Eating disorders are one of our specialties at Wisdom Within Counseling. Our therapists in Connecticut work with adolescents, teenagers, adults and couples that struggle with disordered eating. Binge, anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut helps teenagers see their full potential. If you teenager has an anxious, fearful, or guilt-based relationship with food, counseling can help them overcome those feelings. Counseling can help your teenager with disordered eating habits and body shame love and accept themselves.
One signs that your loved one has an eating disorder is that they have extreme reactions around meal times.
Mealtimes can be anxious times for adolescents and young adult suffering from anorexia, binge eating disorder, and bulimia. Your adolescent or teenager may avoid eating with their family or in the cafeteria at school due to shame, guilt, or fears.
Teenagers with anorexia, bulimia, ARFID, and binge eating disorders tend to limit their food choices. When your teenager has an eating disorder, they may demonstrate restrictive and avoidant behaviors. These changes in your teenager’s relationship with food are important to look out for.
Teenagers with eating disorders like anorexia, binge eating, or bulimia may have perfectionistic traits and low self-esteem.
Working with anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapists and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut can help your adolescent or teenager love themselves.
What are symptoms of anorexia in teenagers?
With anorexia, there may only be certain foods that teens allow themselves to eat. When suffering from anorexia, your teenager may become dehydrated, faint, feel dizzy, and experience fatigue.
With anorexia, teenagers may have a hard time physically eating an appropriate amount of food.
The whole body is effected by anorexia. A teenager with anorexia suffers from being cold, low body temperature, osteoporosis, electrolyte imbalances, and weight loss.
At times, anorexia and binge eating disorder go hand in hand.
Because a person with anorexia is starving themselves, they may also have compulsive eating habits.
Anorexia, binge eating, and over exercising as well and self-induced vomiting may all go hand in hand.
A person with anorexia may over exercise in an effort to burn calories and be thinner. In early stages of anorexia, a teenager may not look underweight.
But, as anorexia goes untreated, a teenager will quickly lose weight and become underweight. Despite becoming thinner, a teenager with anorexia nervosa still believes they are overweight.
There is a constant, obsession with thinness when a teenager suffers from anorexia.
In terms of mood, an adolescent with anorexia, will have high levels of anxiety, apprehension, and trouble sleeping.
With anorexia, a teenager may use laxatives, experience constipation or have issues with irregular menstruation. In severe cases of anorexia, there is an absence of menstruation due to malnutrition.
What does anorexia in teenagers look like?
For instance, if your teenager is going to have cereal, they will take a very small amount.
Disordered eating habits like anorexia nervosa can become severe with out the help of an eating disorder specialist.
If your teenager has anorexia, they might be even measuring food in a negative way. A teenager with anorexia needs counseling with an eating disorder specialist in Connecticut sooner than later.
There are lots of rules a teenager creates around food choices when they suffer from anorexia nervosa.
Also, with anorexia there are obsessive food behaviors like counting the little pieces of cereal. A teenager with anorexia may only permit themselves to eat one grape or one bit of cereal.
Teenagers often restrict and limit the food they permit themselves to have. A teenager might be measuring their milk, and only permitting themselves to have a 1/2 cup of milk. A teenager who doesn’t have an eating disorder may pour themselves a glass of milk and not worry about measuring it. Your teenager may also have certain fears about getting fat and have anxiety around eating certain foods.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
On a physical level, untreated eating disorders can cause stomach problems, esophagus problems, skin problems, and hair loss.
Do anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut help teenagers build a nurturing relationship with all foods?
Yes, therapy for eating disorders can help teens build a positive, nurturing relationship with food. When a teenager has an eating disorder, they will label certain foods and good or bad.
A teenager with an eating disorder they judge themselves for eating certain foods.
With an active eating disorder, adolescents and teenagers may force themselves to throw up or purge. Teenagers may count calories or put themselves on a restrictive diet.
There is a vicious cycle of intense emotions around food when a teenager suffers from an eating disorder.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, ARFID, binge, anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut can help teenagers build a loving relationship with food.
Your adolescent may be labeling certain foods as good or bad when struggling with an eating disorder.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
With counseling, anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut, teenagers can get professional help.
What are other symptoms of anorexia?
With anorexia, adolescents and teenagers will develop a fear of certain foods. For instance, with anorexia, a teenager may fear eating fat and fear they will gain weight.
Also, with anorexia, teenager may have a fear of meat, a fear of bread, or fears of eating at certain times. Further, part of eating disorder counseling in Connecticut helps teenagers learn all foods are okay to eat.
