Emotional Eating, Binge Eating and Negative Body Image
Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating are not about the food
Effective Eating Disorder Treatment leads to a deeper connection with Self, with your body and with your true needs and wants. It also leads to a more peaceful relationship with food and intuitive and balanced eating.
Emotional Eating comforts or numbs you with food. This usually takes the form of carbohydrates. Often unconsciously, food quickly and effectively obliterates our ability to feel distressing and/or uncomfortable feelings. Tried and true, this reliable friend requires nothing of us and enables us to “check out.” Entertaining, celebrating and “treating yourself” with food are also signs that you may be an Emotional Eater.
Binge Eating is eating large amounts of food and feeling out of control. If you eat compulsively, or secretly, these are also indications that your relationship with food is out of balance. Eating when not hungry, eating rapidly, eating to the point of physical discomfort can also be signs of Binge Eating. Especially relevant are feelings of shame or guilt that follow a food binge. Often, women with Binge Eating Disorder compensate by later restricting. And restricting, in turn, increases the urge to Binge by triggering the body’s need to compensate for deprivation.
Bulimia is a category of behaviors designed to expel food or calories from the body. This includes self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretic abuse and over-exercising. These behaviors represent an effort to mitigate weight gain, to facilitate weight loss and/or to experience the physical release often associated with purging. Often, women with Binge Eating Disorder compensate for bingeing with one or more bulimic behaviors.
Disordered eating behaviors, like other addictions, are efforts to regulate one’s Nervous System and bring the Self back to a tolerate level of activation. Through the work of eliminating former and current Nervous System “triggers,” we can eliminate disordered eating behaviors. At the same time, we create an opportunity to learn and practice new, healthy ways of regulating our emotions. With the reduction/elimination of some triggers and new healthier coping skills healing from Disordered Eating is possible.
Negative Body Image vs. Body Positivity
Negative Body Image is based in the belief that our body does not conform to externally defined acceptable standards. It is fueled by our culture’s incessant messaging that a body must look and must not look certain ways. An overly fixated focus on body, weight, physical shape, appearance and comparison to others are all typical manifestations of Negative Body Image.
Transient ‘fashion’ and ‘marketers-for-profit’ create and sell the idea that only certain body types and physical traits are fashionable while others ‘are not.’ As a result, we all navigate minefields of conformity and rejection in an effort to minimize our insecurity. Body Positivity, Fat Positivity and Diversity and Inclusion campaigns such as Health at Every Size are healthy options available to us all. But before we can accept these healthy, inclusive options we must do the deeper work of resolving what prevents us from doing so.
As you likely know, t’s not about the food.
Binge Eating Disorder Treatment
I provide online therapy for Disordered Eating, Binge Eating Disorder and Negative Body Image Issues using body-focused trauma resolution methods. Because Eating Disorders and Body Image struggles are symptoms of other issues, it is imperative to address and resolve these underlying sources of distress before it is possible to experience relief.
I look forward to working with you and helping you create a loving, compassionate relationship with your Self.
Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is the intentional use of trance in order to help you achieve your goals. It is frequently used to:
What is Trance? What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis is also an effective tool for creating new habits. While trance is a state the human brain goes in and out of naturally all day long, hypnotherapy is the intentional use of trance that allows us to make desired suggestions to the subconscious.
There is no right way or wrong way for you to experience trance. And trance can be intentionally induced in many ways. My approach to inducing trance is gentle, slow and deeply relaxing.1 You can sit or lie down. You can keep your eyes open or closed. Once achieved, hypnotic trance allows us to access your subconscious by bypassing the critical, logical, vigilant “gatekeeper” of your mind.
It’s important to know that you are always in control of yourself and your intentions during and after hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is simply using hypnosis to further your chosen therapeutic goals. When used properly and ethically, there is no agenda other than your own during the process of hypnotherapy.
Using Hypnosis with Other Therapy Methods
Trance states are often a naturally occurring part of the therapy process, whether they are induced intentionally or not. While I do not use hypnosis as a stand-alone approach or as my primary therapy approach, it is an organic tool that often naturally aids us in our work together – no couch, or clock or pendulum required. I do often weave hypnosis into the various ways we might work together. However, if you are seeking hypnosis as a primary approach for your work, I am happy to refer you to some excellent hypnosis practitioners in the Metro Atlanta area.
To read the current research on hypnosis, please visit The American Society for Clinical Hypnosis.
1 While trance often results in deep relaxation, this is not always the case.
Coming Out Late In Life
Online Group for LGBTQ Questioning Women in GA and FL
Shift Happens. This is a Coming Out Late in Life Group for Women questioning or coming to terms with their sexual orientation. Many women identify as lesbian, bisexual, queer, gay, pan-sexual or “no labels, please!” And many, understandably, delay coming out due to family, social and/or career implications. Still others experience a true “shift” in their sexual orientation over time.
