Why Would I Consider Going to Therapy for My Eating Disorder?

If you are reading this page right now then you are probably wondering if counseling will help you to recover from your eating disorder. That’s a fair question. I want to convey to you that there is hope.

This is why I believe that counseling can help…

A therapist’s main role is to earn your trust and develop a good rapport, so that you will feel safe and comfortable in order to share about yourself. Receiving validation for your thoughts and feelings regarding your experience helps you to begin the healing process. Many of us don’t find that kind of support at home. Support comes through empathy and compassion for your difficulties. You have to acknowledge and grieve experiences that were difficult and painful in order to move on.

I believe that psychoeducation is an important part of counseling. Understanding societies misleading messages about beauty, thinness, or muscularity will help you to improve your negative body image. You will find that you don’t have to be “perfect” to feel good about yourself. Counseling can help you to see that you are of value, effective, and beautiful in your own unique way.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps you to become aware of the negative statements that you make to yourself and helps you to figure out where you first heard those things. You can begin to handle toxic situations and relationships and even learn to set boundaries by respectfully sharing with others how you “really” feel.

Counseling encourages you to take care of "you" and teaches you how to improve your self-esteem. You will learn how to regulate and tolerate emotions like anxiety and depression; feelings that may have been overwhelming for you. You can then begin to replace old harmful habits with new healthier behaviors.

At first this may seem out of reach for you but change and growth happens in small baby steps. I know this because I developed an eating disorder at age 15. I worked with an excellent therapist who helped me to beat my eating disorder and now I help others to do the same. There is life after an eating disorder and I am proof of it.

I facilitate and eating disorder and body image group because it is very effective when treating an eating disorder. I also work with clients individually or with their families as eating disorders is a family system issue. Often loved ones will come to counseling to learn how to best support the eating disordered person.

If you think I may be able to help you or a loved one recover from an eating disorder, please feel free to call me. I would be happy to talk with you about your situation and answer any questions you may have.

You don’t have to do this alone…

Sincerely,

Ilissa Banhazl,MFT

Do you Struggle with Anxiety Every Freakin Day of Your Life??

Are you feeling uncomfortable physically?
Would you like to feel less stressed out?
Are you afraid of something in particular?
Does going out to a party make you feel anxious?
Wouldn't it be nice not to have anxiety zap all of your energy?
Wouldn't it be better to focus that energy on creating positive new experiences?

In counseling, I strive to create a safe and calming environment where we can address these kinds of feelings. Cognitive Behavioral (CBT) is very useful in treating anxiety disorders. The cognitive element helps people change their thinking patterns that support their fears, while the behavioral component helps people change the way they react to anxiety provoking situations.

If you would like to learn more information about treating anxiety or any other mood issues, visit the National Institute for Mental Health.

Here are some tips to help you cope with your anxiety today.
1. Use relaxation techniques like imagery or meditation
2. Get at least some moderate exercise
3. Good nutrition is very important. You'd be surprised how what you eat can make you feel anxious. Watch your sugar intake.

If you would like to work with me on coping with your anxiety, please feel free to contact me at 626-335-0903.

Hope you have a less anxious day! Ilissa Banhazl, Marriage & Family Therapy in Glendora.

How Much Time Do You Waste Obsessing About Your Body?

How much time each day do YOU spend obsessing about your body? If you're feeling badly about your body image then you may stay back from social activities or career opportunities and you may be suffering from low self-esteem. The body is just the outer shell. Use that time to grow in other more important ways. If you're eating healthily and exercising moderately than you shouldn't need to obsess at all. Your healthy habits should keep your body healthy and toned.

She's healthy, a size 8, and involved in a nice relationship. So why does she spend so much time obsessing over her belly? And how much time is she spending? Valerie Frankel clocks her central preoccupation.

Surely you've heard the statistic that men think about sex 200 times a day. Amazingly, there are no empirical or scientific studies to back up the claim. Women, I've long believed, spend just as much time contemplating female bodies and what they'd like to do with them. Read More>>>

How Men Really Feel About Their Bodies

We read and hear so much about women and their bodies. What about men??

