Friday, July 12, 2013

From Client to Therapist

Well. Apparently I haven't posted in here since the TV show. I thought I'd give a little update for anyone interested.

I'm 27 years old now. I have been doing very well in my recovery for a few years now. I graduated in April of this year with my masters in social work and am now a therapist! I work with children, teenagers, and adults with a variety of mental health concerns, including eating disorders.

It's amazing to go back in posts and see the change in cognitions, attitude, motivation, etc. There sure has been a lot of growth. No pun intended. ;)

Eating-disorder wise, I always like to say I'm recovering, not recovered. The reason for that is that I believe it's a disorder that can be learned to be managed. Some people report never feeling anxious over their eating or body, but that's not me. I still continue to feel anxious (definitely not to the extent as it was years ago!!!) occasionally about my body, but in reality, who doesn't? Even people without an eating disorder have body image concerns. In a society that's constantly telling us that we need to CHANGE something about ourselves...whiten your teeth, slim down, firm up, wear slimming clothes...how can we not have some discomfort with ourselves? And for those people who do/did have an eating disorder, the disorder may have been a way to attempt to find some sort of control, and thus, it may resurface under stressful situations or during events that are perceived as being out-of-control. As a recovering person, I still find myself feeling more anxious about my body during stressful life events, conflict, life transitions, etc. But what's more important is how I react to those events. I consider myself recovering because I do not act on urges I may have. For those that are interested in this concept, ask your therapist about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

I'll try to update this more regularly. I'll leave you with a question: do you consider yourself recovered, recovering, or are you still struggling? How will you know when you are recovered?