Posted by raisinb on December 31, 2008, at 10:04:33
In reply to Eating issues and Therapy. Iodine. cancer., posted by llurpsienoodle on December 31, 2008, at 7:25:59
Llurpsie,
This is a hard issue. It sounds as if healthy, self-accepting urges are getting mixed up with more rigid, "this is bad" self-punishing type thoughts.It's completely possible to get through all this. About ten years ago, I'd probably have qualified for an anorexia diagnosis. I did not allow myself to weigh more than 90 lb and didn't menstruate for 2 years. Ran obsessively, etc. And now I'm about 90% (really!) free of those issues. Probably it wouldn't be helpful to take three webpages to describe everything that happened in between, but some bits of things I learned were (many apologies for the cliches btw)--
-it really isn't about your body or food--really. It's about the relationship you have with yourself. Try not to worry about what you eat, wear, don't, etc., as you piece through this stuff.
--body issues serve an emotional purpose (at least, they sure did for me). So unfortunately usually when we explore them, they get a lot more complicated than we thought (guess that's a corollary to #1) once we realize all the things we're packing into thinking about weight, etc.I truly think you should try to talk about it with your therapist, because it sounds like what he looks like sets off some bells in your head/emotions. His body symbolizes something to you. Not that this talk will be any fun at all.
Oh and btw, I (purely on a personal level--you may feel differently) would not find a male therapist's comments about what makes a woman sexy helpful at all. In these moments--brief though they may be--he is not acting like a therapist. If they bother you, you could consider asking him to can them.
poster:raisinb
thread:871594
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20081219/msgs/871610.html