If you recognize yourself below, this group may be for you.
•I’m questioning my sexual orientation — again, or for the first time.
•I am curious about my sexual orientation and don’t know where to start.
•I’m divorcing my partner, in part or in whole, due to my sexual orientation.
•I need a safe and validating LGBTQ community of women to grow with.
•I want support and confidentiality while I navigate my coming out process.
•I’m open to exploring my sexuality in a safe, affirming, no agenda environment.
This long-running group (9 years) is facilitated by Melissa Lester, LCSW, a culturally competent and LGBTQ(+) affirming women’s therapist and counselor. She is a founding member and former Vice President of The LGBTQ Therapist Resource and former ATLANTA PRIDE Coordinator for the organization.
Many women report that this group is a “life saver” during murky, complex and difficult life transitions. We are focused on safety, connection, community and offering you all the space and time you need to navigate your own process – with a lot of love and support. Join us, relax, learn, get comfortable in your own skin and benefit from the experience of other women. Chances are pretty good you will also make a new friend or two. So, if you have thought about Coming Out Late in Life, you are welcome here!
Coming Out Late in Life Group Values
• Confidentiality – Everyone’s confidentiality and privacy are fundamental to the ongoing success of our group (running since 2014). What this means…We don’t share other people’s stories, parts of stories or names. This applies to those who attend group as well as anyone in the larger community. If you are a member of any form of media, this must be revealed to group participants each time you join, and you must agree to not use any content from this group, ‘disguised’ or not.
• Safety – For your safety and the safety of others, please take necessary security precautions including changing passwords, opening a new email address, buying a 2nd phone, etc. Email invitations are blind-copied, meaning no one’s email address is revealed. Each link is private and individual and sent only to you at the email address you have provided. You must be able to participate on a screen that is not visible to anyone else, with audio that is not audible to anyone else with no “through” traffic in your room.
• Support and Community – Our Group is not a therapy group; it is a Support Group and community building group facilitated by a therapist, yours truly. If you require more space and time to process your experiences than is appropriate for Group, I am happy to offer you some referrals for individual therapy. It is important for everyone to have space/room in Group to participate according to their own needs. We encourage connection and information and resource sharing. Your level of participation is always voluntary. We advocate no particular agenda, path, labels, steps – other than what is authentic and true for you, when and if the time comes.
• Everything is Optional – Except adherence to our Group Values (see above)
2023 Coming Out Late in Life Group Process
• 2023 Calendar – Will be posted as soon as possible. Dates will be listed below and vary to accommodate holiday weekends, etc.
• Are you In? – Once we’ve spoken and mutually agree that the group feels like a good fit, I will add you to my list of invitees. You are then welcome to join Group any day we meet.
• Who Attends Group/Residency Requirement – Georgia (only) women questioning or curious about their sexual orientation (sometimes in conjunction with gender identity), aged 30s to 70s+. Women of every size, shape, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion, ability/disability questioning their sexual orientation are welcome.
• Day of Group – Online Groups – Invitations are emailed via Hushmail @ approximately 1:30 pm the day of Group. You will need to set up a FREE Hushmail account and write down your password. If you would like to attend that day, simply RSVP by replying via email – and letting me know you will attend. At approximately 3:15 pm, you will receive your unique, one-time-use link to join us! In-Person Groups – We are back! More info coming soon
• Fee – There is a $25 fee for attendance. Payment is made with the link you will receive. If this fee poses any financial strain or confidentiality/privacy/safety issues for you, please let me know. No one is turned away due to inability to pay.
• Group Structure – 1) Intros 2) Open discussion 3) Sharing of resources 4) Sharing of contact info (voluntary) 5) Outros
• Everything is Optional – Except adherence to our Group Values (see above)
A Note About Email Privacy: HIPAA compliance and encryption is guaranteed at my end of our communication by Hushmail. Your email host and settings will affect the level of privacy you have at your end.
2023 Coming Out Late in Life Group Meeting Dates
Coming Soon – Saturdays 3:30 pm – 5 pm
•January ONLINE – 28th
•February
•March
•April
•May
•June
•July
•August
•September
•October
•November
•December
For more information about our Coming Out Late in Life Group for Women, please contact me via HIPAA compliant encrypted email.
EFT Tapping or “Emotional Freedom Techniques”
“Emotional Freedom Techniques,” or EFT Tapping, is a combination of 8 well-accepted functions in psychology, plus Acupressure, that together create a rapid emotional, cognitive, and physical decrease in distress. The end result is 1) trauma resolution 2) emotional regulation and 3) a calmer nervous system.