How do eating disorders develop?
Often, teenagers learn from cultural that certain foods are either good or bad. In anorexia counseling in Connecticut, we start to break through those cultural stigmas and the diet culture. Because your teenager feels guilty and has body shame, they slowly develop disordered eating habits. Anyone of any race, gender or sexual orientation can develop eating disorders. Children as young as four years old and adults as old as 95 years old can all receive an eating disorder diagnosis.
Certain occupations are at a higher risk for eating disorders
Models often struggle with eating disorders to stay employed and compete for the best modeling gig. As well, body building or physique competitions can lead to disordered eating behaviors and eating disorders.
Trauma experiences and a teen’s relationship with food
Also, a traumatic experience can cause a teenager to develop an eating disorder. For instance, sexual abuse, rape, molestation, or unwanted touch can lead to eating disorder behaviors.
Watching family member suffer form eating disorders
As well, eating disorders can develop when a teenager watched and observes a parent who struggles with and eating disorder. Watching a parent diet can make a teenager think dieting is normal, when it is not.
When a teenager grows up in a home where adults model a dysfunctional relationship with food, a teenager tends to think that is normal.
A teen who has friends who are dieting can contribute to their disordered eating behavior
Friends at school who are dieting can influence your adolescent in a negative way.
If you teenager has friends who are trying to lose weight or have an obsession with body weight o shape, they can be negative influences.
To begin, book your free phone consult for eating disorder therapy, to build a nurturing relationship with food, and confident body image below.
Binge, anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut support teenagers and promote intuitive eating.
Listening to hunger signals and understanding what fullness feels like are key skills in overcoming eating disorders.
So, it’s important to know that just because your teenager doesn’t look underweight or overweight, they might still can an eating disorder.
Teenagers who look healthy may still struggle with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia.
To note, some teenagers may not look underweight and still struggle with disordered feeding and eating habits.
As well, some teenagers look underweight. So, teenagers that look underweight and are visibly underweight, often have anorexia.
With anorexia and bulimia, teenagers may be obsessively exercising and exercising in excess.
To add, too much exercising is a sign of body image issues and an eating disorder.
What categorizes compulsive exercising?
Exercising for more than one hour a day, exercising more than one time a day is a sign of a disordered body image. Teenagers with anorexia might be already very athletic, but they take exercising to an extreme level.
Also, disordered eating and obsessive exercising go hand in hand. With anorexia, teenager may go on long runs that are really damaging and actually burning too many calories. A person with binge eating disorder may decide to exercise due to sham and guilt after eating or purging.
So, in addition to anorexia, eating disorder counseling addresses compulsive exercising and OCD-like behaviors around food.
What are symptoms of binge eating disorder?
When your teenager has binge eating disorder, they will eat unusually large amounts of food in a short period of time.
For instance, in 45 minutes, your teenager may eat more than two meals worth.
As well, with binge eating disorder, your adolescent may feel out of control when consuming food. Your teenager may suffer from depression, anxiety, OCD, and intense emotions in their relationship with food.
With binge eating disorder, your teenager will eat when they are not hungry and they will also eat when they are full.
Binge eating behaviors are not healthy or self-loving, but are shame-based.
There may also be symptoms with binge eating disorder of quickly scarfing down food and eating rapidly.
At times, binge eating disorder and purging go hand in hand.
A teenager may not binge all the time, but have binge episodes where they eat until they are uncomfortably full.
Binge eating episodes can also go with vomiting and throwing up behaviors.
As well, a teenager with binge eating disorder may hid food wrappers in the garbage rather than in their own home.
They may drive to throw food out in a public garbage can to avoid family and roommates from seeing what they have eaten.
After a binge eating disorder episode, a teenager may feel consumed with shame, guilt, anxiety, and self-hatred.
With binge eating disorder, the episodes are followed by immense shame and guilt. This shame and guilt can lead to vomiting behaviors.
What are the emotional impacts of eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, ARFID, and binge eating disorder?
Anorexia, binge, and bulimia eating disorder therapy and the eating disorder specialists in Connecticut at Wisdom Within Counseling work with adolescents that have guilt and shame around eating.
With guilt and shame, if your adolescent puts food in their mouth, they may immediately spit it out. It might be difficult for your middle schooler, high schooler, or college student to eat.
Your adolescent or teenager may have fears and anxiety about eating when struggling with body image issues.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
What are bulimia and binge eating disorders?
