If you live near a college campus, you probably have seen the signs pointing incoming students where to go to find their dorms, register for services, buy books for their classes, and find the dining hall. In Baltimore where I live, I see students all over the urban campuses walking up and down the sidewalk […]
Playing Your Song: How Music Therapy Enhances Eating Disorders Treatment
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” - Berthold Auerbach For most people, music is an important part of daily life. Maybe you rely on Beyoncé to get you through a long daily commute or the Beatles to keep you company while making dinner. Music has a significant impact on our […]
Lower Your Cortisol Levels, Reduce Your Anxiety
What would your anxiety-free life look like? You’d probably feel better, have improved relationships with family and friends, and enjoy a more positive outlook on life in general. Most people who struggle with anxiety need to find ways to lower their cortisol levels. Often called the “fight or flight” chemical, cortisol is produced by the […]
Reminder, you have to take all your meds
You know how things get a little loose with your daily routine during the summer? Happened to me. Forgot to pick up my medication from the pharmacy. I got sidetracked. School is out so my schedule is freer without having to think about my son’s schedule. I’m taking a few days off to rest, hang […]
Eight Secrets to Cultivating Self-Acceptance
”You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” - Louise Hay Experiencing feelings of shame and worthlessness can have a huge impact on our lives. It can create anxieties and hold us back from pursuing opportunities, relationships, and happiness. Many of our worries stem […]
Male Body Image Concerns Are Not New
When I first opened an adolescent intensive outpatient program for eating disorders in Maryland, I expected to have a room full of struggling kids. Mostly girls, they all came with distorted body image, eating disorder behaviors, and underlying mental health concerns trying desperately to manage the demands of life, school, friendships, and family. I also […]
Don’t let shame and guilt keep you from getting help for binge eating disorder
People living with binge eating disorder (BED) come to this disease from so many different perspectives. Food becomes an obsession to numb out emotional trauma, physical pain, mental illness, and more. It’s a transfer behavior when someone is trying to get free from drugs and alcohol. And the size that often comes with long-standing leads […]
Danger Of Social Media
We are slaves to social media. Twitter. Facebook. Instagram. YouTube. These are less than handful of the ones that exhaust our data on cell phones and tablets. Every like of a post gives us a little dopamine push in our brain. Every post we find distasteful raises our blood pressure and adrenaline. It’s become our […]
Bullying of a little boy leads to his suicide
Daniel Fitzpatrick was a young boy, age 13, who lived in Staten Island with his family until he killed himself. He was the victim of bullying by his classmates and teachers alike. First it was about being heavy, then about his grades, and eventually about his depressed and anxious state of mind. Even though he […]
Perfectionism versus healthy achievement
A while back I read Daring Greatly, a wonderful book about vulnerability by the author and researcher Brené Brown. In her book, Brown talks a lot about perfectionism, a trait common in individuals who develop eating disorders. Her discussion about the difference between perfectionism and healthy achievement really resonated with me and helped inform the […]