DR MARIANNE MILLER
CARING EATING DISORDER TREATMENT IN SAN DIEGO AND THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, AND WASHINGTON D.C. FOR ADULTS & TEENS
3 Tips on How to Leave Diet Culture and Eating Disorders Behind in London (& Throughout the UK)
Diet culture is so pervasive. It’s like we’re swimming in an ocean of it, and whether you’re in San Diego or NYC, it’s with you wherever you go. Many people who live in London also struggle with diet culture and eating disorders. It can be especially difficult in England and elsewhere in the UK in the winter months (and even some of the spring) because there’s not much sunlight and a lot of gray skies. Here are three tips to help you leave diet culture and eating disorders behind in London and throughout the UK.
Interested in Culturally Sensitive Treatment? Meet Eating Disorder Therapist Dr. Jennifer Douglas
Hello all! I’ve recently gotten to know eating disorder therapist Dr. Jennifer Douglas. She is a clinical psychologist who has worked at some of the top eating disorder treatment centers in the United States, including University of California at San Diego Eating Disorders Center and Stanford University Eating Disorders Program. One thing I really appreciate about Jen is that when treating folks with eating disorders, she takes a culturally sensitive approach. She loves working with people of diverse body sizes, genders, religions, abilities, ages, countries of origin, and sexual orientations. She used to live in San Diego and now resides in San Francisco. She can provide Telehealth anywhere in California. Enjoy getting to know her!
Five Mindful Places to Visit in San Diego When You're Feeling Stressed During the Holidays
As Thanksgiving is coming round the corner, and other holidays are fast approaching, it’s easy to feel caught up in the holiday frenzy. Whether it’s traffic, shopping, or your full calendar, things just can seem crazy. It’s especially challenging while in eating disorder recovery, as there can be more triggers than usual this time of year. Sometimes you just need a peaceful place to go in San Diego where you can take deep breaths and soak in positive energy so you can feel grounded and renewed. I’ve asked top eating disorder therapists and dietitians in San Diego for their recommendations of mindful places to visit, and I’ve listed five of my favorites. Enjoy!
How Can Yoga Help Eating Disorder Recovery?
Curious about how yoga can help you in your eating disorder recovery? Feeling scared to take the first step and start a yoga practice, but don’t know where to begin? It can be nerve-racking in San Diego to get out of your comfort zone and start something new—especially when it has to do with moving your body! I’ve interviewed Christin Conkle, LMFT, who is both an eating disorder therapist in San Diego, a yoga instructor, and a firm believer in how yoga can be a helpful part of eating disorder treatment. She explains how yoga can benefit people in eating disorder recovery, and she shares tips on how to begin a yoga practice.
Three Tips for Taming Anxiety in Eating Disorder Recovery
Overwhelmed with anxiety in your eating disorder recovery? Does it feel like anxiety crashes over you like a huge wave? Is it like you’re walking on the beach in San Diego, and all of a sudden you feel flooded with emotion, left shivering in your soaking wet shoes? Do you just want to scream and run away when you feel anxious? Or, do you freeze like a deer in headlights? However anxiety manifests, it can be very difficult to face.
Four Steps to Stomp Out Self-Criticism in Eating Disorder Recovery
Ever wish you could take a break from negative thoughts—like take a vacation from your brain? Feel like you’re on a self-criticism merry-go-round that you can’t get off? Many people struggle with self-criticism, especially those in recovery from eating disorders. It can be easy to be hard on yourself in San Diego, as you see people around you splashing in the ocean and laying on the warm sand. You might think, “what’s wrong with me that I’m not like them?” Even on social media you see everyone else posting about how wonderful their lives are, triggering negative thoughts that crash over you like a wave. You may feel hopeless and that there’s no way out. I want to convey that you CAN get out of the self-criticism cycle and live a more satisfying life. Check out the four steps in this blog post, and you’ll be on your way!
Three Pointers for Pushing Back Perfectionism in Eating Disorder Recovery
Feel like you aren’t good enough? Always comparing yourself to others? Constantly cataloguing your faults and feeling like a failure? It sounds like you are struggling with perfectionism. It can be so challenging to fall into the “compare and despair” pit when you are in San Diego and there is such an emphasis on perfect looks and perfect achievement, materialistically or otherwise. Even elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world, perfectionism is a trait that can be common in people suffering from eating disorders.
As most eating disorder researchers and experts will say, eating disorders are brain disorders. When compared to brains of people without eating disorders, people with eating disorders have areas of their brains that don’t function as efficiently or effectively. What that means is that if you have an eating disorder, it’s not your fault. It’s not about willpower or about sucking it up to “just eat” or “just stop eating.” It’s about needing to get help to change how your brain works. Struggling with perfectionism AND an eating disorder can lead to (a) feeling like you have to be perfect, so you engage in eating disorder behaviors to try to be perfect, or (b) feeling disappointed or ashamed that you’re not perfect, so you you engage in eating disorder behaviors to counteract these emotions. Either way, perfectionism can be a challenge to recovery.
Five Tips for Managing Overwhelming Emotions in Eating Disorder Recovery
Have you ever felt so filled with emotion that it was almost unbearable? Do your mind and body feel flooded with feelings such as fear, anger, disgust, frustration, irritability, anxiety, or sadness—to the point at which you feel almost paralyzed? Having an eating disorder in San Diego and elsewhere is so hard. Sometimes the overwhelming emotions can be triggered by things such as discomfort with food and with your body, negative interactions with others, and work and family stress. At such times, it seems like the emotions take over both your brain and your body, and you would do anything thing in the world to make them stop. It is so so hard. Thankfully, there are a few coping strategies that can help you navigate such situations. These coping skills come from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which is an approach I integrate in my work with people struggling with eating disorders in San Diego.
My Eating Disorder and Trauma Recovery: "Life Without Ed" Author Jenni Schaefer
Hello everyone! I am SO EXCITED to present my new interview with none other than Life Without Ed author and speaker Jenni Schaefer! Jenni’s book came on the scene around 10 years ago, sending shockwaves throughout the world of eating disorders. Eating disorder professionals and individuals suffering from eating disorders alike acknowledged that Jenni captured a way of looking at eating disorders that was elegant and accurate. Since that time, countless people have found solace in her book, reading chapter by chapter and literally nodding to themselves and saying, “she gets it.” It has been transformative in the eating disorder field. Both outpatient eating disorder therapists like myself in San Diego, as well as clinicians in higher levels of care have recommended this book as people start on their recovery journey. Jenni has since written two more books on eating disorders. PLUS, Jenni travels throughout the country, not only spreading her story of eating disorder recovery, but more recently on trauma recovery as well. She’ll talk about both areas in this interview. Enjoy!!!