If your teenager is struggling with bulimia and binge eating, they will be eating a very large amount of food in one sitting.
Bulimia and binge eating disorder can go alongside purging and throwing up.
As well, your teenager with bulimia and binge will go to the restroom right after eating.
They will be throwing up the food they just ate due to body shame and guilt. A binge purge cycle is a sing of an eating disorder and a need for therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut.
At Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut, our team of eating disorder therapists specialize with teens that struggle with binge eating as well bulimia.
Other symptoms of bulimia and purging
Episodes of binge eating can be stressful for your adolescent’s emotional state. When a teenager consumes food, they may feel shameful about eating. As a result, they vomit up what they just ate.
Some teenagers feel they do not deserve to eat. Other teens with bulimia may believe eating is shameful. Often, with bulimia, teenagers who make themselves throw up end up smelling like vomit.
Teenager suffering from bulimia may talk about how guilty they feel after eating. There may also be symptoms of anxiety, depression, school avoidance, or social isolation.
Parents and caregivers may find their teenager with bulimia hoarding and taking laxatives and diuretics.
With all eating disorders, parents and caregivers can be on the look out for self-criticism. When a teenager has an eating disorder, they will commonly complain about their body shape and body image.
Why is it important to start in anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut?
Binge eating, bulimia, anorexia, ARFID, and pica are very important behaviors to identify sooner than later. With the right help from an eating disorder specialist in Connecticut, your teenager can learn healthy coping tools.
To note, eating disorders like bulimia, binge eating disorders, and anorexia are life-threatening illnesses.
It is important to work with a therapist who specializes in disordered feeding and eating disorders when seeking counseling.
Frequently, adolescents and teens with eating disorders also have other things going on in their life too.
What are complex traumas that can make eating disorder therapy more necessary?
There might be a parent’s divorce, sexual trauma in the past, gender exploration, dating, school avoidance, or bullying at school as a trauma.
Counseling provides teenagers with holistic, creative, expressive arts and outlets for stress. When your teenager has an eating disorder, they do not know how to manage stress and pressure.
There is a cycle of stress that continues to escalate and take form in an eating disorder like bulimia, binge eating, ARFID, and anorexia.
Selective mutism, misophonia, and sensory processing disorder can all go along side disordered eating in teenagers. ARFID specifically is an eating disorder that teenagers with sensory issues more commonly exhibit.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
LGBTQIA+ gender expression in teen therapy in Connecticut
As well, a teen with an eating disorder may be coming out as gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary and gender fluid. Being part of the LGBTQIA+ and queer community can add stress.
If your adolescent is feeling rejection from family and friends, they are more likely to feel they have to change their body shape or weight to fit in.
There is a high prevalence of eating disorders like binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia among gay, queer, and bisexual men.
As well, if your teenager is coming out as transgender, they are more likely to have an eating disorder.
Teens who are transgender and part of the LGBTQIA+ community are also at a higher risk for suicidal thinking and suicidal thoughts.
Binge eating, bulimia, ARFID, and anorexia nervosa are signs your teenager is needing stress management skills and relaxation techniques.
Family rejection and bullying with the family are predictors of eating disorders in LGBTQIA+ individuals and transgender teenagers.
If your teenager is being discriminated against at home or at school, they are more likely to develop an eating disorder as well as suicidal thinking.
The stress of wanting to belong and fit in, but not being able to make LGBTQIA+ and queer individuals more susceptible to eating disorders.
Furthermore, teenagers with eating disorders may be having gender questioning feelings and exploring their sexuality.
Self-harm and cutting in teenagers with eating disorders in Connecticut
Teenagers that have eating disorders like anorexia, binge eating disorder, or bulimia may also be self-harming, burning, or cutting their skin.
To note, a teenager will take anything from a car key, to a broken light bulb, to a razor and physically harm their body.
Teenagers self-harm, cut their skin, and pick their skin to create a sense of euphoria. Cutting, self-harm, and skin picking are unhealthy ways teenagers try to cope with stress. When cutting or self-harming, teenagers feel a oxytocin release.
Cutting and self-harm behaviors are negative coping strategies teenagers with eating disorder may develop.
At Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut, our team of therapists specialize with teenagers and young adults with co-occurring disorders.
When teenager in Connecticut struggle with eating disorders and self-harm, the team at Wisdom Within Counseling specializes in this area of adolescent therapy.
Oftentimes, we see layered negative behaviors and impulsive behaviors that are causing self-injury. So, an eating disorder is a form of self-injury, in the same way that cutting is a form of self-injury.
