Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating Disorder Treatment in Boulder, CO

We can help you with your extreme eating or exercising habits

Does this sound familiar?

I feel out of control with food.
Eating without noticing calories or content would be stressful for me.
I eat to feel better
When I am stressed, I don’t eat.
I use food to feel better.
Controlling my food intake makes me feel in control.
Sometimes the way I eat feels desperate.
I don’t feel good about my relationship with food.
I don’t know why I can’t eat like a ‘normal person.
When I eat a lot I space out.

If any of these thoughts are common for you, you would benefit from eating disorder treatment in Boulder, CO. Our therapists can help you better understand what’s going on, and what you may want to do about it.

People who we’ve treated for eating disorders have said they feel:

Embarrassed
Weak
Stupid
Helpless
Exhausted
Lonely
Scared

Living With An Eating Disorder Is Complicated

Eating disorders are especially complicated because food is something we need to have every day in a healthy life. But, the struggle with food is not viewed in the same way as other struggles. When you express your struggle through your relationship with food, you can’t just stay away from it like you may be able to do with other things. You have to face your relationship to food at social events, family gatherings, dates, meetings, and throughout everyday life. As daunting as this is, it is also possible to struggle much less with your eating disorder. Starting eating disorder treatment can help.

North Boulder Counseling Offers Eating Disorder Treatment to Help You Gain Control Of Your Eating Disorder

With the help of the therapists at North Boulder Counseling, you can make the change you want in your life. You may know intellectually what the roots of your eating and food struggles are. But, moving through the intense emotional foundations and creating a plan and path forward is best done with a skilled therapist. The foundation of so much suffering in secrecy, this is true of eating disorders as well. Often just sharing some details about the struggles you are having around food with your therapist can be immediately helpful in easing shame and fear and increasing your hope. We can help you eat healthily and be healthy

Our Approach to Eating Disorder Treatment in Boulder, CO

At North Boulder Counseling we have the skills to help you determine where to start and what your personal plan for happiness will look like. You will feel a clear sense of accomplishment and progress as you learn to treat yourself with patience and kindness. Long-lasting change is slow but it is also more reliable over time.

When does a diet become an eating disorder?

Great question. Anything can be done in a helpful way and anything can be done in a hurtful way. The difference between a thoughtful eating plan and an aggressive eating plan is in your head. How you are talking to yourself in your head is the big determining factor of whether your actions are helpful or hurtful. But, if you are eating too much, too little, purging, bingeing, or have disordered eating behaviors, that is something that should be addressed in treatment. North Boulder Counseling treats athletes, teens, mature adults, and people struggling with eating disorders. Our therapists can help you relate to food in a sustainable way.

Compulsive Exercise

Yes, there is too much of a good thing.

Can you relate to these thoughts?

I’m anxious or depressed, so I cope with lots of exercise.
If I don’t exercise multiple times a day, I get stressed
I exercise more than I eat
I put my work and social life on hold to exercise
I’m disappointed by my body’s shape, size, endurance, performance, and how it feels
I need exercise more than I enjoy it
I need exercise more than I enjoy it

When is exercise more hurtful than helpful?

The short answer: It is hurtful when it interferes with your life in a significant way. Exercise is hurtful if you are putting yourself down while you exercise. Or, you beat yourself up for not exercising. Similarly, if you are exercising so much that you are limiting other things like relationships, work, rest, or community, it is likely a net loss. Regardless of if you’re taking a brisk walk or training for your next Ironman, think about rather your exercise is interfering with your well-being and diminishing your happiness or even your health.

When Does It Turn Into Compulsive Exercise?

Exercise is a confounding topic because it is rewarded socially. Partially in our outdoor athletic state of Colorado. If you are reading this, chances are you know your exercise at least hinges on borderline net loss when you consider your self-talk or the impact it has on other aspects of your life.

Here’s the deal. It doesn’t matter that you’ve chosen a socially acceptable way to express your struggles. If you are exercising too much or too cruelly, you are likely dealing with something like anxiety, stress, or depression. Exercise offers some really effective mood stabilizers in the form of brain endorphins and our all-time favorite: dopamine. Exercise is a really great way to help us balance our brain chemistry and get an extra pick me up here and there. Like anything else, we can use it to avoid other needs or struggles.

Balancing The Role Of Exercise In Our Lives

You don’t have to stop exercising or even slow down. What if you could get the benefits and lose the critical internal voice that tells you you’re not enough? You know the one who spends all kinds of time planning and doing your workouts? Think about how much time this could free up to actually enjoy your life.

Our eating disorder therapists can help you see more clearly where you’re exercise habits aren’t supporting your overall well being. We can also support you in figuring out what your values and needs are and the best way for you to realistically honor them.

Begin Eating Disorder Treatment in Boulder, CO

If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating, or compulsive exercise, we can help out. Our counselors provide effective treatment for individuals struggling with the same problems you are right now. To begin counseling in Boulder, CO, follow these steps:

Contact our therapy center to request an appointment.
Learn more about our therapists and eating disorder treatment.
Enjoy your relationship with your mind and body.

Other Services offered at North Boulder Counseling:

Our therapy clinic in Boulder, CO is here to help you control your anxiety and stress so you can create the life you’ve always dreamed of. Our therapists offer an anxiety treatment intensive program, postpartum anxiety treatment, postpartum depression counseling, perinatal support, parenting coaching, grief counseling, trauma treatment and EMDR, depression treatment, teen therapy, LGTBQ counseling, and play therapy. We also offer services geared towards men, young adult counseling, and counseling for women. In addition, we offer professional supervision. If you’re looking for business coaching for therapists or professional supervision and consulting, North Boulder Counseling is here for you! To accommodate safety for our clients, we provide online therapy in Colorado. Reach out to our counseling clinic today and start creating the future you’ve always wanted for yourself!

Eating Disorder Treatment