Treatment for Bulimia Nervosa

You feel fat and ugly. To feel better, you decide to lose weight. So you start skipping meals. But then you become very hungry and when you eat you can't stop. So you consume huge quantities of food. Sometimes when you are feeling anxious and distressed, you binge to calm yourself. But then you feel physically uncomfortable and guilty at the calories you have consumed. So you decide to make yourself throw-up. Or perhaps you use laxatives or excessive exercise to try to rid yourself of calories and lose weight. After purging you feel temporarily relieved, and you resolve to be good, gain control and not eat. But the cycle inevitably starts again.

• First, a therapist, skilled in both nutrition and mental health issues, meets with you to assess the exact nature of your concerns. S/he wants to get to know you as an individual and understand how the cycle of binging and purging began.
• Next, your therapist wants to learn about the circumstances in which you live and work. S/he wants to know about your family members, your friends at school, your co-workers on the job and your friends. S/he wants to learn about the role these individuals play in your eating patterns.
• Your therapist then develops an individualized treatment plan for you which promotes behavior change and addresses any unrealistic thinking patterns so that the gripping cycle of binging and purging can be broken. You are asked to complete weekly homework assignments to help you understand more clearly your patterns and what you need to do to change them.
• Your therapist also understands how painful your feelings of being overweight are and works with you to help you achieve a healthy and comfortable weight.
• During treatment you will learn how to eat healthily, how to achieve and maintain a comfortable weight, and how to manage stress and anxiety in a productive way. Generally you can expect to feel better about yourself and more in control of your eating and your life.

Out of control eating is painful and destructive. Let us help you break the cycle!