Teen drinking, teen drug use, marijuana and alcohol use, social withdrawal is very common alongside eating disorders.
Also, teen depression is really common with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ARFID, and eating disorders.
How can counseling for eating disorders in Connecticut help?
A teen might get stuck on a fad diet and a negative cycle of self-criticism. Also, an adolescent may feel like they have to look a certain way due to cultural shame.
A teenager or young adult might feel they need be a certain weight in order to be acceptable by society. Due to social medial, movies, and culture, a teenager may believe they need to look a certain way than they already do.
The movies and images on social media are highly edited. Teenagers can learn that trying to live up to those unrealistic standards does disservice to themselves and their body.
With eating disorders, teenagers do not know how to love themselves.
Eating disorder counseling in Connecticut for anorexia, binge eating disorder, ARFID, and bulimia can help teenagers love and accept themselves.
Through working with a therapist, adolescents and young adults can learn skills to let go of diet culture and love themselves as they are.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
Wisdom Within Counseling teaches teenagers with eating disorders and disordered eating habits how to love and accept themselves just the way they are.
From eating disorder counseling, let go of cultural shame around looking a certain way, or having to be thin.
Teenagers with eating disorders may feel they need to have perfect abs to finally be acceptable.
In Connecticut eating disorder counseling, we start to educate teenagers on how that’s completely unrealistic. Counseling teaches teenagers how to be their authentic selves and embrace a loving, nurturing relationship with all foods.
The team of therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut, we teach body positivity and intuitive eating skills.
Overall, children, teenagers, and adults with eating disorders lifelong healthy coping strategies.
Counseling in Connecticut for eating disorders can help your teenagers behave in a more positive, self-nurturing way with food. Instead of labeling certain foods as good or bad or restricting foods out of fear, your teenager can gain balance, learn to eat in moderation, and self-love tools.
The team at Wisdom Within Counseling specialize in helping teenagers with anorexia, bulimia, purging, binge eating disorder, and ARFID nurture themselves through a healthier relationship with food.
Your teenager with an eating disorder, anxiety, and depression can gain mind-body spirit connection. Holistic, creative therapies give teenagers multiple ways to vocalize their emotions. Painting can be a way for your teenager to use colors and clay to share what self-compassion means to them.
Counseling for eating disorders in Connecticut like anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, purging, and ARFID can help your teenager move in a healthy direction.
Eating disorder counseling in Connecticut helps with adolescents and teenagers that struggle with eating disorders, fad diets, and body image issues.
Teenagers can gain self-confidence to overcome body shame. Also, counseling for eating disorders in Connecticut can help teens heal from bulimia and intense emotions like guilt and shame around food.
At Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut, our therapists offer creative therapies to bring back playfulness with food and feeding. Therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling helps young adults build a loving relationship with their mind, body, and spirit. Art, yoga, music, and walking therapies in nature helps teenagers overcome disorder eating behaviors.
Eating disorder therapy can reduce the internalized pressure to be perfect and fit into a certain body shape.
Counseling for eating disorders teaches teenagers with depression that they don’t have to take life so seriously. Teenager with eating disorders often suffer from perfectionist traits. Learning to be gentle with themselves and gain self-compassion are skills therapy teaches teens.
To begin, click the button below to book a phone consult for anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and to work with eating disorder specialists in Connecticut.
What holistic, creative therapies can help teenagers with eating disorders in counseling in Connecticut?
Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut offers art therapies, yoga, drama therapy, meditation and mindfulness, and outdoor walking therapies.
Your teenager can sit outside in the sunshine or when appropriate going for a slow gentle walk to be in nature. Painting can be a language beyond words for emotional expression.
Therapy for eating disorders is all about improving a teenager’s ability to function emotionally and gain self-regulation tools.
Holistic, creative therapies are wonderful for teens that have eating disorders. Creative, holistic therapies teach teens positive skills.
Counseling for eating disorders helps them love and accept themselves. We help teenagers with eating disorders believe in themselves again.
Therapy in Connecticut can help teenagers with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ARFID start to separate from their inner disordered eating voice and overcome cultural shame.
Eating disorder therapy helps also work with parents and siblings that have a loved one who has an eating disorder.
Whether your teenager is in the hospital or coming out of the hospital for eating disorder, we would love to help.
Working with one of our eating disorder specialists can help your adolescent or teen really love and accept themselves.
Therapy at Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut can help your adolescent or young adult explore the issues underlying their eating disorder behavior.
