Eating Disorders Treatment Center, LLC

01/01/2020

Happy new year from all of us at .abq! Have a safe holiday. We would like to acknowledge those of you who have supported us this year as well as those who have made it this far. You did it! Yay!

12/27/2019

12 Days of Recovery:

For the 12 days of recovery my treatment team gave to me:

One life of freedom,
Two rounds of treatment,
Three mindful movements,
Four identified thought distortions,
Five years of therapy,
Six snacks per day,
Seven bottles of Ensure,
Eight self-care actions,
Nine "Where do you feel that?",
Ten principles of intuitive eating,
Eleven new perspectives,
&
Twelve new emotions.

Disclaimer: This may now work to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas"

In the treatment of eating disorders, we find that having a treatment team is worth your while. In a study from 2015, researchers found that “an interdisciplinary team has more therapeutic utility than counseling alone."

Your treatment team can even consist of your family, P*P, high school counselor, or best friend. Whoever your treatment team is and as tough as recovery may be, we acknowledge your hard work!

12/25/2019

Good morning!⁠
We are closed today. We will be back to our regular hours tomorrow. Have a fabulous day!

12/20/2019

12/19/2019

Make space for grief: Holidays can be a tough time for some of us, so it's important to give yourself permission to make time to feel all the feels.

Stick to your plans: We know that plans can change, but if you set an intention ahead of time that will truly bring you benefits, stick to it! However, you are the judge of whether this can be too much.

Reach out for help when needed: Call a friend. Send a message to your Facebook group. Make plans to visit your grandma. Whatever this looks like, it's okay to ask for help.

Self-care routine: There are crazy lines at the store, your bank account has almost diminished, your crazy in-laws are coming over, and the house is a mess... What do you do? Make time for yourself! This can look like waking up 10 minutes earlier and doing a breathing exercise or it can be dancing while doing dishes!

Give yourself permission: You're allowed to eat the cookies from the cookie exchange. You're allowed to go to bed early. Save that work assignment for tomorrow. Whatever this looks like for you, determine whether sulking in the decision-making process is actually making it worse than it already might be.

Learn to recognize your wins: This is tough, but it's so important to begin to recognize your successes, big or small.

Allow yourself to feel: Refer to "Make space for grief". It's okay to feel emotions.

Learn to say "no": The pressure is real here guys... Are you starting to recognize your people pleasing behavior? Is this interfering with your own life? You are allowed to say no. You don't even have to justify a reason! You can do it.

Listen to your stress cues: This can be feeling physically/emotionally exhausted, tension in your neck, sore thighs, etc. Whatever this may be for you, take care of 'yo self!

Set "realistic expectations": There is absolutely no way you can make a 5 course meal for 20, clean the house, drop off the kids at daycare, finish your workload, and continue holiday shopping. Take baby steps! Sometimes, you can't get to everything and that's okay.

Create your own tradition: This can be fun! Sometimes creating new traditions create new positive memories and can help with the grieving process.

12/18/2019

It's okay to not be feeling the "merry" "joy" or "peace" this holiday season.

This week, we're going to provide some tips on how to "ride the wave" this holiday season whether you are someone who's currently dealing with mental health issues, elevated grief, working to hold onto ED recovery, struggling financially, dealing with the hectic crowds/traffic, are someone trying to fight against diet culture, racism, sexism, & homophobic talk at the dinner table, or whatever it is, we're here for you and are ready to listen.

Post inspired by Bodyposipanda

12/11/2019

When was the last time you have used mindfulness in this manner?⁠
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Jon Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness program--Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)--has been used to treat binge eating disorders to introduce daily meditative practices using gentle stretching, mindful meditation, and mindfulness strategies.

12/10/2019

1. Rate your hunger.⁠
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Here at , we use a sliding scale of 0-7 to determine our hunger. 1 = intensely hungry, 4 = neutral/shifting, 7 = intensely full. When using our hunger satiety scale, we may ask questions similar to those on the mindful eating cycle such as "What are the internal and external influences on hunger?" or "When was the last time I ate?" or "Why do I want, or not want to eat?"⁠⁠⁠
2. Eat food mindfully.⁠
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In some activities here at EDTC, we've asked our patients and staff to eat chocolate or a raisin mindfully. We ask that before we eat it, we observe the appearance, the smell, and/or the texture. Then, we place it in our mouths without chewing. What happens? Did the texture change? Did you enjoy the flavor? As we chew it, we ask similar questions like, "What do you notice?" After we finish the food, we may ask, "Is this different from your normal experience of eating this food?" Sometimes we might notice a flavor or texture we wouldn't have noticed when eating mindlessly.

12/09/2019

"Am I Hungry?"⁠
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This question may lead to various signals and reasoning's from your body in order to provide an adequate sense of the answer to the question.⁠
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Michelle May, MD developed this simple model to portray the idea of when, how , why, and where we eat. This model asks you to allow intent and awareness around eating to allow an informed decision to the question above.⁠
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Although this model may appear simple, it opens the door to the many questions that may come up when you ask yourself if you are hungry. Such as, "Where in my body is it telling me that I am hungry?" "When have I felt this hungry before?" " What kinds of foods help me in feeling full?", etc. ⁠
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Using this model has shown people to be free from dieting and overeating. It gives you the power to be present and made decisions without being restrictive. This model will allow a better relationship with food and a more enjoyable experience.

12/06/2019

Dysfunctional Family Bingo...
Have you played? The idea is that you are being proactive and PREPARE for potential anxious-ridden situations with family, friends, and even strangers!

How do you prepare for triggering/irritating comments/situations during the holiday season?

12/03/2019

Raise your hand if you've had a negative scenario ALREADY happen this holiday season?

Unfortunately, the holiday season isn't over. If you've followed us around this time last year, you may have seen our Clinical Director (via IGTV) talk about "Dysfunctional Family Bingo", in which she discusses the idea that if we anticipate--or "cross off"--anxious-inducing comments, situations, and/or scenarios that may trigger your ED, you are more likely to be proactive with these scenarios and "win" the game of dysfunctional family bingo.

Later this week, we will be discussing some potential scenarios in which we, or others have experienced this holiday season.

What are some scenarios in which you need to prepare for in the next couple of weeks?