Ilissa

We know they obsess over our bodies. But have you heard them obsess about theirs? Ted Spiker breaks the code of silence and takes you where no woman has gone before.

Dressed only in my underwear, I'm eight years old and sitting on the pediatrician's exam table, waiting for my checkup. My mother points to the two mounds of fatty flesh between my chest and belly. She asks the doctor, "Could they be tumors?"

"No," he says, "it's just fat."

Since that day, my fat has absorbed more darts than the back wall of a bar. Read More>>>

Eating Disorder Recovery and Self Esteem 1

Eating Disorders: Making Mistakes

We are harder on ourselves than we are to others...

Ilissa

Eating Disorders Speaking Engagement

Ilissa Banhazl, Marriage and Family Therapist is speaking on Eating Disorders at UWest (University of the West) (Wellness center) in Rosemead on Thursday March 10, 2011 from 1-2pm. Please contact Ilissa for more information (626)335-0903

Beauty and Body Image in the Media

How many of us are feeling pressure from the media to look a certain way? We can reject the media's message of thinness! Beauty comes in all different forms. Let's not forget that true beauty builds from the inside out. People think that if they achieve the perfect body that they will be completely happy. It's not true. Yes, you'll be skinny, but you'll still have the same problems!

Ilissa

"We don’t need Afghan-style burquas to disappear as women. We disappear in reverse—by revamping and revealing our bodies to meet externally imposed visions of female beauty."

Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women—and their body parts—sell everything from food to cars. Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger, taller and thinner. Some have even been known to faint on the set from lack of food. Women’s magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds, they’ll have it all—the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. Read More>>>

Are Parents To Blame For Their Childrens Eating Disorders?

I am a psychotherapist and I work with people who have eating disorders. I agree with this article that parents don't intentionally hurt their children but I want to ask parents to do something. Please don't label your child as the "sick one". Eating disorders is a family system problem. Sometimes the eating disordered person is actually the healthiest because they are silently screaming that something is wrong here. Please come with your child to counseling. No one wants to blame you. But owning what you've done (unintentionally) is very validating and healing for the eating disordered person. This is the way to recovery. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Please visit www.eatingdisordersgroup.com

Ilissa

In society our parents are probably the most important people who impact ones life. They are the ones who provide us with our life skills and teach us something new everyday. Helping us grow into the world , parents are the ones we look up to the most. Read More>>>

Does Your Loved One Have an Eating Disorder?

Does someone close to you appear to be struggling with some form of an eating disorder? Are you confused as to your role in helping this person? Here are some things you can do to help this person.

Ilissa

It’s crushing to watch a child or family member wither in front of your eyes from anorexia, spiral into a cycle of binging and purging, or go through periods of uncontrollable gorging. Because people with anorexia symptoms, bulimia symptoms, or binge eating issues frequently isolate themselves and try to keep the problem a secret, you might suspect that you’re witnessing eating disorder symptoms and wonder what action you need to take. Read More>>>

What Fathers with Daughters Should Know About Eating Disorders

Hi dads! Did you know how much influence you have with your daughters? A strong father/daughter relationship will help her to grow into a healthy and happy young woman. If you're reading this, then you are already a great dad!

Ilissa

10 Tips for Dads with Daughters
Ten Things Every Father Should Know1) Listen to girls. Focus on what is really important--what my daughter thinks, believes, feels, dreams and does--rather than how she looks. I have a profound influence on how my daughter views herself. When I value my daughter for her true self, I give her confidence to use her talents in the world.
2) Encourage her strength and celebrate her savvy. Help my daughter learn to recognize, resist and overcome barriers. Help her develop her strengths to achieve her goals. Help her be what Girls Incorporated calls Strong, Smart and Bold!
3) Urge her to love her body & discourage dieting. Growing girls need to eat often and healthy. Dieting increases the risk of eating disorders. Advertisers spend billions to convince my daughter she doesn’t look "right." I won’t buy into it. I’ll tell my daughter that I love her for who she is, not for how she looks. Read more>>>

Events for eating Disorder Awareness Week

This year's theme for Eating Disorder Awareness Week is "Let's Talk about It". See if you can do one thing this week to help spread the word about eating disorder recovery.