Used by millions of people world-wide, Tapping is well researched. Research shows it reduces and/or eliminates phobia, trauma, anxiety, cravings and addiction, physical symptoms and more. Tapping is used for performance enhancement by professional athletes and dubbed “The most effective psychiatric intervention in my 25 years of practice” by Harvard psychiatrist Eric Leskowitz.
Stressed? | Overwhelmed? | Stuck?
Research shows EFT Tapping can help:
•Reduce anxiety, stress and phobias
•Lower blood pressure and other physical markers
•Reduce cravings and support recovery
•Reduce and resolve trauma
•Facilitate emotional regulation
•Reduce physical pain
•Rapidly process thoughts, feeling and physical sensations
•Improve performance (athletic, academic, career and more)
Once learned, you can do it yourself, on your own, in the privacy of your home, car or office. You can also work with an EFT Tapping Professional for more complex issues and for greater support. Once you learn how to Tap safely, you have the tools to take charge of your emotional, mental and physical pain. Get ‘unstuck.’ Feel better. Move forward.
EFT Tapping for Trauma
We all experience various forms of trauma in our lives. These range from day-to-day interpersonal interactions that leave their mark on us, to large disastrous events that we all recognize easily. Regardless, the impact trauma has on our lives is considerable. By reprocessing thoughts, feelings and experiences with Tapping, we eliminate the distress associated with them once and for all. We lessen the overall stress on our nervous system, improve multiple physical symptoms, strengthen our immune system and clear the way to allow our bodies and minds to function with less activation, hyperarousal and less ‘clutter’ to weigh us down.
How Does EFT Work?
Research and clinical experience with EFT Tapping shows the following actions at work:
•Imaginal Exposure – Placing yourself in a memory with your imagination.
•Acupressure – Tapping on specific points in the body that move energy rapidly.
•Somatic, Emotional and Cognitive Activation (CNS Activation) – Causing the flow of sensations, feelings and thoughts.
•Amygdala/Prefrontal Cortex Rewiring & Deactivation – Relaxing and slowing the fight, flight freeze part of the brain.
•Information Processing & Reprocessing – Experiencing and re-experiencing information.
•Cognitive Restructuring – The forming of new/different thoughts.
•Memory Re-consolidation – The completion or changing of memories to accommodate new awareness.
•Eye Movement and Reprocessing – Eye movements are associated with brain function.
Most of us are familiar with one or more of these mechanisms. Tapping (EFT) elegantly combines all of these into a seamless and intuitive process that is simple to learn. We may incorporate EFT Tapping into as much of our work together as you like in order to achieve as much relief as quickly as possible. EFT Tapping Intensives are available as “individualized workshops” to achieve much progress in a short period of time.
If you have any questions about EFT Tapping, please feel free to email me.
The Science of Tapping
In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of fifty veterans diagnosed with PTSD, 86% of them no longer met the criteria for PTSD after only 6 sessions with EFT. These results were sustained at 3 and 6 month follow ups. This study has been repeated with similar results.
Other studies reveal a dramatic reduction in participants’ cortisol levels (down 24-49%) after Tapping. Cortisol is a hormone that regulates the stress in our bodies and contributes to the disease process.
To date there are over 100 studies on EFT. The American Psychological Association approves Energy Medicine (including EFT Tapping) for their members’ Continuing Education. They do not, however, approve Tapping as an ‘evidence-based’ therapy approach, in spite of the fact that EFT meets the APA’s definition of “evidence-based.” For this reason, please note that EFT Tapping is considered an “experimental” modality by the APA. I encourage you to try Tapping with a professional and to make your own determination about the relief it may offer you. I also encourage you to read the research at EFT International’s Research Page.
EFT Tapping Trainer
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Georgia and an approved Telehealth provider in Florida. I am also an EFT Tapping Trainer certified by EFT International. My years of mentoring include work with Ann Adams, LCSW (GA) and Jondi Whitis, Master Trainer of Trainers (GA), both of EFT International. My training also includes work with Steven Kessler, LMFT (CA), Valerie Lis (MN), Dale Paula Teplitz (CA), and Nancy Gnecco, LPC (GA).
Tapping has truly transformed my therapy practice and the lives of my clients. And, for me, that is the bottom line.
Meditation and Mindfulness
The intentional act of slowing down, doing less and being still can feel like a constant battle in our culture. I’ve learned from my clients over the years that “FOMO” or “Fear of Missing Out” is, indeed, very real. I tend to think of FOMO as a by-product of the Social Media Age, where curated images are force-fed to the unsuspecting as though it is “real life.” Everyone else has a somehow better life in pictures than could ever possibly be real.
In addition to our own “FOMO,” we often experience cultural backlash for simply saying “no,” politely declining invitations, plans, and chronic overstimulation in favor of doing less and “being” more. Making different choices often causes others to question their own. And that can make people uncomfortable.
