents in many ways. This includes developing programming in alignment w/the evolutions of neuroscience, process addictions & trauma recovery,

As well as critical, humanist psychology while promoting the embodiment process for both resident and staff. I develop, train and uphold a campus-wide integrative approach to the recovery process. This involves the promotion of increasing present moment tolerance for awareness, regulation, organization, and integration of the self. I am currently pursuing my Doctorate in International Psychology specializing in organizational and trauma psychology.

EDH: What is the prevalence of trauma among eating disorder sufferers?

Dr. Kim: Quite high. The most recent studies show that almost all people with an eating disorder diagnosis have some history of traumatic life experience. Estimates of co-occurring PTSD range from 30-50 percent.

Historically sexual abuse had been associated more with bulimia nervosa. Studies have shown high rates with anorexia and EDNOS as well.

It is likely that co-occurring trauma and PTSD is under-reported and thus under-detected, largely due to denial, shame, secrecy and ignorance about what constitutes trauma.

There are a whole range of traumatic experiences–physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, spiritual, and neglect.

EDH: How is trauma actually defined?

Megan: Trauma is defined by the impact an experience or experiences have on someone’s life and their ability to tolerate and cope with the present moment. Trauma cannot be defined by what happened but how someone experiences their life.

EDH: How can the experience of trauma make someone more susceptible to developing an eating disorder?

Dr. Kim: There is a widely used saying in the eating disorders world that genes load the gun and environment pulls the trigger. One of the biggest environmental triggers is the experience of trauma.

In the face of overwhelming experiences, children reach to control something they have access to and believe they can have control over. Food and body fall into the category of what kids have access to.

Attempting to control the body or the body’s physical and emotional responses to trauma is a common underpinning of eating disorders. This must be addressed in clients who have both eating disorders and trauma.

EDH: What is the connection between trauma and eating disorders?

Megan: Those who have experienced traumatic events and are challenged by the management of their lives may engage in an eating disorder. This may be a way to self-manage their feelings and experiences related to trauma.

ED behavior may be utilized as a means of self-protection, a way to control the out of control experience of life, & to alter the body to disappear as a way to manage future trauma. ED behaviors change present moment sensations associated with trauma by reducing awareness of thoughts and emotions.

EDH: What are effective forms of treatment for those who have suffered with trauma?

Dr. Kim: There are many. To name a few: EMDR, somatic experiencing and other body-centered psychotherapies. CBT, exposure therapy as well as experiential therapies like art therapy and dance movement therapy, can be very useful to effect healing in a deeper, nonverbal level.

For patients with an eating disorder and trauma, it is critical to include the body in the treatment process, which is why methods like somatic experiencing and experiential therapies can be so powerful.

EDH: What is the importance of resolving trauma in eating disorder treatment?

Megan: The co-occurrence of eating disorders and trauma requires the resolution of both aspects of an individual’s recovery. Approaching only one aspect reduces the holistic healing process. Reliance on the eating disorder behavior may be a self-defense method if the trauma in relation to the eating disorder is not addressed in supportive ways.

EDH: Where is the first place to get help when suffering from trauma?

Dr. Kim: Any person with whom you feel safe, by whom you feel supported, can help you get started if you are willing to share a little bit of what you are going through. For some people this is a family member, for some people a friend, for some, a member of a church or other support group.

There are also online and community resources to help people get educated about responses to trauma. To let people know they are not alone and to tell people you can recover — there are treatments that work. It is also important that people know to go to an emergency room if they feel like they might hurt themselves. Suicidal thoughts and self-injury many times are symptoms that emerge in the wake of trauma.

EDH: What encouragement might you offer to someone who has suffered with trauma and a related eating disorder?

Megan: The healing process is available to us all.

EDH: Thank you to everyone who participated in our Twitter Chat today! And thank you for the great insight, Dr. Dennis and Megan.

We hope this information is helpful and encouraging to anyone who may be dealing with trauma and an eating disorder

Please stay tuned for future Twitter chats from EDH!

If you are in need of resources for an eating disorder, visit our website at Eating Disorder Hope or check out Timberline Knolls Treatment Centers.