Meet our Eating Disorder Experts at the iaedp Symposium

The practice of treating eating disorders has become more complicated in the last few years. Recent research has shown that a variety of factors can influence an individual’s development of an eating disorder. 

 

We now know that there is a strong genetic component to eating disorders that makes individuals more vulnerable to the disease based on different temperaments and brain functions. We also know that there are many neurobiological factors that greatly influence the development of eating disorder behaviors and traits.

Co-occurring conditions such as trauma, mood disorders, substance misuse, and personality disorders are often present in many eating disorder patients. This complicates diagnosis, treatment, and treatment outcomes.

Eating disorder treatment teams are continually faced with the challenge of working with a more acute patient population, making a basic understanding of the diagnostics and functions of all types of eating disorders vital for the best possible treatment outcomes.

The annual International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) Symposium, which kicks off this week (March 23 – 26) in Las Vegas, Nevada, gathers health experts from many different disciplines together to share the latest knowledge and research on eating disorder and treatment. Medical and behavioral health professionals discuss ways to broaden their understanding and get ideas for integrating new knowledge into better treatment experiences for eating disorder patients.

We consider it a tremendous honor and privilege to have two of our eating disorder experts from Remuda Ranch serve as presenters at the symposium and as leaders of the iaedp organization.

As an organization, iaedp develops educational opportunities and helps to establish a high level of competency for eating disorder professionals. It is the only organization that serves as the standard bearer for eating disorder professional certification.

The work of iaedp’s leaders and chapter members across the country helps to ensure that those struggling with eating disorders can receive the highest level of care and that therapists, dieticians, doctors, and nurses are trained to recognize the signs of eating disorders and help guide their patients to right treatment programs.

Our Remuda Ranch and iaedp Leaders

Buck Runyan, MS, LMFT, LPC, CEDS
James “Buck” Runyan has a long history with iaedp. He started the first iaedp chapter in Orange County, California in 2004 and went on to establish several more chapters from there. He has also served as President of iaedp and as a member of their board of directors. He currently sits on the iaedp advisory board.

For this year’s symposium, Buck rewrote spearheaded the redevelopment of the core certification courses offered to those who want to begin the process of becoming a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS.)
He will be co-presenting the first certification workshop, Pre-certification Core Course 1 – Overview of Eating Disorders alongside Dr. Craig Johnson on Wednesday, March 22.

This workshop is designed as an introductory course in eating disorders. Participants will learn how to identify and diagnose eating disorders, gain an understanding of social and culture features of populations affected by eating disorders, and understand how neurobiological influences may factor into an individual’s likelihood of developing eating disorders.

Buck says that he’s looking forward to seeing his friend and colleagues at the symposium and to integrating some of the knowledge and ideas presented there into the Remuda Ranch program:

“This meeting is the largest gathering of thought leaders in eating disorder treatment in the world. Being able to teach alongside Dr. Craig Johnson and have conversations with other influencers like Phillip Mailer, Sondra Kronberg, and many others at the top of their fields is quite an honor. We also get to access some of the best clinical eating disorder education available anywhere in just one week’s time. I’m looking forward to using what I learn to help our Remuda Ranch team members continue to rise above the highest levels of professionalism and industry standards.”

Vicki Berkus, MD, Ph.D., CEDS

Dr. Berkus is currently the medical director for Brighthearthealth.com, a telemedicine IOP, and a Senior Fellow at Remuda Ranch at The Meadows. She has also served in many capacities within the iaedp organization and currently serves on the advisory board. She is a regularly featured speaker at iaedp events and conferences.

On Thursday, March 23 she’ll take part in a roundtable discussion at the iaedp Symposium titled "An Integrative Approach to the Psychological, Medical, and Nutritional Treatment of Eating Disorders in Special Populations."
Dr. Berkus will be stationed at Table 8, where participants will get a chance to talk with her about the physiology of eating disorders and integrative treatment.
The roundtable discussions aim to help reinforce the fact that, more than any other disorder, the treatment of eating disorders requires a multidisciplinary approach. Medical providers, psychotherapists, dieticians, nutritionists, body workers, practitioners of eastern medicines, coaches and trainers, sufferers, family members and more will benefit from will benefit from understanding the varied approaches of their multidisciplinary team members. At the same time, the eating disorder patient is a multifaceted, biopsychosocially developed human being with key aspects that are essential for providers to understand.

Visit us at Booth 51

Stop by our booth to learn more about treatment options available at Remuda Ranch at The Meadows and our exciting, newly enhanced programming for adolescent girls - Sunflower at The Meadows. Or, contact us today to learn why Remuda Ranch at The Meadows is the treatment choice for adolescent girls and women with eating disorders and co-occurring conditions. 866-331-5926.

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Recovering from My Eating Disorder Through Faith

By Kelly Biese, 2007 Remuda Ranch Alumna
I will never forget October 11, 2007, as I stood in front of the security gates at the Dayton airport. I was so angry with God. Part of me wanted to turn and run back, afraid that I'd never return to see my friends, and another part of me still believed I didn't have a problem and would be sent back home when I got to Remuda Ranch. I was just so tired of fighting and tired of being tired.

Remuda Ranch proved to be just the right place for me, and by the second day God began to change my heart and fill me with hope as I put my trust in HIM. There were challenges while I was there, but the caring staff and especially the music and messages I experienced in Chapel continued to fill me with strength and hope. 

