Eating disorders are progressive, debilitating mental health conditions which call for medical, psychological and nutritional interventions. There are different types of eating disorders, so our NCFED practitioners have eating disorder treatment for compulsive eating, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia.
In order to recover properly, a person will change in a number of aspects:
Not all eating disorders manifest in the same way. But there are common factors to them all, such as having chaotic eating, poor body image, being sensitive, perhaps perfectionistic and low self-worth. We do not just target symptoms. The keys to eating disorder treatment includes being stronger and happier, building new life skills – like managing feelings and relationships, finding your deeper life values, being more confident.
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Behaviour
Obviously; eating regularly and healthily, sufficient to sustain daily energy needed to maintain an appropriate healthy weight. The person is able to take care of themselves with food, eat when hungry and able to stop when they had enough. He/she will be free of compulsions to binge or purge, or exercise harmfully, and there will most certainly be no need to embark on diets. One part of the recovery process is dealing with the physical and nutritional imbalances that lead to irresistable cravings and difficulties with weight control.
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Feelings
Recovery involves freedom from anxiety and fear of foods, or of certain foods like fats or carbs. Toxic shame about eating and body image will be resolved. Recovery is more than dealing with feelings about food and weight; it will involve helping the person to manage and deal with all their feelings appropriately, including those which have been linked to previous unhappy experiences. Sometimes an eating disorder is an expression of emotional pain. We will heal this pain.
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Relationships
The struggles for control which are part of an eating disorder usually point to many other things in life being “out of control”. An important part of recovery is helping a person to re-set and repair their relationships with their families and other people. We will help you find the best you can be in your education, your career and your most important relationships.
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Your eating disorder mindset
Unhelpful thoughts, beliefs and values regarding food and body image lead directly to behaviour which can sometimes feel crazy. Recovery means less thinking and worrying about food and exercise, and more interest in everything else. You will be able to sleep at night without obsessing about tomorrow or yesterday. Perfectionism, I’ve -blown-it thinking, and beating oneself up are all aspects of eating disorders which we will change, for good.
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Happiness & purpose
A sound recovery must be based on reclaiming what was missing in a person, that enabled the eating disorder to take hold in the first place. Recovery isn’t just about food and weight, it is finding something deeper, a new purpose in life, a sense of being connected to other people. We aspire to help people thrive, not just survive.
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Psychological approaches
NCFED practitioners draw on CBT, CBT-E, mindfulness and positive psychology approaches. Individual therapists can add other skills which are valuable and helpful in eating disorder therapy. These skills include Art Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation, (EMDR), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Hypnosis, Coaching, and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). We value the skills of all our Affiliates and welcome all the tools they are able to use.