Therapy for Managing Weight in Cambridge, MA—Counselors
Tyler rolled his eyes as the medical assistant asked him to slip off his shoes and hop on the scale. He never liked being weighed, even when he was a kid. Tyler braced himself for the doctor giving him another lecture on losing a few pounds. The problem is that Tyler gave himself the same lecture all the time. He had tried everything he knew. A few times, he had even been successful, losing a substantial amount of weight, but it did not stick. Within a few months, the weight was back. Tyler was ready to try something new because going to the gym and eating well did not seem to be working for him. Tyler is not alone in this struggle. Weight management is often more difficult than what to eat and how often to exercise. Just as there is a physical component to weight management, there is also an emotional component. Often, when people feel frustrated with their ability to manage their weight, working with a therapist on being healthy mentally is the right next step. Therapy for weight management focuses upon helping people relate to their bodies in a healthy way.
“I keep telling myself that I’m a human being, an imperfect human being who’s not made to look like a doll, and that who I am as a person is more important than whether at that moment I have a nice figure.” —Emma Watson
People are both mind and body. Challenges that people face are rarely purely emotional or purely physical, but instead, the physical and emotional are often intertwined. Weight management is no different. That is why many people are working with a nutritionist, a trainer, and a therapist in order to find a weight management routine that works for them. Counseling can often equip people with the emotional tools they need to cultivate their overall well-being, both emotionally and physically.
More and more, Thriveworks Cambridge is helping clients who want therapy to be a part of their weight management. Together, these clients and our counselor work on physical health by working on emotional health.
The American Challenge with Body Weight
The Centers for Disease Control has studied how Americans are doing with their weight management, and the results of their study outline the scope of the problem. They found that…
- 20 % of adults in American (ages 20 and older) are obese.
- 20 % of adults in America are overweight.
- 9 % of children ages 2-5 are obese.
- 17 % of children ages 6-11 are obese.
- 20 % of children ages 12-19 are obese.
These are severe numbers, but it is important to remember that beyond the numbers are real people. Health is so often measured by the numbers (cholesterol, weight, waist size, and more) that it can be easy to forget about how each individual has a unique story and a unique emotional struggle as well. Therapy for weight management seeks to add this personal element back into the discussion.
The Emotions and Weight Management.
Therapy often has two main focuses. First, if any mental illnesses are contributing to an individual’s ability to maintain a healthy weight, those should be diagnosed and treated. Second, therapy can often equip people with the emotional skills they need to manage their weight over the course of their lives.
Diagnosing Mental Illnesses: Not all people who struggle with their weight also struggle with an eating disorder. However, it is common for eating disorders to fuel contention between an individual and their body. Eating disorders can affect people of every weight and of every size. If one is present, finding treatment is important as eating disorders can be deadly.
Anxiety disorders and depressive disorders can also have side-effects that affect the body. In particular, they can affect people’s appetite, either increasing or decreasing it. They can also affect how people see themselves, and a negative view of oneself can also impede weight management. If an individual displays symptoms of these disorders, finding treatment could greatly improve their ability to manage their weight.
Learning Emotional Skills: Maintaining a healthy weight often requires people to be resilient, change their negative thinking, and overcome obstacles. These are all emotional skills that can be learned in therapy. Skilled therapists often help their clients learn how to…
- Work with their body, not against it.
- Identify negative voices and trust their true voice.
- Motivate themselves in a healthy way—avoiding punishments and rewards.
- Learn healthy ways to cope with life’s difficulties (journaling, asking for help, self-care, and more), so that people do not have to turn to food to cope.
- Make a plan for how to handle setbacks because there will be obstacles and there will be challenges.
- Establish a positive self-image.
Meeting with a Therapist at Thriveworks Cambridge for Weight Management
Are you ready to make a sustainable change for your health? Are you ready to think about your health holistically and care for your mind as well as your body? Thriveworks Cambridge offers appointments for weight management. We have appointments available, and we are ready to meet with you. When you call our office, a real person will answer (no voicemail) and help you schedule an appointment. New clients often meet with their therapist the following day. We also offer evening and weekend appointments, but we do not put our clients on a waitlist. Many different insurance plans are also accepted. Let’s work together toward holistic health and healing. Call today.
