71: EMDR for Disordered Eating [Why EMDR Works Series]

We all have a relationship with something that’s helping us to feel a certain way, full and in control, empowered and attached. But we’ve been given so many different curricula around what we’re supposed to look and feel like, we’re using behaviors like food restriction or binging and purging in an effort to feel a certain way.

Disordered eating isn’t a term I love, but it’s what’s used in mainstream culture. It’s a relationship, and not a healthy one. So when a therapy client is looking for support around disordered eating, it’s important for the therapist to get really curious about that relationship and where it manifested.

Using EMDR and other brain-based modalities to help with disordered eating can help someone to look deep at the somatic sensation someone is feeling as a result of eating or food restriction. This week on the podcast, I’m sharing how our early attachments to our caregivers can impact binging or overeating, why cultural curriculum about food can be so harmful, and why there is so much complexity around disordered eating.

This is such a nuanced and powerful topic, and I encourage you to approach it with curiosity and an open mind.

When something traumatic happens to us, it can be healing to have a therapist listen to and/or validate our horrible experience, especially if no one else has before. However, rehashing the details of that traumatic event can be retraumatizing. Brain-based therapies like EMDR teach us that we don't have to talk about the trauma or the details if we don't want to because the real healing doesn't focus on the traumatic event itself.

The Zero Disturbance podcast is for educational purposes and is not a replacement for a therapeutic relationship or individualized mental health or medical care.

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With a Masters in Education from Vanderbilt, Kambria has been creating trainings and teaching adult learners for over 20 years. As the Director of Education and Quality Improvement at Stanford Medical School, she created ease in complex systems, thereby giving medical trainees successful learning experiences. Now, as a dedicated mom, therapist, and EMDR Consultant, Kambria knows what it means to do things efficiently, effectively, and in a learner-centered way. When she isn't podcasting or creating online courses, you can find Kambria playing with her twins on a beach in California.

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