Anyone else?

Has or is anyone else facing eating/body image issues in therapy?
If so how did you go about breeching the subject with T?
I am aure it is time for me to face it but dont know what facing it looks like! So I am a bit scared to bring it up.

She already knows I have these issues but doesnt know i am ready to do something. Ugh!!!!

I am currently seeing a psychologist because I have an eating disorder, that's the reason why I went to therapy so I didn't need to bring it up.

When I went to the GP to first get help, I wrote down what I wanted to say and handed it to the GP and he then took it form there.

There have been times in therapy when I have wanted to say something but couldn't or didn't know how to bring it up. so on those times I wrote out what I wanted to say and had the note book with it written in out so when I walked into the room to see my psychologist I handed the book straight to her to read and then she took it form there.

Hope this helps xxxx

When I wanted to work on it I told my T I hated myself and he asked what I meant and I said I hated my body, I felt dirty etc... it was embarrassing to talk at first but once I opened the door by saying that we started discussing it.

Just say whatevers on your mind and see where it goes. Is this a difficult issue for you? It is definitely a hard one to face, after talking to my T I still have body imagine issues... takes time I guess.

Good luck

I have a weight problem. The antidepressants are adding to my weight problem. My T says I need to excersize more. Well geez if that hasn't worked for 41 years what makes you think that will work now. It frustrates the hell out of me.

It's one of the many things I'm working on with T.

For me, it kinda got brought up unintentionally. I had a session right after Thanksgiving, and T asked me how the holiday went, because she knows that spending time with my family is very difficult for me. I was telling her how much I hate the holiday and why it's so difficult for me, and before I could stop myself, I said "and then, there's all the freakin' food, and I have to eat in front of my family and..." T asked me about those comments, and I told her I wasn't ready to address them yet. Then, once I'd had time to think about it, I brought it up with her the next session. I said "ya know how last week I said that part of my issue with Thanksgiving is the food? Well, I want to talk about that, because it's not just at Thanksgiving that I have this issue with eating and food." Then, T helped guide me in the conversation. Usually, when I bring up a difficult topic with her, she starts me out by asking me to just tell her one true thing. That's sometimes enough to get me talking, sometimes I need more help from her.

What are somethings T has done to help you?

This is the last of the issues I came to therapy to work through. I'm finding it nearly impossible to bring up my eating/body image issues, even though I am clearly very overweight (so it's not likely it'll be a surprise when I tell him). It was far easier for me to talk about my CSA and other childhood abuses than to talk about my eating. I think it's because the other things are about things that were done to me, where the eating issue is something I've done to myself. For me that makes it far more shameful to discuss.

1. He's been patient with me, waiting until i'm ready to deal.
2. He's a great role model. He lost 40 lbs 5 years ago, kept it off, and continues to improve his physique, and his health. He told me what his workout regimen is, in general, and he doesn't seem to deprive himself regarding food.
3. I bring in a lot of off the wall food items, like steel cut oats, that are unfamiliar to him, and that he then sometimes makes a part of his diet. There are a lot of food issues with my family of origin (FOO). As an adult, they took it as an insult to their intelligence if I shared a "new" product, that they weren't keeping up with the trends. So I appreciate him treating me like a human being in this respect.
4. Another time, I brought in Italian pepperoni rolls, it's like a warm submarine roll with slices of pepperoni layered thruout the dough? I used to get them all the time in my hometown, now they had opened another bakery nearby. Pretty sure T didn't know about them being there; he didn't, but he was familiar with the product, having lived in Boston and New York. OMG. We both sat there moaning and groaning eating these buns. Like identical twin piglets. With my FOO, my eat-moaning is considered rude and weird. A few weeks later, T told me he was planning an outing with his son, and he was going to get those same pepperoni rolls for their dinner. That was so cool.
5. So basically, where food was used by my family to control me, to anesthetize me, to exclude me, to fatten me up, to divert me, to shame me, make fun of me (my cooking, my food choices), to hurt me (like kitchen "accidents") - T has neutralized these negative aspects, and made some happy memories and associations with and for me.
6. He also had to keep a straight face while this morbidly obese client told him, "I'm not allowed to eat." That's how it felt to me, that's what I always told myself, that's the message I think I got from my mother. I don't remember her ever feeding, except once, and I think it was the last time. She was rough and impatient. I can't ask her because she doesn't remember anything about me. Anyway, now I eat breakfast, usually yogurt, instead of starving all day then overeating at night, and JUST THAT has helped me lose 20 lbs. My food choices haven't really changed THAT much, except that I have more healthful food readily available, so I am less likely to order out or eat ice cream or frozen meals or canned soups or cheese sandwiches or peanut butter. wow you wouldn't THINK that would be worth 20 lbs in 4 months, wouldja?

I tend to restrict food, and when I'm not restricting, my eating habits just generally suck. The restricting is often not a conscious decision...I just "forget" to eat.

The most helpful thing T has done is to let me talk about it and listen and help me work through why I feel the way I do. Also, she helped me work out ways to remember to eat and to be accountable for going to the grocery store, buying food, and fixing food. T also models good behavior by being at a healthy weight herself. When I'm really struggling with anxiety, T also checks in with me on my eating habits and reminds me that I need to eat.

T explained to my husband that he's enabling me by trying to force me or 'remind' me to eat. T has convince to trust her completely, take my meds, and cautiously accept the mental health system. As for specifically just ED I kinda answered that in the other forum.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the support. I think Im going to write what I want to say in a letter. Will post it for feedback when done.

Oh goodnes...

Well, first off, yes. I am about 50 lbs overweight and my T is a gorgeous beanpole I feel awful bringing this stuff up, but I know I have to. I've beaten around the topic for months, and it was T who got me to finally dig into the deep stuff. She is really at a loss on how to approach this with me because it's such a deep deep issue, so she offered to let me see a different T at the agency to discuss this with. When she said that I felt awful, like I had hurt her with my words. I told her no, that I want to work on it with her and her only. She is the only person I feel I can really talk to. It's just hard because I know in my mind that she could never really understand.