Understanding Disordered Eating: A Salt Lake City Therapist Explains
You may be familiar with eating disorders, but many people are less clear about the term disordered eating. Are they the same thing? Not exactly. Disordered eating is more common than most people realize and can affect your relationship with food, your body, and your emotional well-being. Many clients I work with in Salt Lake City, Utah, initially wonder whether their behaviors are “serious enough” to seek help. Understanding disordered eating is often the first step toward recognizing when support could make a meaningful difference. This is something we work through often in eating disorder therapy in Salt Lake City, where treatment focuses on healing your relationship with food rather than just managing symptoms.
What Is Disordered Eating?
Disordered eating is a broad term that can apply to several different kinds of unhealthy behaviors with food. I hesitate to call them abnormal when our society is full of disordered eating and we deem it normal because it's so common. Disordered eating can include restricting, binging, purging, overexercising, obsession with health, and yes even counting macros. All of these behaviors can impact your physical and mental health. Disordered eating can lead to being rigid around food, exercise, and routine and when something deviates from this it can cause anxiety and distress. Disordered eating can take many forms and have differing severity. Binge eating once a year at thanksgiving is not the same as binging 2-3 times per week for months. Disordered eating can comprise many of the behaviors in an eating disorder but may occur less often or with less severity. Extreme forms of disordered eating can qualify as eating disorder diagnoses such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other specified eating disorders. Disordered eating involves a preoccupation with food, weight, and body image that can impact your overall daily functioning.
Common Examples of Disordered Eating
There are numerous examples of disordered eating that I wouldn’t be able to name of them. These are some of the categories of disordered eating and common behaviors:
Restrictive eating: limiting the amount, types of food, and perhaps entire food groups that are permitted to be eaten. Skipping meals and caloric deficits are examples of restriction.
Binge Eating: Consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time often accompanies by shame and self-hatred.
Purging: Attempting to get rid of food or calories to prevent weight gain. Sometimes purging occurs after a binge but can occur without a binge as well. Purging can be vomiting, abusing laxatives, or overexercising to compensate for food eaten.
Orthorexia: Involves an obsession with eating healthy and “clean”. Orthorexia leads to restrictive behaviors and emotional and physical issues.
Chronic Dieting: Repeatedly following diets involving restricting food types or calories in an attempt to lose weight. This is a disordered eating pattern and leads to obsession and preoccupation with food.
What is the difference between eating disorders and disordered eating?
As we talked about before, eating disorders are compromised of disordered eating behaviors but having disordered eating behaviors doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. The main difference between disordered eating and an eating disorder is the frequency, severity, and duration of disordered eating symptoms. Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and other specified eating disorder involve a specific set of severe disordered eating behaviors that occur more frequently.
This doesn’t mean that disordered eating isn’t cause for concern. In fact, if you have disordered eating behaviors you are the most vulnerable to an eating disorder diagnosis. Whether you have an eating disorder or struggle with disordered eating, both require the help of an eating disorder therapist and other professionals. The difference between the two just changes the type of treatment necessary.
What are the signs and symptoms of disordered eating?
It’s important to note that disordered eating can be hidden from others. Many people who develop eating disorders and who have been engaging in disordered eating for a while have family members and friends who are surprised and had no idea. These are some of the common signs and symptoms of disordered eating:
Preoccupation with food
Chronic dieting
Restricting foods
Binging
Purging
Overexercising
Weight fluctuations
Social Isolation
Digestive Issues
Fatigue
Irritability
What causes disordered eating?
Disordered eating is complex, and there is no simple answer to what causes it. Some people have a genetic predisposition that might make them vulnerable to developing disordered eating. Along with genetics, is the type of environment that you may be exposed to and live in. People who grow up in environments where there is emphasis and importance placed on body image and size are more prone to disordered eating. Societal pressures to be thin and attractive also may impact someone developing disordered eating. Other issues such as low self-esteem, signs of perfectionism, and anxiety may all play a role in disordered eating.
How do I prevent disordered eating?
One of the biggest components to preventing disordered eating is to practice intuitive eating. Listen to your body. Pay attention to your hunger and fullness cues by eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re satiated and comfortably full. Avoid diets and strict food rules. Understand that diet culture is an industry that makes money and gains from women (and men) hating their bodies. Recognize that it’s important not to place morals on food such as “good” or bad” if you want a healthy relationship with food. All foods fit into a balanced healthy diet and restricting them will impact you physically and mentally. Promote body positivity and realize all bodies are good bodies regardless of weight, shape, and size. Most of all if you are struggling with disordered eating or recognize you could improve, seek support from a mental health professional.
What’s the treatment for disordered eating?