Working with an eating disorder therapist at Wisdom Within Counseling can improve your teenager’s self-esteem and self-worth skills.
As well, teenagers can learn healthy ways of coping with stress and emotional pain rather than restricting food, over exercising, binging, or purging.
Your teenager’s therapist can recommend working with a registered dietitian who can also help your teenager reach their nutritional goals.
Eating disorder recovery is possible through working with the team at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Binge, ARFID, anorexia, and bulimia eating disorder therapy in Connecticut is a speciality at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Family therapy can also help parents and siblings understand how to support their loved one who is suffering from anorexia, ARFID, binge eating disorder or bulimia.
Can family therapy be a part of binge, ARFID, anorexia, and bulimia eating disorder therapy in Connecticut?
Yes, family therapy can be really helpful. Parents can caregiver may not realize that their behaviors are perpetuating their teen’s eating disorder.
If a parent is dieting or talking about fears of getting fat, this can contribute to their teenager’s negative self-talk.
Parents who may be suffering from disorder eating habits, over exercising, or body image issues can gain self-awareness tools.
As well, parents can learn to be positive role models of self-love, positive self-talk, and self-compassion through eating disorder therapy. Parents and caregivers can learn that putting pressure on their teen can lead their teenager to become more perfectionist.
Parenting styles that are not emotionally sensitive, authoritarian and neglectful can contribute to eating disorders in teenagers.
A parent who makes fun of their teenager for crying or being sad can inadvertently teach their child to manage emotions in unhealthy ways.
Also, parents who may be verbally abusive or suffer from alcoholism may put unnecessary stress on their develop adolescent.
Living with an alcoholic parent can be stressful for a teenager on top of all they are already deal with socially. Family therapy for eating disorders can teach parents and caregivers how to truly be emotionally supportive.
Lastly, family therapy for eating disorders in Connecticut can help parents and caregivers understand subconscious behaviors that contribute to the likelihood of their teenager’s eating disorder.
How else can family therapy in Connecticut help adolescents and teens recover from eating disorders?
Not realizing it, parents and caregiver may body shame their child. When parents comment on a teenager’s body shape, size, or food choices can make a teen become hyper fixated on their own body image.
Family therapy for eating disorders in Connecticut can help parents and caregivers take the focus off body weight and body shape.
Also, parents and caregiver can learn to stop commenting on their teen’s body and stop criticizing their teenager’s food choices.
Plus, parents and caregivers can learn to identify signs of an eating disorder worsening or getting more severe.
Parents and caregivers can learn to be more compassionate, gentle, and emotionally sensitive to help model a healthy relationship with food.
Through family therapy sessions, parents and caregivers can gain a better understanding of eating disorders.
As a group of eating disorder specialists at Wisdom Within Counseling, we can help parents, caregivers, and teenagers themselves connect and bond.
Wisdom Within Counseling offers individual and family therapy for eating disorder recovery.
We offer in person session in Niantic, Connecticut in New London County.
In New London County, we help teens and families in Bozrah, Colchester, Franklin, Griswold, Groton, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Lyme, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Norwich, Preston, Salem, Sprague, Stonington, Voluntown, and Waterford, Connecticut.
Tolland County, Connecticut eating disorder counseling
Video therapy for eating disorders is available in Andover, Bolton, Columbia, Coventry, Ellington, Hebron, Mansfield, Somers, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, and Willington, Connecticut.
Fairfield County, Connecticut eating disorder therapy
In Fairfield County, we help teens and families in Bethel, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, New Canaan, New Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Shelton, Sherman, Southport, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, and Wilton, Connecticut.
Hartford County Connecticut eating disorder therapy
In Hartford County, we offer eating disorder services to families and teenagers in Avon, Berlin, Bloomfield, Bristol, Burlington, Canton, Hartford, East Windsor, Enfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Hartland, Manchester, Marlborough, New Britain, Newington, Plainville, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, South Windsor, Southington, Suffield, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor Locks, and Windsor, Connecticut.
From counseling, teenagers with eating disorders can have intuitive eating skills for the rest of their life, for college years and beyond.
We use intuitive and mindful eating approaches and a health at every size model.
The team of eating disorder therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling in Connecticut would love to help your child, teenager, or marriage thrive.
This page was written by Katie Ziskind who is a licensed marriage and family therapist and the owner of Wisdom Within Counseling. Anorexia and bulimia eating disorder therapy and eating disorder specialists in Connecticut are available at Wisdom Within Counseling.
