It is really hard to think about a young, beautiful, perfect child or adolescent having an eating disorder. Many people are also astonished to hear that males, in addition to females, can develop an eating disorder! Usually, an eating disorder is a trauma-related condition that can be diagnosed as young as age seven in children. The team at Wisdom Within Counseling can help you identify signs of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. Our team specializes in eating disorders.
Building a healthy relationship with food in counseling for anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
Family therapy is paramount for effective emotional support and healing. The team of therapists at Wisdom Within Counseling work in conjunction with seeing a registered dietitian or nutritionist. Regular pediatrician visits can also support an adolescent or teen with an eating disorder.
Oftentimes, food issues and eating disorders develop because a child’ or teen’s relationship with food becomes anxious.
There is anxiety about looking a certain way, so teenagers change what they eat. Eating disorders come with gaining power over cultural shame. As well, teenagers can learn to let go of control and shame around good. From counseling, teenagers and young adults can gain love and acceptance.
To begin, click below to book a phone consult for help identifying signs of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
How To Look For Signs of An Eating Disorder in Children and Adolescents
When a child stops gaining weight or starts to loose weight, or gain quite a bit of weight.
This is a time to not only seek help from a pediatrician, but also to get into family counseling. Food is a loaded issue, so families often ned help know how to help their teenager. With a multi-generational perspective, your child can overcome shame around food. Families often pass down dit behavior or food fears. Your teenager can learn to love themselves and gain a healthy body. From talking about food and body image, your teenager can begin to feel safe around all foods. No foods are good or bad, but our culture wants us to believe that. Advertisements lead to body shame and body image issues.Your adolescent or young adult can build a healthier relationship with food. Counseling can help teenagers deal with stress around food choices with positive coping skills.
Restricting Foods May Mean An Eating Disorder Is Present and Family Therapy Is The Next Step
It is concerning when a child or teenager restricts certain foods, avoids food groups completely.
For instance, at times when your adolescent announces they have become vegan, paleo, keto, fat free, or are restricting certain food groups are all concerns. Extreme dieting is a sign of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. Often a trained family therapist, such as myself, will look at your child or adolescent’s food issues as a family pattern, rather than a behavior that needs fixing.
There are deeper feelings of body image insecurity, gender and cultural stereotypes, and shame that your teen’s eating disorder therapist will look at with compassion. Being in middle school and then beginning high school can bring up a host of new feelings. It is important to note, body image issues for adolescents, both male and female, can begin as young as 8-9 years old.
Culture, Gender, and Stereotypes Play a Role In Body Image
In art-inspired therapy sessions, we see themes of “wanting to be skinny,” “shame for being fat,” and “bullying and body image.” Again, both males and females are very aware of weight and body shape. Female and males may have fears of getting on the scale. Or, they may be obsessed with weighing themselves. Obsessive compulsive disorder is common with eating disorders. Eating disorders deeply affect youth development.
To begin, click below to book a phone consult for help identifying signs of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
For Parents:
Keep food an intrinsic right
Don’t reward your child or your adolescent with food.
When you are trying to get your 5-year-old through the grocery store with out crying, don’t say, “If you can get through this shopping trip without asking to buy a toy and without crying, then I’ll buy you a donut.”
Instead say something positive along the way and offer a fun, non-food reward. “I’m really proud of you for how you’ve been my little helper today in the food store. After the grocery trip is over, you can look forward to playing the park together and some cuddle time!” On the other hand, don’t use food as a punishment.
Don’t punish your child or adolescent with food.
For example, say you 8-year-old has done a messy project with craft supplies and hasn’t done their part in cleaning up. Don’t say, “You can only have dinner once you pick up your art supplies. If you don’t pick up your supplies, you won’t get your dinner.” This example makes food part of a power play. At times, your child will refuse to eat and refuse to pick up their supplies. In the long run, they learn to use food for control and this can lead to negative food issues as well as body image issues in adolescence and teenage years. Instead, say, “Let’s sing the, ‘Clean Up,’ song together while we team up to clean, and then sit down together for a yummy dinner!”
Keep a Close Eye Out For These Symptoms In Your Child or Teenager with Food Issues and Body Image Issues:
- Refusal to eat when triggered, angry, or as result of a punishment (food becomes a source of power and control)
- Anger, sharpness, depression, sadness, tears, observable inner conflict around food, when other are eating, or when offered food
- You child or adolescent may eat half a slice of bread instead of when they used to eat a whole slice or two slices (Reduction in portion size)
- Body image issues/concerns- Your son/daughter may ask to buy a scale to weigh them self, use “skinny,” “fat,” and other words in their daily vocabulary more often
- Social avoidance/withdrawal -Your child or teen may stop going to with friends and not eat in front of friends
- When a person has severe anorexia you may see fine hair growing on their body
- Your child or adolescent may hide or hoard food in their bedroom, in pockets, in places where bugs may come- this behavior goes back to a trauma-related response
- Vomiting after eating and hiding the vomit in containers
- Your child may look very underweight when next to a friend- Weight loss or failure to gain weight in a growing child
- Your child may also look large for their age compared to friends. A pediatrician may have said your child needs to lose weight- Family therapy is essential as weight management is not only a physical and behavioral condition, but also emotional
- Lack of growth in puberty due to food restriction
- Hyperactivity or excessive movement such as nail biting, lip biting, hair pulling, leg jiggling, running around, or standing and refusing to sit still- again, a trauma related response (PTSD may be the underly condition)
Trust your instincts and intuition as a parent and remember, you probably know your child better than anyone (doctor, therapist, teacher, provider) in the world.
You know if something is not right.
If you see any, even one of these signs, it is important that you ask for help from a family therapist, such as our team at Wisdom Within Counseling.
Our team at Wisdom Within Counseling would love to help your child, adolescent, or young adult build a healthy relationship with food.
Counseling can help your child or teenager work with their food fears, anxiety, and obsessions and overcome eating issues.
Therapy for eating disorders help teenagers develop a positive relationship with food and healthier body image!
Wisdom Within Counseling can help with identifying signs of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
Katie Ziskind, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 500-hour yoga therapist for trauma and her team of therapists socialize in eating disorders. Eating disorder therapy is about gaining self-love. Holistic, experiential therapy in Niantic, Connecticut supports adolescents and teenagers with disordered eating.
At Wisdom Within Counseling, Katie and her team help children and teens with eating disorders build confidence around food and body image.
Teenagers can begin to feel worthy and be beyond a number on a scale by doing art, yoga, music, and animal therapy with traditional talk therapy. Teenagers can live a life they LOVE and overcome anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders.
Animal therapy, music therapy, art therapy and yoga therapy teaches skills such as self-regulation.
After eating disorders, teens can rebuild trust with themselves and food. Building a healthy relationship with food is part of counseling. Wisdom Within Counseling helps your child or teen build confidence around food choices and body image.
