What Does Bulimia Nervosa Treatment Look Like?
By: Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD & Lindsay Hodgson, MSN
When you're struggling with bulimia, it can feel like you can’t escape. You may have been stuck in the eating disorder for so long that you cannot remember when things weren’t this way. You feel a TON of shame because of the bingeing and purging, but you don’t know where to turn and you have no one to talk to about it. By now you’re fed up with the eating disorder stealing your life and you want to break free.
But how?
If you or a loved one is contemplating outpatient eating disorder treatment for bulimia nervosa, there can be a mix of emotions. Often people are pretty anxious about seeking help. After all, it takes a tremendous amount of vulnerability and courage to get support to recover. Learning more about what to expect in treatment can help alleviate some fear of the unknown.
What is Nutrition Therapy?
Nutrition therapy is a good match for bulimia support in the outpatient setting. Like in anorexia recovery , this process involves working to heal the client’s relationship to food in a safe environment with an experienced nutrition therapist. Because many people who have bulimia nervosa have conflicting emotions related to food it can take time to recover from the eating disorder. Food and the behaviors associated with bulimia provide safety, comfort, or escape one moment and then evoke disgust or shame the next. Through nutrition therapy, the client can explore what is going on beneath the surface of their purging behaviors, allowing them to build more trust in their body and cultivate a more peaceful relationship with food as they recover.
Nutrition Therapy for Bulimia: What Does Treatment Look Like and What Can I Expect?
At Bravespace Nutrition and many other outpatient eating disorder practices, nutrition therapy for bulimia is client-centered. You can expect to talk about not only the eating disorder behaviors in the here and now, but also past history with dieting, exercise, and disordered eating. With help, support and guidance, you will uncover factors that have contributed to development of the eating disorder through talk therapy. This will allow you to understand your bingeing and purging behaviors in the broader context of your life. From there, you can expect to unpack the disordered behaviors (what they are, when they show up, relevant emotions and thoughts, and so on) so you are able to challenge them when they arise.
What Will You Do In Bulimia Nervosa Treatment?
Take action to decrease your purging and binging behaviors.
Learn cognitive, somatic, and mindfulness tools
Unpack your story of food and the eating disorder
Learn how to stop the binge/purge behaviors
Challenge your food beliefs/diet culture food beliefs
Recreate a pattern of consistent and adequate nourishment
Adopt approaches for self-care that feel authentic to you
Develop patterns (even beyond food) that enrich your well-being
Improve your body image by re-framing thoughts about your body and other bodies
Challenge perfectionism and diet culture’s unrealistic standards
Build skills around eating and exercising in ways that feel both pleasurable and nourishing to your body as a way to move away from punitive behaviors
As you begin to recover, it’s common to feel confusion about how to actually eat without disordered thoughts and behaviors. Dietitians/nutrition therapists can assist you in mapping out a plan for meals and snacks when it feels supportive. Some people in recovery find this kind of structure valuable as they aim to re-engage with their body’s cues, while others find meal planning lacks the flexibility they desire. Luckily nutrition therapy is client-centered so you will decide with support what option works best for you.
Overtime the goal of bulimia treatment is to work collaboratively to get you closer to what your goals are in recovery such as decreasing the eating disorder behaviors (binge/purge, food restriction, over-exercising), feeling less anxious around food, creating a more peaceful relationship with your body, being able to eat at social functions and so much more!
It is never too late to get support to recover from bulimia. You can claim the life that was taken from you and embrace a life of recovery.
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Begin Bullumia Treatment in Seattle, WA
Bullumia nervosa can feel like an cycle that you cannot escape.. You deserve support to cultivate a freeing relationship to food and a kind relationship to your body. The caring dietitians from our Seattle, WA-based counseling practice would be honored to help you recover from the eating disorder. To start bullumia nervosa treatment please schedule an appointment or contact us with any questions.