therapy Archives - Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness Center

Enhancing Your Eating Disorder Recovery with Virtual Therapy Groups

by Heather Baker | Nov 2, 2024 | Body Image, Counseling, Diet Culture, Eating Disorders, Recovery, therapy

Support is crucial in the journey of eating disorder recovery. Whether you’re just beginning or have been on the path for a while, having the right resources and community can make a significant difference. At Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center, we understand the importance of accessible support, so we are excited to offer virtual outpatient therapy groups tailored to your needs.

Why Virtual Therapy Groups?

Virtual therapy groups provide a unique opportunity for individuals to receive support from the comfort of their own homes. This format is especially beneficial for those who may have busy schedules, live far from treatment centers, or prefer the privacy and convenience of online sessions. Our virtual groups are designed to create a safe and supportive environment where you can connect with others who understand your experiences.

Prosperity now offers Virtual Eating Disorder Support Groups to enhance recovery as a valuable supplement to in-person treatment or as an aftercare option!

Personalized Paths to Healing: Adult Eating Disorder Treatment at Prosperity

by Heather Baker | Oct 13, 2023 | Eating Disorders, Mental Illness, Recovery, Stigma, therapy

“Eating disorders are most commonly associated with teenagers and college students.”

While many teenagers in the United States suffer from various types of eating disorders, the struggles of adults with eating disorders often go overlooked and untreated. In fact, binge eating disorder is more prevalent in adulthood compared to other types of eating disorders. Eating disorders in adults can be triggered by a multitude of factors, including genetics, past trauma, and health complications like Crohn’s disease or gastrointestinal issues that negatively impact their diets. Frequently, when adults seek medical attention, they are misdiagnosed. Severe dieting can alter the brain’s perception of food, leading to an extreme fear of weight gain and distorted body image. This often results in malnourishment, even for individuals with larger bodies.

Seeking Eating Disorder Treatment as an Adult

Seeking treatment for adults with eating disorders poses an added challenge due to their existing responsibilities and commitments. Many parents or professionals have learned to adapt their lives around the disorder, making the idea of seeking inpatient or outpatient treatment appear daunting, if not impossible. However, at Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness Center, we understand the unique challenges adults face in seeking treatment for eating disorders. OK Magazine says: “Baker has found that adults often feel alone in their disorders and feel ashamed about reaching out for help, so the group therapy sessions act as a way for them to connect with other adults who share the same struggles.”

Tailored Eating Disorder Treatment for Adults at Prosperity

Established in 2012, Prosperity Eating Disorder and Wellness Center proudly serves individuals in Virginia through two convenient locations: Northern Virginia and Coastal Virginia. Our comprehensive approach addresses the nutritional, psychological, psychiatric, and emotional needs of both teenagers and adults struggling with eating disorders.

For adults seeking support at Prosperity, our specialized programs encompass a range of therapeutic modalities. This includes immersive group therapy sessions, individualized sessions with experienced therapists and dietitians, and the valuable experience of sharing meals with a supportive community. We understand that adults may often feel isolated in their journey, which is why our group sessions provide a vital space for connecting with others facing similar challenges.

Misconceptions and stigmas surrounding adult eating disorders are actively tackled through our group therapy sessions. We recognize that some may hesitate to seek help out of concern for being in a group with teenagers. Therefore, we offer a distinct program tailored specifically for adults. Here, discussions revolve around adult-centric topics, such as managing an eating disorder while navigating professional responsibilities, parenthood, marriage, and caregiving.

At Prosperity, we understand the importance of accommodating diverse schedules. Our offerings include both day and evening programs to suit the needs of both adults and adolescents. For those preferring virtual treatment options, our telehealth services ensure access to care from the comfort of your own space. With clinics located in Norfolk and Herndon, Virginia, we welcome individuals of all ages, genders, and types of eating disorders, accepting most insurance plans.

Virginia’s Boutique Eating Disorder Treatment Center

At Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center, we are dedicated to providing evidence-based, individualized treatment for eating disorders across all age groups, ethnic backgrounds, and genders.