Because disordered eating is complicated and impacts a person’s physical and mental health, it can require multiple angles of treatment. There are the common treatment methods to recovering from disordered eating:
1. Disordered Eating Therapy
Disordered eating involves working with a therapist specializing in eating disorders and disordered eating. This type of therapy focuses on your attitudes and beliefs about food but also digs deeper into your emotions and beliefs about yourself. Working with an eating disorder therapist can help you improve your relationship with food and overcome body image issues.
2. Nutritional Counseling
Meeting with a dietitian specializing in disordered eating and eating disorders through nutritional counseling can help you practice intuitive eating, help you overcome food rules, and learn to listen to your body’s cues. It’s important to seek out a dietitian with the proper expertise as it can be more harmful to disordered eating than working with someone promoting dieting and weight loss.
3. Medication Management
Disordered eating and eating disorders also accompany anxiety and depression. Medication can help stabilize your mood as you work in therapy to challenge your disordered eating. Medication is not sufficient alone to treat disordered eating but can be a helpful tool to cope with anxiety and depression.
4. Group Therapy
Group therapy can be useful in overcoming disordered eating by having support and a safe place to process your feelings about yourself, body image, and food. It is helpful to be able to connect with other people who are experiencing the same struggles as you without fear of judgment or criticism.
Why should I consider disordered eating therapy?
Disordered eating therapy can help you improve your relationship with food and challenge you to let go of the behaviors you are using to cope with anxiety and depression. Therapy can help you recognize your own attitudes and beliefs that you have about yourself and how you utilize food to cope with them. Working on your mental health through therapy can reduce future potential health risks that come from disordered eating. Disordered eating can impact your mental health and gets in the way of being able to do the things you love and enjoy having experiences with the people you care about.
Disordered Eating Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah
Disordered eating can quietly take up an enormous amount of mental space. You might find yourself constantly thinking about food, feeling guilty after eating, cycling between restriction and overeating, or feeling frustrated that your eating patterns feel out of control. In therapy, we focus on understanding the function these behaviors serve, reducing shame, and helping you develop a more stable and peaceful relationship with food. I work with women in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah who feel exhausted by food thoughts and ready for a different experience.
Seek help through disordered eating therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah
You may have been stuck in this cycle of trying to lose weight and have more control over yourself. You feel so much hope that this new diet will help you finally help the weight stay off and then you’ll finally love your body. It seems like no matter how many times you try this, it always ends the same. You end up feeling like a failure and feeling more out of control with food than ever before. Disordered eating can really take a toll on your self-esteem. Disordered eating therapy can help you feel more confident in yourself, improve your body image, and help you feel comfortable with food.
Work with an eating disorder therapist in Salt Lake City, Utah
You don’t have to keep feeling anxious about food. You can find relief from disordered eating. Disordered eating therapy can help. Maple Canyon Therapy has an eating disorder therapist specializing in disordered eating and eating disorder therapy. To begin therapy follow the steps below:
Meet with a therapist for disordered eating
Start feeling relief
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
Struggling with disordered eating is already difficult enough. It can be overwhelming to try and find the right therapist and their office space. It might also feel like too much to try and schedule yet another appointment into your already busy schedule. I can’t give you more time in your schedule but I can offer convenience to save you a little more time. I offer online therapy in Utah so you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home or office. Online therapy is face-to-face and just as effective as in-person therapy.
Online counseling also means I work with clients in Salt Lake City and all throughout Utah.
FAQ About Eating Disorder Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah
Do I need a diagnosis to start eating disorder therapy?
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to begin therapy. Many people seek help for disordered eating, food anxiety, or body image concerns without meeting full diagnostic criteria.
Is online eating disorder therapy effective?
Yes. Research shows that online therapy can be just as effective as in-person therapy for many mental health concerns, including eating disorders, when provided by a qualified specialist.
How do I know if my eating concerns are serious enough for therapy?
If your thoughts about food, eating, or your body are causing distress, guilt, anxiety, or interfering with daily life, therapy can be beneficial, regardless of severity.
What issues are addressed in eating disorder therapy?
Therapy often focuses on food behaviors, body image, anxiety, perfectionism, emotional regulation, and the underlying beliefs driving eating patterns.
Therapy Services for Women in Salt Lake City
Eating disorder therapy isn’t the only counseling service provided. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include EMDR therapy, binge eating disorder treatment, anxiety therapy, birth trauma therapy, body image therapy, and therapy for college students.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Maple Canyon Therapy, serving women in Salt Lake City and beyond.. Ashlee has two bachelor's degrees from Southern Utah University: psychology and family life and human development. She received her master's degree from Utah State University in social work. Ashlee has been working with women with eating disorders and disordered eating since 2013. She believes in using an intuitive eating approach as well as a health at every size perspective. Ashlee believes women can have better, healthier lives free from disordered eating and knows how much therapy can help.