Sufferers

Barriers To Recovery

Recovery is difficult. It’s a given. Even with the most experienced, patient and kind therapist in the world, recovery is difficult. Even with the most obliging, well intentioned, and motivated patient, recovery is difficult. It is a complicated, exhausting, and time consuming process, with lots of fear, doubt, and despair thrown in for good measure! The good news is that it is possible to recover from an eating disorder but the bad news is that it is not easy.

So many people contact EDF filled with a sense of hopelessness about the recovery process, and about finding a treatment that suits them. There is no one way to recover from an eating disorder, and like with say, finding a job or even a great pair of shoes – it always helps to shop around, and work out what method of treatment best meets your needs.

Finding the kind of help that will….well…..HELP!

One of the biggest barriers to recovery is finding the right help. In fact, so many sufferers take so long to seek information about treatment for fear that there is actually no way to get better. Like the truth though, help IS out there - but there can be major difficulties for sufferers in accessing the right kind of help.

Magical Thinking

Many people who suffer from eating disorders are Magical Thinkers - “If I don’t eat today, I will be thinner tomorrow “,” I just ate a piece of cake and everybody in this room can tell my stomach has doubled in size”, “If I lose ten kilo’s I’ll find a boyfriend”, “If I eat with the same fork at every meal nothing bad will happen.” Even the concept of the word fat is based around fantastical notions of one thing being directly linked to another - fat with bad with failure with rejection or thin with good with success with acceptance. All or nothing thinking of course feeds into these magical ideas and often influences the way sufferers go about finding the help they need in order to recover.

No, I do NOT want to hold the line !

It is common to decide that seeking help is necessary, and once that decision is made, to then expect that the appropriate help will be available, accessible and presented as such immediately. This is not the case much of the time and it can cause immeasurable conflict in the individual keen to recover. The sense of hopelessness expressed over the phone and on email by people who feel frustrated with the process of finding or dealing with a therapist, is very clear.

Finding a therapist in the first place is a frightening thought. Many sufferers don’t want to start therapy, which is understandable. To contact a therapist whose books are closed then, or to see a therapist for the first time and not feel that the time has been effective, can be really disheartening. There is often a lot of anger and disappointment when things don’t go according to plan. It is important to try not to take things personally – an exceptionally difficult those with eating disorders who are almost always quite gifted at the art of taking things personally! If a professional cannot see you immediately it might be an idea to make an appointment and perhaps try to get in to see someone else in the meantime.

The shoe that fits

Not all therapists are suitable for all patients. Granted, few therapists I know would appreciate being likened to footwear, but the reality remains – different strokes for different folks. One therapist’s style and manner may greatly enhance a person’s motivation to change, while a different patient may find this therapists manner confronting and intimidating. Similarly, a therapist who speaks very little during a session may come across as indifferent and uninterested to one patient, while another person interprets this approach as understanding and “ready to listen”.

There is no One Stop Therapy Shop where a range of different therapists are available for hire (and fire!). There is no Therapist-Finders website where you can set up a profile and be matched up with the therapist who most suits your needs - as if you were searching for a flat to rent or a car to buy. There is never a guarantee that the service provided will be entirely suitable, so the important thing with finding a therapist that works for you is to be open, and honest in meeting with someone. It might be a good idea to express your reasons for seeking help and what you hope to gain from therapy. It helps to make your expectations quite clear to yourself and your therapist, because it makes it easier to identify whether or not you are benefiting from the therapy.

Speak up

If you are not happy with the therapist you have made contact with, bring it up with the therapist. Talk to others you know and trust about what you are finding problematic. Therapists should constantly review your options with you in terms of encouraging you to consider other options if they are not working for you – so don’t be scared raise these concerns.

Never hesitate to seek a second opinion. Too many people stay in therapy with someone who isn’t really helping them, just because they feel bad or guilty for leaving. It is important to find the help that is going to help and it is really important to keep a critical mind when seeking treatment from any professional. That is a very important task for any patient.

The good with the bad

There is help out there – and plenty of good therapists who can help a person to recover. And….recovery is possible. It’s simply not true that there are a dwindling number of health professionals available to treat people with eating disorders, or that the health professionals who are out there are not doing a sufficient job. Of course it is true that there are some not so crash hot therapists but this is the case within any professional industry.

It’s very easy to have one terrible experience with, say, vanilla ice cream and then declare that all ice cream is terrible and a waste of money when really, it is just that strawberry flavour would suit you much better. What is most important when it comes to therapy is that you are aware of your rights to assess the benefits of the therapy and that you feel safe bringing these up with your therapist.

The bottom line

What matters is that a person wanting to recover finds someone who can help them to do so. It is best to keep an open mind and remain flexible to seeking a second opinion if something isn’t working. Above all, don’t give up. Keep searching until you find what you are looking for - when it comes to therapists and when it comes to recovery.

Download About EDF (~175kb)

Download Therapy Pamphlet (~137kb)

Download Public Treatment Options in NSW (~251kb)

Download How to Find Help Pamphlet (~239kb)

Download Eating Disorders: What’s the Story? (~169kb)

For information about a program offering free outpatient treatment for people with longstanding anorexia, please click here.

For information about our recovery support groups, please click here.