A Journey Through Eating Disorders Support & Recovery

At the humane society where I worked in my 20s, I met a German Shepherd named Kayla who struggled with anxiety. She had been found as a stray on the streets of San Diego and was dropped off at the doors of the humane society by a good Samaritan. Every day, Kayla was terrified of walking down a particular hallway…

If you have a loved one with an eating disorder, navigating how to best support them can be challenging. You don’t want to say the wrong thing, but you also know that you have to address it and not ignore it. Eating disorders are complicated and, at their core, they are brain-based illnesses that no one would choose. While you…

Although it can happen, most mental health disorders don’t happen by themselves. There are usually one or more other disorders occurring at the same time, in a phenomenon known as a dual diagnosis. Eating disorders are no different; they are listed in the DSM-V with other forms of psychiatric illnesses, and they tend to appear in conjunction with disorders like…

Are you wondering if it’s possible to balance both school and outpatient treatment? The answer is yes! While college can be stressful, you don’t need to give up on getting the care that you need for your eating disorder. Understanding Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment Outpatient treatment is offered to individuals who would like to proceed with eating disorder recovery without…

What is biofeedback? Biofeedback is a tool used to practice self-regulation and can help improve anxiety, stress, sleep, mood, and more. There are several kinds of biofeedback, and at Walden Behavioral Care, we use heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback that helps you learn from your own nervous system. It’s an exciting new tool to help learn self-regulation skills and develop…

Eating disorders are complex illnesses. Diverse and multifaceted, they are associated with biological, psychological, and social factors that themselves are complex and interact with one another in complex ways. One factor often overlooked in conversations about eating disorder development, illness, and recovery is food insecurity. Research about the link between food insecurity and eating disorders has emerged in recent years,…

If you are thinking about postponing eating disorder treatment until after the holidays, consider some of the benefits of reaching out for help sooner rather than later. There is no single best time of year to seek treatment for an eating disorder. Ideally, the best time is as soon as possible, and from a trusted eating disorder treatment center. If…

Raise your hand if you struggle with grazing, nibbling, snacking, or binge eating at night, in between dinner and bedtime. If you do, you’re not alone. There are a number of reasons why we do this. Oftentimes, it’s because we have more access to food in the evening, or we are relaxing at home. Some of us eat more at…

Disclaimer: Discussing movement in eating disorder recovery can be difficult because there is so much nuance in one’s relationship with movement. Before digging into the concept of body cues in movement, I want to kindly remind readers that engaging in movement should be accessible to all (and currently isn't due to systems of oppression), but should never be a moral…

*CW: Mentions of Trauma*   Eating disorder treatment experts know unequivocally that trauma and PTSD are important contributing factors in the development of various eating disorders. According to a study performed by clinical psychiatrists, 23.1% of subjects with Anorexia Nervosa and 25.6% with Bulimia Nervosa displayed signs of PTSD. The prevalence of trauma in triggering and causing eating disorders has…