Counseling For Weight Loss?

Most people don’t think about therapy for weight loss. The biggest part of the weight loss process is emotional and it is the part that is least recognized or addressed. This is why most diets don’t work long-term because they don’t address the emotional connection to food. Addressing the emotional component actually helps you to be successful. How do you tackle the emotional pieces? At our clinic, we have a complex approach:

1. Identify the source of the emotional connection to food and weight. By looking at your history, we can quickly see where the relationship with food began. Often, this occurs in childhood. If we are deprived of food resources due to neglect or diets or have a history of any type of abuse, it is easy to seek out food for comfort when it is available. This connection becomes stronger and stronger the more we use it which is why it becomes difficult to change patterns.

2. Identify the negative self-talk. We have a lot of ongoing chatter in our heads. If your chatter constantly tells you that you are a failure, not good enough and worthless, you are unlikely to succeed in your goals weight loss or otherwise because this negative self-talk will sabotage you every step of the way. We help clients start to identify the distorted thinking and challenge those thoughts when they come up.

3. Manage stress. Stress is the number one killer in our country. More people die from stress related conditions than anything else. Stress has been linked to heart disease and stroke, but stress also silently leads to obesity and type 2 diabetes due to stress eating. We tend to think that there is nothing we can do in stressful situations. Often we aren’t able to change what happens, but we can teach you to manage your stress more effectively even if you have no control over the circumstances. Stress really is based on our perception of the situation.

4. Target the brain’s connection to food. Utilizing advanced therapeutic techniques, we are actually able to help repair faulty wiring in our brains tied to food. This may sound crazy, but there are forms of therapy that can change the structure of our brain. There is scientific evidence to back it up! Research studies have used brain scans that actually show profound changes in our brain after utilizing certain types of therapy.

5. Stop patterns of self-sabotage. Dieters are the hardest working people I know. The amount of energy that goes into analyzing everything that goes into your body is astounding. So, why is weight loss so difficult then? We find that there is so much self-sabotage going on behind the scenes, that it is nearly impossible to make changes. This is a complicated emotional process and we are experts at targeting these patterns of self-sabotage to stop the despair that comes with them.

This journey with weight loss and emotional eating can feel defeating at times. We are experts at treating the emotional components of weight management and eating. Call us today to learn more information!

www.SLWeightCounseling.com
www.Facebook.com/MichelleLewisCounseling

Michelle Lewis

Michelle Lewis

Michelle Lewis has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Weber State University and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Utah. She has been working in the mental health field since 2001.

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