Ilissa

If you weren't aware of it, this is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (February 21st-27th) sponsored by the National Eating Disorders Organization. There are a number of events taking place all across the country in honor of this week.

Why is this week important? Eating disorders are serious mental health issues. Even if you have not been directly impacted by an eating disorder, it's likely that you have a sister, aunt, friend or boyfriend who has been touch by them in some way. Read More>>>

The Art of Dating When You Have Kids | Love & Sex | GalTime

Are you divorced with children? Are you wondering how to date with kids? read on to learn how.
Ilissa

The Art of Dating When You Have Kids | Love & Sex | GalTime

Do You Have an Eating Disorder?

I suppose all of us has some form of an eating disorder. It just depends on the severity. Take the quiz to find out!

Ilissa

In today's thin-obsessed society, it's hard to feel confident about your body. You may overindulge in junk foods, or you may often feel ashamed of your weight. Everyone has insecurities, but these insecurities can lead some people to develop a negative relationship with food. Are your eating habits normal, or are you on the road to an eating disorder? Take the quiz>>>

How Eating Disorders Impact on Relationships

Do you or your partner have an eating disorder? Eating disorders are secretive and cause the person to feel shame. Creating safety in your relationship, allows your partner to share with you their fears and their truth. Read on for more understanding of the complexities of eating disorders and couples.

When anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa patients are married or live together with a partner unmarried, the question arises as to what impact an eating disorder has on the relationship with a partner or, alternatively, how an intimate relationship with a partner influences the course of an eating disorder.
Despite valuable implications, the marital relationships of adult eating-disordered patients have not received much attention in the form of empirical research. One of the major impressions emphasized in clinical literature is that married eating disordered patients and their partners often report a significant degree of dissatisfaction with their relationships. Read More>>>

Eating Disorders and Family Relationships

Eating disorders are a family systems problem. Read on to find out what your role has been in sustaining the eating disorder.

Ilissa


Systems theory and object relations theory correspond in the study of eating disorders. Theorists propose that the dynamics of the family system maintain the insufficient coping strategies seen in eating disordered individuals (Humphrey & Stern, 1988). Read More>>>

Eating-Disorder Signs in Your Child

Preventing an eating disorder is always better than trying to recover from one. Parents there are things you can do early on.

Ilissa

You never talk about weight. You're careful never to mention "diet" in front of your daughter. You teach your son to do his best but never expect him to be perfect.

But even avoiding all the traps does not erase the possibility of an eating disorder. There is no single cause: It's a perfect storm of environmental, psychological, and biological factors that drive children as young as 8 to the edge of starvation and sometimes tragically beyond.

The best way to protect your child is to be alert for telltale behavior and...
Read for more information>>>

February is National Eating Disorder Month

If you are concerned about yourself or someone you love who may be struggling with an eating disorder, please make this February your month to reach out for help.
Ilissa

The purpose of National Eating Disorder month is to increase public awareness about eating disorders. The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) has a list of signs and symptoms of eating disorders on their home page at www.nationaleatingdisorder.org and visits to www.something-fishy.org provides useful insight, as well. Read More...

February 2 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Want to focus on something other than that silly groundhog?

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) began in 1987 as a day to remember Olympic volleyball player Flo Hyman’s achievement in athletics, and her determination to assure equality for women’s sports. Hyman died in 1986 of Marfan's Syndrome while competing in a volleyball tournament in Japan.

How to celebrate: Read More...

If You Suspect Your Child May Have An Eating Disorder

Are you concerned about your daughter? Are you wondering whether she might have an eating disorder? If so, read on to learn what you can do.

