Gaining More Than Weight: Eating Disorders as an Opportunity for Post-Traumatic Growth

There’s that old saying, “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” I used to cringe when I heard that statement. Now, I love it. I love it because it is true that through adversity and struggle we can become more connected with ourselves, with others, with our bodies. If an individual allows themselves to fully engage in the process of working through their struggles, whether that is trauma, addiction, or attachment issues, the person connects with a level of self-awareness and enlightenment that many others do not make the effort to achieve. I find this to be especially true when applied to those living with eating disorders and/or trauma.

The idea of growth is so relevant in the treatment of eating disorders, and I’m not just talking about weight. There is an anonymous quote I like to use – “The only way out is through.” The thing about having struggle is that if we are willing to muster up the strength to face it, we can come out stronger. To be clear, “stronger” doesn’t mean tougher; in this case, it is the sense that we can face the world in a more connected and meaningful way. Recovery is being mindful and engaged. It is being connected in a way that is impossible when the eating disorder is taking the lead or the trauma responses are primary. Through recovery, people realize that as they step away from their destructive coping, they can embrace life with a new view, a new way of relating to others; relationships become more meaningful. They make the time to connect more with their feelings in the treatment process, allowing themselves to fully engage in the world in an emotionally regulated way. When an individual processes the way they are responding to the world and their environment, they automatically become more connected with their sense of self.

When a person can let go of the need to hold onto a sense of control, they can begin to blossom in a world where they previously felt out of control. They become more in tune with their thoughts and feelings. With this new perspective, they can thrive. There is a sense of gratitude towards the body that develops; a person recognizes they are a human being, not a human doing. The person can often identify feelings of strength and self-resilience that they have never felt before. Patients that leave treatment often find new interests that they had never spent time and energy to consider; they sometimes establish a new life path, they re-evaluate priorities, and true healing occurs. Not only that, but when a person works through a traumatic event, they often find themselves better able to withstand future struggles.

Psychological stress, whether a trauma or an eating disorder, is an opportunity for an individual to flourish. It is an opportunity for them to take something so destructive and negative, and process it so that it can be used to re-establish oneself in the world in a different way, one that is more meaningful and resilient.

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Childhood Abuse Is More Prevalent Than You Think

It is estimated that each year three million cases of child abuse are reported to authorities in the United States (source: Childhelp.org). Childhood abuse comes in many forms and can be anything from physical abuse, sexual boundary violations, neglect of medical and physical needs, to emotional and social maltreatment and injustices.

A majority of mental health patients report a history of childhood abuse. Patients often develop addictive coping patterns as a means to mitigating the pain they experienced as a child. They describe on-going battles with depression and anxiety surrounding the negative childhood experiences they faced. Negative self-talk and a shame-based existence are often ways an individual will operate in the world until they have processed childhood traumas. Whether the abuse was a one-time incidence of inappropriate sexual interaction or on-going belittling by a parent, the toll abuse takes on a child is significant and is one of the largest epidemics in the nation.

Prevention, intervention, and treatment are the key components when we think about childhood abuse. Offering parenting classes and stress reduction services for parents is an example of ways to decrease rates of abuse. When parents feel empowered and are taught effective coping skills to manage their feelings and stress, they are less likely to take out their own distress on their children. Teaching and training coaches, educators, and medical providers, about the potential symptomology of abused children is an effective approach of intervening. When individuals in children’s lives are made aware of what to look out for, then children can be taken out of the circumstances that are detrimental to their well-being.

Treatment options for child abuse can include individual, group, and family therapy using a variety of treatment techniques and therapies. Research continues to show that the earlier the treatment is provided to the individual, the better the outcome. Empowering families to seek out services they might need for their child and providing assistance and access to these services are helpful in mitigating the negative impact that abuse can have on the child’s life.

