Eating Disorders Therapy: How Is It Like Doing Laundry?
I’d like to introduce you to Erica Faulhaber, who is a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate and an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician. I supervised Erica while she was working with me at my previous office location in Denver. She is a knowledgeable and compassionate therapist, who specializes in trauma recovery. You can contact Erica with any comments or questions, including how to get started with individual sessions (see bottom of article).
– Dr. Dorie
Laundry – the necessary evil to get out dirt, grime, stains and unwanted stench. A task resulting in revitalized, fresh and clean garments to go forth into the world. Doing laundry for most involves time, sorting, detergent, water and folding skills. Manufacturers provide labels that suggest hot or cold water, low or high heat and “lay flat to dry” or the fan favorite “dry clean only.”
Who really likes doing laundry? There may be a few folks out there that enjoy this task, but for the most part it is just something that needs to get done. Like laundry, therapy is an option to get out the gunk – it may take longer than the standard seventy-minute wash cycle, but it will be well worth it!
I think of coming to therapy (including eating disorders therapy) like coming into a laundromat. You bring a bag or two or three, and we will start to work on the pieces together. YOU pick the order in which we proceed. Whether you want to start with:
- The “most odiferous” piece – you think nobody is ready for or can stand
- The “wine stain” – you have tried repeatedly to get out or get rid of
- The “easiest” to clean with a small blemish – you might feel safest dealing with this first to build our rapport
No matter what you pick, we will look at cycle speed (delicate vs. normal – meeting weekly or more/less often), H20 temperature (cold vs. warm – maintenance or deeper/targeted/specific topic sessions) and load size (small, medium, large – weight of the struggles you are feeling). When you are ready to get some laundry done, it may not be fun all the time, but together we can make the task not as daunting!
© Erica Faulhaber 2016 – this blog article may be shared in its entirety, including copyright and contact information. Reprint only with permission from the author. Article adapted and reprinted by Positive Pathways, Ltd with permission.
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Want to explore trauma recovery? Contact Erica Faulhaber, MA, LPCC – the author of this blog article. Erica is an EDIT™ Certified III – Eating Disorder Treatment Clinician, and has a specialty in trauma recovery at her office in Lakewood, Colorado. EMAIL ERICA
Interested in a FREE consultation with Dr. Dorie? Dr. Dorie is passionate about her method of Eating Disorder Intuitive Therapy (EDIT)™ to help people overcome eating disorders and addictions. She provides customized counseling for eating disorders and alcohol / drug addiction at her Positive Pathways treatment center in Evergreen, Colorado – and EDIT™ eating disorder training and certification for coaches and clinicians worldwide. CALL 303-494-1975 – EMAIL DR. DORIE