By Deborah Klinger, MA, Eating & Food Issues Topic Expert Contributor

Click here to contact Deborah and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

When it comes to eating and food-related problems, various philosophies determine how eating problems are defined and addressed. When the eating disorders treatment field was in its infancy, professionals often based their approaches on those used in the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction. The addictions model has been used to salvage the lives of alcoholics since the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), in the 1930’s. AA spawned myriad other 12-Step programs for addressing various addictive problems. One of the earliest of these was Gamblers Anonymous (GA). Overeaters Anonymous (OA), a 12-Step self-help program for people who feel compelled to overeat, was created in 1960, modeled after GA. OA philosophy views compulsive overeating as an addiction to both a substance–various types of food–and to the behavior of overeating compulsively. As OA grew, people suffering from all types of eating problems began attending, and found help there.

However, as research on eating problems proliferated, and eating disorders came to be better understood, health care professionals began to recognize that while 12-Step programs offer members an unparalleled access to peer support, a practical spiritual philosophy, and a systematic approach to healing at nominal (donation-only) cost, the 12-Step philosophy doesn’t always translate well from its originally intended formula as a treatment of alcoholism to an effective means of treating disordered eating. Read the rest of this entry

By Roni Weisberg-Ross, L.M.F.T., Abuse Topic Expert Contributor

When we think of children who have been sexually abused, we think of fear, anger and violence. Most sexual abuse survivors talk of the terror and disassociation surrounding the abuse. Many still feel that way as adults and don’t enjoy sex now, even in a loving relationship. But there are those who have a more complicated story to tell. These survivors may have hated their abusers but experience an unspeakable shame over the fact that their bodies responded sexually to the abuse. They cannot live with the knowledge that they were sexually stimulated even as they were being raped. Now they are not only healing from the abuse but from the additional belief that they were partially responsible for the abuse – and that they may even have deserved it.

While adult survivors can intellectually understand that as children they were victims of their abuse, they don’t always feel that way. And they certainly can’t accept that fact if they responded sexually. Many of them can’t imagine how a child could respond sexually. So they believe that not only are they dirty, but that they are freaks as well. Yet children do have sexual feelings. Toddlers can sexually arouse themselves. And as they get older, many of them experiment and discover that their bodies respond. The myth that hormonal changes occurring at adolescence are the beginning of sexual feelings is just that, a myth. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D. & Ed Wilson, Ph.D., MAC

Click here to contact Mary Ellen and/or see her Profile
Click here to contact Ed and/or see his Profile

The “Bucket of Crabs” is one of our favorite analogies. Pulling crabs out of traps on Kodiak Island, we’d just toss them into a big bucket – no need to put a lid on the bucket.

Why not?

Because as soon as one crab would start to climb out, the other crabs would drag him, or her, right back down into the bottom of the bucket. There’s no escape to life back in the ocean. And that keeps happening until all of the crabs end up in the steamer.

The point? Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D. & Ed Wilson, Ph.D., MAC

Click here to contact Mary Ellen and/or see her Profile
Click here to contact Ed and/or see his Profile

Last month we wrote about the first two of the “6 Secrets Ex-Drinkers Know That You Don’t, And 12 Step Programs Don’t Want You To Find Out.” We started with the notation that AA/12-Step based programs, 98% of US treatment programs, are based on premises that both research and experience indicate are not only unfounded, but actually prevent you from getting over your problems and leave you with less than a 5% chance of recovery over five years.

Here are Myths 3 and 4:

Myth #3 – An Addict Must Hit Bottom

“Hitting Bottom” is a very destructive myth. Why would you wait until after you’ve lost you’ve everything to seek help? At that point, why would you bother to sober up?

Suppose for a moment that alcohol abuse actually were a disease. Then we’d be interested in prevention, then regular checkups, then early detection, then. Wait a minute…early detection? What happened to “hitting bottom?”

That’s the problem. With actual illnesses, we don’t wait until the patient is nearly dead before beginning treatment. Treatment is begun, good follow-up maintains progress, and changes in the patient’s life are instituted that will sustain the recovery. That’s an effective model.

It shouldn’t be surprising that this same process works well for diverting a client from alcohol abuse and dependence. The trouble is people have been discouraged – by mythology, stigma, and “lifelong recovery” – from getting help in the early stages when complete remission is not possible, likely, and relatively straightforward,.

How did that happen? Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Mary Ellen Barnes, Ph.D. & Ed Wilson, Ph.D., MAC

Click here to contact Mary Ellen and/or see her Profile
Click here to contact Ed and/or see his Profile

Last year we wrote a free download that we posted on our website entitled “6 Secrets Ex-Drinkers Know That You Don’t, And 12 Step Programs Don’t Want You To Find Out. It’s been popular, though not without controversy. Indeed, one Canadian who described herself as a “Therapist, Counselor, and Alcoholic” declared we were downright dangerous and had to be stopped!

That made us think we needed to get the facts into wider circulation so here’s a newly minted rendition of the first two “Secrets” for you consideration.

We started with the notation that AA/12-Step based programs, 98% of US treatment programs, are based on premises that both research and experience indicate are not only unfounded, but actually prevent you from getting over your problems and leave you with less than a 5% chance of recovery over five years.

Myth #1 – “You’re Powerless”!
What happens if or when you attend your first AA meeting? Shortly after you arrive you sit down and then one of the first things you’ll hear is that you’re powerless over alcohol. And just when you’ve finally taken the initiative to do something about your drinking problem, you’re told you’re powerless. Probably not exactly what you want or need. Read the rest of this entry