The Meadows Behavioral Healthcare family of specialized inpatient treatment programs and outpatient services understand the effects of childhood relational trauma. We believe trauma underlies nearly all mental health conditions. Trauma, whether related to addiction, family-of-origin issues or abuse, can reverberate through the many facets of our lives, follow us into adulthood and inhibit us from living in the present. We believe that successful treatment combines different powerful and unique methodologies that enable support, discovery, and healing. Above all, we believe that healing is possible. Get help today.

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Horses Helping Humans

There is a lot we can learn from the team of horses here at The Meadows Ranch. Can you imagine what it would be like to live every day as your authentic self? Horses do not ruminate on the past, worry about the future, or cover up their emotions. This is what makes them the perfect partner for healing trauma, regulating our nervous system, and finding balance in our life. 

Humans are notorious for having incongruence between our true feelings and what we actually say. On the outside, we may put on a façade that tells others we are happy and confident, while on the inside we feel depression, anger, or out of control. Often times, we get so good at this façade that we actually begin to believe it ourselves. 

In comes the horse. Horses do not wear masks or put on pretenses; horses are always their true self in every moment of the day. A well-known equine author, Linda Kohanov, wrote, “The suppression of self-interested emotion actually inhibits true connection. Peace, love, and compassion can create social disharmony when worn like masks to cover unresolved anger, fear, sadness, and depression.”
In therapy, horses can act as a type of biofeedback that tracks the ups and downs of one’s autonomic nervous system. Much like the popular healing modality Somatic Experiencing developed by The Meadows Senior Fellow Dr. Peter Levine, horses can be a way into our felt sense and deepen our ability to self-regulate.

When a person enters the arena with the herd, the herd will act as a barometer for the person’s innermost emotions. For example, if an individual is feeling highly activated, the horses may mirror that through running, moving away, or becoming agitated. On the other hand, if an individual is feeling depression or sadness, the horses may isolate, lower their heads, or lay down. If the individual is not in touch with their own emotions or nervous system activation, the reactions from the herd can begin to shed light on what is really going on.

In trauma and eating disorders, the ability to feel our emotions and develop a relationship to our felt-sense is the first step in the healing process. The horses here at The Meadows Ranch bring people closer to authentic selves each and every day.

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Does everyone with an addiction to mood altering substances have trauma?

This interesting question has been posed to me numerous times over my 29 years of treating addictive disorders. Well, what is the answer?

One answer is “I don’t know.” Another approach is “Why do you ask?” The latter approach can elicit more information and insight on the patient for the practitioner. It also lets the therapist off the hook. One could either give a blanket no or yes and most likely be wrong with either response.

As a young therapist, I felt I had to know everything and have all the answers. As a seasoned therapist, I have fewer answers and more questions. Therefore, for this purpose, I am not going to try to answer this question but pose it in a different way. I am going to change the question to “Do some people who have an addiction to mood altering substances suffer from trauma?” Well, that changes the question entirely. It also changes the answer. The answer is yes.

When I went to school to be a therapist over 30 years ago, my training in trauma, pharmacology, and neuroscience of addiction was limited in depth and scope. The lack of emphasis was not due to lack of awareness of the importance of these subjects in relation to addictive disorders but our limited understanding due to the technological limits of the time. The past 30 years have seen dramatic technological shifts that have increased our understanding.

What I soon discovered as a novice practitioner was that many of my patients experienced some form of trauma either prior to their addiction or coinciding with their addiction. Whether it was from childhood relational trauma (physical, sexual, emotional or other types of abuse), or veterans or their family with PTSD history, or the traumatic experiences of the addict or loved one suffered as a consequence of living decades with an addiction. Their stories were stories of trauma. Their stories were stories of generational pain. Their stories were of relapse because as soon as they stopped the addiction often the painful traumatic memories resurfaced. Hence, the addiction became the balm to obliterate their painful history.

Here is what I learned from these patients. First, if I was going to be effective as a healer, I needed not only to learn about trauma but to learn how to treat trauma. If you treat addiction, you treat trauma.

