Occupational Therapy And Eating Disorder Recovery

Topic: What is causing young adults and teens to develop eating disorders and how can we help them?

My current view on food is that it creates a sense of comfort and fulfillment, yet this was not always the case. During my teenage years I struggled with an ongoing eating disorder. During that time I viewed food as a threat, or an enemy. As part of my recovery process, I was given a task to make friends with food. I first approached this task with a closed mind, finding a wrong with every meal I ate. My view changed completely when my friends took me out to a vegan diner for a burger and sweet potato fries meal.

I interviewed Dr. Edward on Friday, September 5th, 2014. The interview took place at Restore Joy Counseling Service in Chesapeake, VA. Initially, I was going to interview Damita Gonzalez but due to a change in her schedule, I interviewed Restore Joy’s owner Dr. Edward. The interview lasted about 34 minutes and 43 seconds, starting at around 10am. The interview was held in an office with two chairs and a computer desk. I asked Dr. Edward approximately 13 questions about the counseling field. It was not until the interview started that I learned Dr. Edward is no longer a practicing counselor.

Forty-three published abstracts were retrieved from PubMed database and three were retrieved from CINAHL database, for a total of 46 articles for potential inclusion in the review. Three duplicates were then removed, yielding 43 articles for potential inclusion. Two articles were excluded because they are commentaries. Three articles were excluded because they are reviews. One article was excluded because it is a case study. 14 articles were excluded because they do not include a mindful eating intervention. Two articles were excluded because they do not focus on weight or weight-related co-morbidities. One article was excluded because it focuses on anorexia nervosa or bulimia. One article was

Eating disorder counselors have many different work environments. The environments can consist of hospitals, mental health clinics, prisons, and even in their patients’ homes.

The profession of occupational therapy is holistic, in which the professional can practice in with diverse populations in a variation of settings. The goal of an occupational therapist is to promote, enable, and encourage clients to fulfill occupations independently, such as planning and preparing a meal and balance checkbooks along with properly using a credit card. Since the origination of this career is in mental health, professionals have an imperative role in working with clients with severe mental illness to function daily and increase independence in fulfilling occupations that are meaningful to them.

Engel, B., Reiss, N., & Domback, M. (2007, February 2). Introduction To Eating Disorders. Retrieved

According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website, eating disorders are actually serious and often fatal illnesses causing serve disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors. People with eating disorders often have obsessions with food, their body weight, and their shape. There is, however, a difference between an eating disorder and a diet. It is important to know the difference. Eating disorders are a daily struggle for 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States (Eating Disorder Hope). An eating disorder is a compulsion to avoid eating in order to lose weight while a diet is cutting down eating or healthier eating in order to lose weight. The three types of an eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. All three disorders are important and they all deserve immediate treatment. No matter what eating disorder someone has, it can resort in organ damage and sometimes even death.

The four sections that follow review the article “A qualitative study of transgender individuals experiences in residential addiction treatment settings: stigma and inclusivity” by Lyons, T. Shannon, K., Pierre, L., Small, W., Krüsi, A., Kerr, T. (2015).

In most if not all professions, there are moral and ethical codes that must be followed. It is done so in order to maintain a level of professionalism, protection for the consumer of the services, and representation for the profession. Mental Health counselors have code of ethics which they go by as well to establish a universal standard of expectation and delivery. No matter the type of client you are helping, there are universal ethic codes that must be followed. Ethical Issues in Eating Disorders Treatment: Four Illustrative Scenarios is a series of articles that discusses four of the ethical practices that must and should be used by counselors. Even though the article is using scenarios dealing with eating disorders, the ethics that the

There is a focus on helping patients to observe and label their emotional reactions to trauma, validation and acquiring a balance between acceptance and change. This is a fairly new type of approach which is being modified for the treatment of eating disorders. (Santucci, 2010) This form of therapy, according to the data is appropriate for any individual afflicted with this condition as well as many others, but currently does not have a depth of research behind it to prove it individually effective specifically for AN.

In my research, I explored the world of eating disorders. I wanted to see if there was anything specifically encouraging eating disorders and if there was a way to stop it. Eating disorders affect the community greatly because often times, they go unchecked or unrecognized. As a recovered anorexic, I feel it’s very important to address this issue. It’s a very big problem that is often not addressed at all, or is seen as normal, like counting calories. I hoped to find a way to improve the way that eating disorders are viewed and explain to people about what defines an eating disorder, because many people will never know if it is not explicitly explained to them. My study’s purpose is to bring light into the dark world of eating disorders

Brewerton, Timothy D. "Eating disorders, trauma, and comorbidity: Focus on PTSD." Eating disorders 15.4 (2007): 285-304.

This experience exceeded my expectations, I understood what the profession of an occupational therapist entails but what I did not comprehend was how one achieves the actual success of therapy, until now. The field’s history of research and unfolding theories while focusing on

People suffering from eating disorders cannot solely help themselves. Although they may be able to stop for a short time, in the long run they will be back in the same path of self-destruction. Kirkpatrick & Caldwell (2001) state, "Because eating disorders are a complicated mix of physical and psychological abnormalities, successful treatment always includes treatment of psychological issues as well as restoration of a healthy diet" (p. 131). Trained therapists should treat eating disorders. The severity of the disorders will determine the need for outpatient therapy or an in-hospital program (Matthews, 2001, p. 178). There are many goals of therapy but the return to normalcy is the main goal. The eating disorder sufferer needs to restore and maintain a normal weight as well as develop normal eating and exercise routines. Kirkpatrick and Caldwell (2001) state,