The following article is from:
The Journal of Heath at Every Size, Volume 19, Number 1.
(This journal can be ordered at www.gurze.com)

Attitudes Toward Disordered Eating and Weight:
Important Considerations for
Therapists and Health Professionals

Judith Matz, MSW, LCSW
Ellen Frankel, MSW, LCSW

Among professionals, there is general agreement regarding the criteria and diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and bulimia as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM IV). Less clear is the definition of binge eating disorder, which currently falls under the category of Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. While this diagnosis is helpful in defining the serious nature of binge eating disorder, there exists a much broader sub-clinical population that engages in compulsive eating—reaching for food on a regular basis when a person is not physically hungry—that does not meet the criteria of a psychiatric disorder. The current cultural climate has contributed to countless numbers of people engaged in disordered eating. When disordered eating itself passes for a normative relationship with food, we can begin to understand the scope of this problem.

The following article is from:
Psychotherapy Networker July/August 2010

In Consultation

By Judith Matz

Beyond the Diet Mentality
Empowering clients through attuned eating

Q: Many of my clients struggle with food and weight problems. I've helped them look at the emotional issues behind their overeating, but it doesn't always help. What else can you recommend?

A: When I began treating clients with eating problems, I believed that once they understood the emotional triggers behind their overeating, their compulsion to reach for food would decrease—which in turn would lead to weight loss. Instead, I discovered that, although they could resolve issues around depression, anxiety, relationships, work, and self-esteem, conflicts with food and weight usually remained. In the early 1990s, after witnessing the failure of most diet programs, I learned a nondiet approach to treating compulsive eating, one that has enabled me to intervene directly in the diet-and-binge cycle and help my clients make peace with food, their bodies, and themselves.