Our approach addresses psychological, nutritional, emotional, and relational needs, guiding individuals toward a full recovery. We specialize in treating a range of disorders including Anorexia, Bulimia, EDNOS, Orthorexia, and Binge Eating Disorder.

Take the first step towards recovery with Prosperity Eating Disorders & Wellness Center today!

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5 Effective Coping Skills for Recovery

by Ariel W | Sep 17, 2021 | Counseling, Eating Disorders, Empowerment, Inspirational, Mental Illness, Recovery, therapy, Women

5 Effective Coping Skills to Assist Your Journey to Recovery

Recovery is a journey. Recovery takes time. Recovery is your journey that you live and control day to day. Throughout this time, life stressors that you may not be able to control come into play and you may feel as if they are acting as a halt in the direction you were headed throughout your recovery journey. Life stressors may include starting back up at school, starting a new job or leaving a current one, an increase in financial obligations, taking care of an elderly family member, moving to a new home, worrying about a touchy conversation you need to have with someone, or even relationship stress. Facing this stress, it feels quite easy to rely on disordered coping skills. However, these disordered coping skills can mentally and physically play a negative impact on recovery. With an eating disorder and partaking in disordered coping skills, one’s eating disorder symptoms could heighten. Practicing healthy coping skills with your eating disorder will aid to the longevity of your wellness and nourishment journey.

Here are 5 effective and healthy coping skills to handle those stressful bumps in the road that life may present in your path while you are on the road to your recovery:

Did someone say Self-Care? Make yourself your own priority! Wash your face, brush out your hair, put on a face mask, and hop in that bath tub! Light your favorite candle. Enjoy Mother-Earth and the sunshine she has to offer by taking a walk outside and enjoying some fresh air. Listen to the soothing sound of the rain hitting your windows and meditate for 10 minutes. Get cozy and read a new book. Tidy up your living space, rearrange your closet or organize your dresser. Cook yourself one of your favorite meals or bring out your favorite family relative’s cookie recipe! Allow yourself 7-8 hours of sleep, being well-rested will aid in avoiding triggers.

2. Start a new hobby or activity, or return to one you truly enjoyed in the past. Run to Michael’s, grab a canvas and paint something beautiful, get creative! Start a new DIY project for something that would look great in your home, or something you can give to someone as a gift! Inquire through social media or online for a local book club if you enjoy a great read with people that share the same passion as you. Gather friends and family for a once-a-week game night, such as bowling, roller skating. You could even form a kickball team! Find your passion!

3. Journal it out! Keep a journal handy to write about your day. Write about your daily thoughts, emotions, something encouraging someone said to you that day, three things that you are thankful for.

4. Recognize the way that you speak to yourself. Whether it be about your body, the food that you eat, or your actions. Write down the negative thought, and for every negative thought, on a separate piece of paper (let’s say a sticky-note) write down three positive thoughts about yourself. Now, throw away that negative thought and remove it from your mind-space as it falls into the trash, crumbled up and left behind. Take that sticky note with your three positive thoughts about yourself and place that on your mirror. Leave it there! Look at yourself in the mirror and read these positive thoughts out loud. Remind yourself how awesome you are. Speak these thoughts into existence to yourself and they will become a part of you! Self doubt and self blame will not cure your eating disorder. Uplift yourself.

5. Reach out and lean on the community you have built around yourself of friends, family, loved ones, and others going through their own road to recovery. Associate yourself with those that you can trust. These people can help carry you throughout your journey when times don’t feel as easy or fair as they should to you. Allow them and involve them in your healthy coping mechanisms. You will be able to rely on these people when you allow them in, giving them your trust and them giving you theirs!

Sources:

3 tips for coping with triggers in Eating disorder recovery. National Eating Disorders Association. (2018, February 21). https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/3-tips-coping-triggers-eating-disorder-recovery.

About eating disorders. Eating Disorder Foundation.org. (n.d.). https://eatingdisorderfoundation.org/learn-more/about-eating-disorders/coping/.

To cope with stress, Try Learning Something new. Harvard Business Review. (2019, November 26). https://hbr.org/2018/09/to-cope-with-stress-try-learning-something-new.