“In an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”
~ Pico Ayer
We practice meditation and mindfulness in order to be present for the only moment that ever exists — now. Or because we long to show up for Self and be powerful in our own life. Or because we know somewhere deep down, “There’s got to be more than…this.”
In an age of extreme distraction and frantic levels of activity, we are depressed, anxious, and lacking meaning in our lives. Our minds, hearts, and spirits are rarely in the same place as our toes. You can choose to slow down, do less and notice…what you notice.
Come As You Are
A meditation and mindfulness practice is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Some people meditate alone while others meditate in group. Meditating in nature can feel essential for some. Others opt for their favorite couch or chair. Some gravitate toward stillness and silence. Some folks prefer motion, movement, and vocalization. Regardless of your approach, meditation is an invitation to Self, and then, to everything greater than Self.
Best of all, no special clothes or poses or equipment is required. It’s portable. We simply “sit.” Or walk. Or stand. And notice what we notice. Grief, restlessness, thoughts, anxiety, “Am I doing this right?” We make room for all that presents itself. Often, we return our focus to a single point of awareness – the breath, the bottom of the belly, a blank blackboard, a sound. Always back to a single point of awareness. This is the practice.
The effects of meditation and mindfulness are cumulative. Each time we “sit” (or walk or stand) we are a bit closer, connected and known, to Self. With consistent practice, it is possible to become more connected than not.
The Benefits of Meditation and Mindfulness
The benefits of meditation and mindfulness are well established in various scholarly articles and referenced in self-help pieces. Meditation and mindfulness reduce depression, anxiety, physical pain, and insomnia. These practices can strengthen our immune system, and improve countless other aspects of our physical, emotional, and spiritual experience.
Meditation and mindfulness can also offer us a path to greater spiritual connection, to knowing and expressing our truest nature, and to trusting Self as a manifestation of the Divine. Meditation and Mindfulness have the potential to be a deeply meaningful practice that nourishes you in ways that have no words.
“Go slow – or don’t go.”
~ Yours truly
Meditation and Mindfulness
The intentional act of slowing down, doing less and being still can feel like a constant battle in our culture. I’ve learned from my clients over the years that “FOMO” or “Fear of Missing Out” is, indeed, very real. I tend to think of FOMO as a by-product of the Social Media Age, where curated images are force-fed to the unsuspecting as though it is “real life.” Everyone else has a somehow better life in pictures than could ever possibly be real.
In addition to our own “FOMO,” we often experience cultural backlash for simply saying “no,” politely declining invitations, plans, and chronic overstimulation in favor of doing less and “being” more. Making different choices often causes others to question their own. And that can make people uncomfortable.
“In an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”
~ Pico Ayer
We practice meditation and mindfulness in order to be present for the only moment that ever exists — now. Or because we long to show up for Self and be powerful in our own life. Or because we know somewhere deep down, “There’s got to be more than…this.”
In an age of extreme distraction and frantic levels of activity, we are depressed, anxious, and lacking meaning in our lives. Our minds, hearts, and spirits are rarely in the same place as our toes. You can choose to slow down, do less and notice…what you notice.
Come As You Are
A meditation and mindfulness practice is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Some people meditate alone while others meditate in group. Meditating in nature can feel essential for some. Others opt for their favorite couch or chair. Some gravitate toward stillness and silence. Some folks prefer motion, movement, and vocalization. Regardless of your approach, meditation is an invitation to Self, and then, to everything greater than Self.
Best of all, no special clothes or poses or equipment is required. It’s portable. We simply “sit.” Or walk. Or stand. And notice what we notice. Grief, restlessness, thoughts, anxiety, “Am I doing this right?” We make room for all that presents itself. Often, we return our focus to a single point of awareness – the breath, the bottom of the belly, a blank blackboard, a sound. Always back to a single point of awareness. This is the practice.
The effects of meditation and mindfulness are cumulative. Each time we “sit” (or walk or stand) we are a bit closer, connected and known, to Self. With consistent practice, it is possible to become more connected than not.
The Benefits of Meditation and Mindfulness
The benefits of meditation and mindfulness are well established in various scholarly articles and referenced in self-help pieces. Meditation and mindfulness reduce depression, anxiety, physical pain, and insomnia. These practices can strengthen our immune system, and improve countless other aspects of our physical, emotional, and spiritual experience.
Meditation and mindfulness can also offer us a path to greater spiritual connection, to knowing and expressing our truest nature, and to trusting Self as a manifestation of the Divine. Meditation and Mindfulness have the potential to be a deeply meaningful practice that nourishes you in ways that have no words.
“Go slow – or don’t go.”
~ Yours truly
© melissalesterlcsw.com 2023