“While experiencing a trauma doesn’t guarantee that a person will develop an addiction, research clearly suggests that trauma is a major underlying source of addictive behavior.”
Sources estimate that 25 to 75 percent of people who survive abuse and/or violent trauma develop issues related to alcohol abuse. Addiction has been described as a pathological relationship with a mood altering substance or experience.

Carl Jung stated, “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.”
Bessel A. van der Kolk wrote, “Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.”

So, in a sense, addiction is a false connection. It is not safe but terrifying. It is not connection but isolation. It is not meaningful but petty and small. It is not satisfying but empty.

Trauma activates survival strategies in humans. Some of these strategies can lead to addiction. The addiction can become a gateway to feeling safe in an unsafe world. Treat the addiction and the unsafe world returns. That is why it is so important to therapeutically address trauma and facilitate new and healthy connections.

Therefore, it looks like I did not answer the question. However, what I can answer is that the goal should always be to help people experience the freedom of recovery and help them on their journey of meaningful living.

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Jenni Schaefer Named Meadows Behavioral Healthcare Senior Fellow

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare announced today that Jenni Schaefer has joined the organization as a Senior Fellow for its continuum of treatment services and advocate for its specialty eating disorder program, The Meadows Ranch.

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare announced today that Jenni Schaefer has joined the organization as a Senior Fellow for its continuum of treatment services and advocate for its specialty eating disorder program, The Meadows Ranch. In this role, Schaefer will be instrumental in supporting the program’s leading-edge approach to neurobehavioral health treatment, which is integrated with trauma services. She will also share her knowledge, experience, and expertise with patients and staff.

Schaefer graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M University with a degree in biochemistry and knows first-hand the devastating consequences of an eating disorder. Since recovering from her own eating disorder, she has carried her message of self-acceptance and triumph over adversity to the public.

Schaefer has authored several books, including Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too, and contributed to anthologies like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She is a sought-after speaker on addiction and food disorders, relationships, depression, and career. She has appeared on Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, The Today Show and Entertainment Tonight, as well as in print coverage from Cosmopolitan and The New York Times. She is a blogger for The Huffington Post, and her work has appeared in Publisher’s Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, Glamour, Shape, The Washington Times, Woman’s World, Seventeen, and more.

“Jenni is a multi-faceted individual and has a real passion for helping people overcome adversity and flourish in life,” said Sean Walsh, CEO of Meadows Behavioral Healthcare. “Her personal experience and knowledge of eating disorders and trauma, along with her high-energy message of the power of self-acceptance in overcoming self-sabotage, is a great lesson that will benefit the patients we help every day at The Meadows Ranch.”

Schaefer is Chair of the Ambassadors Council of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and recipient of their Westin Family Award for Excellence in Advocacy and Activism. She is a member of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and of the Academy of Eating Disorders.

“After battling the debilitating effects of both an eating disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, I now know that a deep healing is possible. I am incredibly grateful that my role as Senior Fellow will give me the chance to share this hope with others: recovery happens, and life can unfold in the most incredible, unimaginable ways,” Schaefer said. “Joining the team at The Meadows Ranch, alongside many of my heroes in the mental health field, is such a full circle—and surreal—story for me. Years ago, another Senior Fellow’s book, Dr. Peter Levine’s Waking the Tiger, provided me with the clarity and inspiration that I needed to face my own trauma. I am deeply honored to work with a program and team that I have admired ever since I began my work as an advocate.”

About Meadows Behavioral Healthcare

Meadows Behavioral Healthcare is the industry leader in providing treatment for people struggling with addiction, eating disorders, trauma, and related mental health conditions through its advanced integrated trauma resolution approach. The company’s programs — The Meadows, Claudia Black Young Adult Center, Gentle Path at The Meadows, Willow House at The Meadows, The Meadows Ranch, The Meadows Outpatient Center, and a variety of intensive workshops offered at Rio Retreat Center — are the premier choice for patients, families, and behavioral health professionals.

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