Ilissa

Your daughter is perfect. She's smart, funny, and has friends. At her demanding North Shore high school, she's taking advanced classes and getting great grades.

She's also an athlete and active volunteer. Really, quite accomplished. Except lately, you're starting to get a parent vibe that maybe perfection is taking a toll on your child. Read More...

Talk Therapy W/ Ilissa on www.ksgvradio.com

Talk Therapy with Ilissa is taking a short break. It will return with the whole season intact. Keep a look out for posted days and times. Listen to the tables turn as Jeff and Virginia interview Ilissa, Marriage & Family Psychotherapist.

When An Eating Disorder Reappears

Congratulations you kicked your eating disorder to the curb! Sometimes however, in times of stress your eating disorder may resurface. Keep aware of your feelings and don't panic. This is part of recovery!

Ilissa

Carol was in her mid-thirties when she came to see me. "I had an eating disorder all through high school and college," she said. "But with the help of a terrific therapist I got a handle on it and I haven't binged for more than ten years." Recently, however, she had been overwhelmed by a desire to binge. "I want to eat everything in sight," she said. "I'm never satisfied, no matter how much I eat."

In therapy Carol had learned that both starving and binging were ways of managing difficult feelings. Read More...

Women's Personal Growth & Support Group

Women's Personal Growth & Support Group

Women’s Personal Growth and Support Group

“Women supporting each other in a safe environment.”

Facilitated by Ilissa Banhazl, Marriage & Family Psychotherapist’

Where: 2220 E. Rte 66 Suite #226, Glendora CA 91740

When: Every Wednesday from 7pm – 8:30pm

Ages: 21 and up

Fee: $45 per session, PPO Reimbursement

For more information: (626) 335-0903
www.ilissabanhazlmft.com

Only 8 slots Available!

Talk about anything…

Body Image Quiz for Plus Sized Women

How do you feel about your body? Take the Body Image Quiz and find out.
Ilissa
Every woman, regardless of her size, has body image issues. But this is especially true for plus-size women. Because women's bodies are constantly scrutinized and commented upon, and Madison Avenue and the media promote unrealistic ideals, how could it be otherwise?

In reality, our bodies - no matter what their shape or size - are wondrous things. They keep us moving through our world, they have an amazing capacity to heal themselves and they are intriguing in their diversity of beauty.

Take this quiz to discover what your body image says about you:
1. Think of three things you love about your body. Okay, how long did
it take you to come up with your list? Read More...

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/body-image-quiz-for-plussize-women-1161647.html#ixzz1BPVUKrOR
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Talk Therapy with Ilissa

Apologies to those who tuned in to hear Talk Therapy with Ilissa last night. Due to technical difficulties the program started late. Please tune in next Thursday at 7pm (www.ksgvradio.com) when all should be back to normal. Thanks for your patience. Ilissa

Listen tonight to talk therapy with Ilissa

Tonight! Listen to Talk Therapy with Ilissa...Two Couples Talk About Relationships, Family, Parenting and More! Ilissa answers your questions! Lots of laughs!
Thursday, January 13th at 7pm at www.ksgvradio.com

Eating Disorders Explained

It's very confusing to understand why your eating or not eating is spiraling out of control. It's also difficult to watch a loved one struggle with an eating disorder and feel confused and helpless. I hope this article gives you a better understanding of what you are dealing with and what you can do to get help. Ilissa

Attempting to understand the mystery that is an unfolding eating disorder is akin to attempting to comprehend the complexities of black holes in space….they just appear, suck everything living and light into their depths, and then sit patiently, eternally, waiting for more.

In fact, this is exactly how the family and friends of an eating disorder sufferer feel, watching everything they have known and treasured about their loved one disappear into the black hole depths of mental illness.

How does this happen? What causes an eating disorder? How can a sufferer begin heal? And what can loved ones do to help? What causes eating disorders? Read More...

Eating Disorder Awareness Week Video

Watch a video from eating disorder awareness week. Startling... Ilissa