Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.

If you have difficulties with your eating, there is always some emotional component. Together, we’ll examine what the psychological and emotional issues are that are involved in your particular problems with eating. This applies with compulsive overeating, anorexia, and bulimia. Even milder forms of overeating or undereating have emotional aspects, and we can deal with them. Bingeing or purging come in many forms, and we’ll examine how that may apply with you. It’s not about the diet, it’s about the dieter. It’s about the way you relate to your emotions, the people and situations in your life, and how you translate that to eating. You’re not damaged or a failure. Psychotherapy helps.

I help individuals to break the chains of eating disorders which has them enslaved and obsessing over food and body image. Both women and men suffer from the norms in society and the ideals of how we are all supposed to look. People can become victims to the discourses of body image. I will work closely with you to free yourself from this eating disordered identity and to live a freer existence.

My comprehensive approach includes looking at both psychological and physiological factors contributing to eating disorders. Highly specialized in binge eating disorder, obesity, bulimia, orthorexia. Therapeutic approach includes several modalities, including (but not limited to) CBT and psychodynamic therapy. Treating both adolescents and adults.

Eating disorders rarely are biological, in other words learned responses to stress and trauma which are specialties of mine. Mindfulness is a great help to those suffering from this addiction. I want to know what has happened to make the client want to "cover up" the grief, sadness, loneliness, abandonment, or social issues causing the overeating. Remember it's not what you are eating but what is "eating you." Counseling is needed here!

In addition to working with eating disorders in private practice, I also have experience working at inpatient facilities and running groups. I believe that eating disorders should be approached in a holistic manner and the underlying causes must be examined. There are many complexities when working with eating disorders and I take a warm, humanistic approach when doing so.

I am a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS). During graduate school I trained in an eating disorder research clinic and I specialize in providing evidence-based treatment for eating disorders in adults and adolescents. For adults with eating disorders, I provide cognitive behavioral therapy which is well-proven in research, especially for the treatment of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. For adolescents with anorexia or bulimia, the treatment of choice is Maudsley Family Based therapy (FBT) in which the support of the whole family is enlisted to help in treatment. I am one of the few therapists in LA County certified in FBT.

I work with a variety of eating disorders and work at treating both the behavior initially and the issues that are underneath the eating disorder. I am an expert at treating trauma and often trauma or traumatic relationships are at the heart of an eating disorder. Eating disorders typically are related to self-soothing or trying to gain control in areas where one doesn't feel he/she has control. Contact me for more information and assistance with an eating disorder. We are specialists in a variety of different areas and are able to offer help not only for the client with this issue bu also couple or family support. Experts in helping women & teens! Trauma experts too!

If a sensitive young adult feels anxious, fearful, powerless, overwhelmed, or lonely, they may discover a degree of comfort in eating. People who binge on food frequently experience life as overwhelming. Perhaps they experience their loved ones as pre-occupied, and/or their home as conflicted, disorganized and in need of boundaries. By working with my clients to understand and attend to any problems inherent in their family system, I can help address this problem.

While most eating disorder issues are treated by cognitive behavioral methodologies or specialized outpatient/inpatient programs, Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, PhD provide relief first and foremost for the brain of one suffering from an eating disorder----without giving them medication. We believe that the neural circuitries responsible for the compulsive behaviors with eating are not necessarily only a neurotransmitter issue but of overused neural networks that affect the harmonization, balance, and decisions of the whole brain. Contact kevin@kevinfleminphd.com or 877-606-6161 to learn more about this safe and effective alternative.

An eating disorder is not a lifestyle choice. An eating disorder is a serious and often fatal illnesses that causes serious disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors, physical health, and relationships. Obsessions with food, body weight, and shape may also signal an eating disorder. The sooner someone struggling with this illness, or displaying behaviors and attitudes consistent with these disorders, can get connected to help, the better. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. As with any illness or psychological disorder, these problems will not go away on their own; without clinical support they often only escalate dangerously.

I view an eating disorder as a coping strategy (tool), and therapy is a place for you to replace this "tool" with one that is helpful rather than harmful. You and I would work together to find new ways of coping with uncomfortable feelings and situations. We would figure out what your triggers are and how to live with upsetting experiences. We might also discover that control has a lot to do with what's going on, and its roots might stem from how you were treated by your parents and other family members. So, we would also find ways for you to not only feel but actually BE more in control of your life.

Do you use food to cope? When you are under emotional distress do you overeat or under eat? You may think that food is the problem, but it isn't. Food is symptom of underlying pain. Figure out what that pain is, address it, and your need to eat ( or restrict) in the face if it will end. Joining one of my groups and doing group therapy is an excellent way to heal that pain. You will be in the company of others who understand and can offer support. Group not for you? We can work individually instead.

Disordered eating is a fairly recent phenomenon in history. I believe it is important to consider the context in which clients are living, and the cultural ideologies and norms for body image, weight, aging, sexuality, sex-appeal. Here in the United States, is health and beauty synonymous or do we sacrifice our health in order to conform to a certain definition of perfection? I have found that perfection plays a heavy hand in clients relationship to eating. I am interested in analyzing and contextualizing perfection's presence within the very fabric of our society in order to begin to show that it's pressures are palpable, powerful, and do not belong to any single person.

If you are over or under eating you are very likely to have had a painful trauma and will benefit from learning to face this difficult experience. Dare to share and ease the blame and shame. You will learn to use your body's signals to ease the pain through relaxation techniques, meditative skills and hypnosis. Find out how hidden beliefs and rules limit your progress.