Hi everyone, clinical psychologist and long time lurker here. I just wanted to say that she is giving out some damaging advice by steering people away from seeking help from a qualified therapist or psychologist and advising them to seek out a coach or nutritionist instead. Just because it didn't work for her (which actually, most ED's are rooted in other issues that also need to be prioritised and worked on simultaneously or you will just get a band aid fix), does not mean that everyone else should follow this. She could have just had a poor fit with her therapist, or not been clear that her goals are to solely work on her ED (which can be done, patient's wishes and goals should always be respected by the clinician). We don't always need to solve the root cause of a person's issues, but exploring other factors that tie into it can be a really valuable addition to the therapy and bring about a lot of critical insight and change. Anna clearly struggles with depressive and anxious features, that is clear. However, she has a problem admitting things and acknowledging it, as this triggers her feelings of being "broken" or deficient. So she rejects anyone insinuating that more could be going on that will need to be addressed because her main go to coping strategy is to deny and deflect- which is why she contradicts herself with her body positivity posts followed by emotional outburts weeks or months later about how much she has been struggling. She liked her ED coach (coaches by the way are not regulated health professionals and receive very minimal training compared to master's trained therapists or psychologists who require a doctorate to practice) because that person told her what she wanted to hear and did not challenge her thoughts in any real way. She will continue to swing back and forth and contradict herself (whether for views, or whether it is genuinely what she believes about herself at that moment in time) because she cannot truly admit and work on the more deep rooted issues with perfectionism and control.
What she desperately needs is a psychologist who she will let her guard down with and who can partner with her to work towards her goals while gently challenging her to go a bit deeper and examine other related issues that are relevant to a longer lasting recovery. But unfortunately she seems to only look for quick fixes to her problems- her broken pelvis needed an osteopath and suddenly she was so much better (oh wait, she still complains about that), her sudden weight gain is due to her birth control pill, her bloating was due to gluten and then was fixed with intermittent fasting- except it wasn't and she still struggles with it. She does not like to feel uncomfortable for long so she looks for anyone who will put a band aid on her problem so she doesn't have to feel like something is defective in her.
Also, if she truly now believes her self worth should not be linked to her looks, why does she continue to spend the majority of her time on her looks? Waxing, hair, nails, the obssessive daily make up, the shopping hauls for new clothes everytime her weight temporarily fluctuates? If she is really over it then we would see her bringing more balance into her life by focusing on developing other skills and abilities- learning a language, taking an online course, some type of personal development.
why does she even need a pill :-D
