Therapy for BINGE EATING IN SAN DIEGO, CA
Binge eating is the most common eating disorder and the most stigmatized. It is often met with the cruelest judgement—but binge eating disorder isn’t a choice or moral failure. Healing is possible and we can help you.
Binge Eating creates a never ending shame spiral.
You Might Be struggling With Binge eating If…
You find yourself eating large amounts of food in a short period of time- beyond comfortable fullness.
You feel disconnected or detached during a binge, like you’re not actually in your body.
You feel intense shame, guilt or disgust after eating- but feel unable to stop.
You binge in secret because of the embarrassment and shame.
You feel addicted to food and try to keep “tempting” foods outside of your house.
You find yourself binge eating as a primary way to cope with stress, loneliness or other difficult feelings.
Binge eating can feel soothing when you feel trapped in a difficult season of life.
Looking for Binge Eating therapy in san diego?
Eating Disorder & OCD Therapy provides expert binge eating treatment, in-person from our Hillcrest office in San Diego, CA.
We also offer virtual binge eating therapy for clients throughout California, Maryland, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
Why do People Binge eat?
The problem with binge eating disorder is not actually the binge itself. Binge eating is often a smoke signal to a deeper struggle.
For many people, binge eating happens in response to periods of physical and mental restriction of food. Yes, telling yourself that snack you just ate was “bad” is a form of restriction.
Binge eating also tends to be a way to cope with painful emotions or trauma—some of the most common being loneliness, rejection, shame or feeling a lack of meaning in life. It then becomes an engrained habit that feels almost impossible to break.
There is no single cause of binge eating disorder, but with specialized eating disorder therapy, binge eating recovery is absolutely possible.
How do People Stop Binge eating?
There are many pathways to recovering from binge eating and it will look different from person to person, but here are a few core elements of binge eating recovery that we have seen be incredibly life changing in our clients over the years.
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One of the most crucial first steps to coping with binge eating urges is to make sure you are getting enough food throughout the day and not depriving yourself of satisfying meals and snacks. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but there is almost always some type of physical and mental restriction leading up to a binge. It can show up in sneaky ways and we can help you identify that- and refer you to an eating disorder dietitian to help you with the ins and outs of what “enough” food is for you (it will probably surprise you).
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Coping with difficult emotions is another common trigger for binge eating. In therapy, we’ll gently explore common emotional triggers (loneliness, burnout, grief, fear, boredom, rejection)- and use evidence based strategies to help you cope in more adaptive ways.
Techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy are some of our favorites.
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If you’ve broken the restrict-binge cycle, have been using new coping strategies instead of avoiding and numbing with bingeing—and you’re still struggling, chances are there is a habituation trigger at play.
This happens when the brain starts to pair environmental cues with bingeing.
For example, maybe you only binge when you are home alone when the TV is on. Now your brain has paired being home alone with the TV on as “bingeing time.”
We’ll help you figure out these cues with strategies to switch up the environment enough so that this ‘pairing’ of cues in your brain loosens it’s grip.
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When we experience trauma, are pushed beyond our nervous system’s window of tolerance (or ability to cope).
Binge eating temporarily helps us come back into our window of tolerance, but it is not an effective long term strategy as it doesn’t actually address what happened.
Effective treatment for binge eating can include trauma therapy.
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Usually, people with binge eating disorder are telling themselves a shameful and critical story about their bingeing behaviors.
These stories are informed by our core beliefs- things we unconsciously believe about ourselves based on ways we have been treated in the past.
Therapy will help make these beliefs conscious so that we can heal and reclaim the story we are buying into and turn it into something more compassionate, gentle and empowering.
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While not always- body image distress can be intertwined with binge eating. If that’s the case for you, therapy will include learning to accept and have compassion for you body.
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Neurodivergent folks with high stimulation needs may turn to binge eating when under stimulated. For others, eating can be a stim (a self soothing behavior).
If you are autistic or ADHD or identify with another form of neurodivergence, we will help you identify accommodations for meeting your stimulation needs that can ease the negative consequences of binge eating.
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“Turn to people not food” - is one of my favorite (albeit cliche) recovery mottos. Lasting recovery involves relational safety and interdependence on others.
Binge Eating Therapy can be the starting point of building your capacity for secure attachment and resolving trust wounds.
You Deserve…
Freedom from the relentless cycle of bingeing and restricting.
To feel less shame and more compassion toward yourself.
To feel joy and ease eating around others again, no more secrecy and isolation.
To heal from the trauma that burdens you, that was never yours to carry.
Specialized binge eating therapy that helps you get to the root of your suffering, so that healing can last a lifetime.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We primarily work with teens and adults with binge eating. We are happy to provide trusted referrals for anyone looking for a children’s binge eating disorder specialist!
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Yes, we provide virtual binge eating therapy to anyone in CA. We also provide virtual binge eating therapy in WA, UT, TN and MD.
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Several things set us apart! While we do help with behavioral change and understand that it is a very important part of the process, we also tend to the root causes of your struggle with binge eating so that healing can last a life time.
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Nope! I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but restrictive eating is part of the problem. We are firmly anti-diet, and find that our clients find freedom from bingeing when they let go of the food rules.
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Cost is dependent on the clinician you work with and the state you reside in (variability for cost of living in different areas). You can check out our rates and insurance page for more info!
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You can reach out here to connect with us or you can email us at: info@eatingdisorderocdtherapy.com