 

When I returned home on Nov. 25th, 2007, I felt great and believed everything was going to be okay. However, even though I was using the skills I learned at Remuda Ranch and following my treatment plan, I took my focus off of God and started looking to those around me to provide my strength and hope. I made them my foundation, and I began to sink again.

Fortunately, I had a strong support person that asked me one evening if I had ever asked God to be healed. After thinking for a moment, I realized that I had prayed for years but had never asked God to heal me. That night, I wrote the following in my journal:

"Lord, it is time. I want to be healed. I want to be well enough to let your light shine through me and touch others. Please Lord, send the Holy Spirit to fill me. Empower me to rise above this. If there is something deep inside me holding me back from fully accepting recovery, from embracing the new life you have for me, from letting go of the past, please open my eyes to it and help me to move beyond it. Help me to move beyond this, Lord. You said ask and ye shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened. I've been afraid to ask because I didn't feel I deserved it. It is your will, Lord, but I don't believe your will is for me to continue suffering with no gain. Lift this burden, Lord. I'm willing to take the steps I need, but I need your help to guide me, Lord. I'm willing to take the step, but I need your guidance. I trust you. Open my eyes. Open my ears. Open my mind. Open my heart—to you, Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow strong and serve You." - April 28, 2008

The next morning I awoke with a sense of peace I can never describe, and I have not been the same since. I have continued on my path of recovery and each year gets a little easier. I may not love every part of my body, but I can finally say I like my body, for the first time in my life. I can enjoy food - ALL food - when and where I want, without guilt. The scale has no place in my life, because I refuse to let three digits consume my mind and define my life.

In August, I returned to graduate school to pursue my Masters in Social Work degree, and I hope to specialize in trauma and substance abuse. I will forever by grateful to Remuda Ranch for bringing me back to life and giving me hope for healing.

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I am Loved and I am Loveable

By Lila Levitt
It was the year 2007 and my eating disorder had taken over my life. I needed help.

I had been attending EDA meetings for a few months and while the support of a group was nice, it just wasn't cutting it. I knew I desperately wanted to stop the shame cycle of binging and purging. I felt alone, hopeless and wanted to die. I had a spiritually irresponsible person in my life who told me over and over that “I wasn't praying hard enough. If I really wanted Jesus to heal me, he would heal me instantly. I just needed to have faith in his healing powers.” As a teen, my eating disorder started out as a way of controlling my weight, but it soon crossed over into the area of an unhealthy coping mechanism. Food became my go-to drug for dealing with all of my problems. With the purge, I confirmed the worst things I had ever thought of myself—I was in fact disgusting and unlovable.

My mom started looking online for a faith-based recovery program and I agreed to travel from Phoenix to Wickenburg to take a tour of the Remuda Ranch facility.

After seeing the grounds of the adult campus, we sat down at the table and I was told how much a 45-day stay at the ranch would cost. The figure seemed astronomical to a single, 27 year old, self employed hair stylist.
All my hopes of recovery went out the window. I guess this is just how I was going to be for the rest of my life. Then I was told they offered a scholarship program and I might be able to qualify. There was a glimmer of hope for me yet. A few days later, Remuda Ranch called and told me what my final calculated number would be.

As it turned out during that same time frame, my parents got a notice they could refinance their home and could take out the exact amount for my stay, plus a bit extra for any financial obligations I would need help with during my stay.
When I checked in on December 26th, 2007, I remember being all over the board emotionally.

Maybe I didn't really need to be here? Maybe I wasn't as bad as I made out to be?

But the one who knew my heart and saw me when no one was around knew better. He knew he got me there at the exact time in my life when I needed. And the other women he put there, were not there accidentally either. Our lives had been on a collision course and those relationships helped me get through my darkest days.

As I approach my 9 year anniversary, I reflect on my road to remain in recovery. There have definitely been slips and disappointments. But I look at those and tell myself I am loved. Those mistakes do not define me. I have come so far from the person I was before Remuda Ranch.

Now I am a wife, a mother and a stepmother. I wake up feeling like I have a responsibility, to live in recovery, for my family.

Recovery is a choice that I have to choose every day. I can finally say and also believe, I am loved and I am lovable. I am so very blessed to be alive. The heavy darkness I used to live in is a thing of the past.

What’s Your Story?

We want to give you a chance to share your story of learning to celebrate the beauty of your own unique body and soul. Was there a major turning point in your eating disorder recovery where you finally accepted and appreciated your body? At what point did it happen, and what led you there? In what ways did it change your life?
Send a 500- 1000 word essay to asauceda@themeadows.org. The first ten essays to be chosen for The Remuda Ranch at The Meadows blog will receive a free Remuda Ranch blanket as a special gift!
Submit your essay by Jan. 15, 2017. We look forward to reading your incredible stories!

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Mentors Helped Me Learn to Love My Body

By Sara Goniea, Remuda Alumna
Once, I wanted to vanish. My body was a vessel to be tamed, broken, tortured, ignored, and forced into submission. I conveniently forgot that without it I didn't exist; frankly, at that point, I often wished I didn't exist.

Then I met a woman named Kacey. She'd fought "ED" and won. I didn't want to change, but I wanted the confidence, boundaries, zest for life and self-acceptance she had. She listened to me and accepted me where I was rather than trying to change me. 

 

When I decided to try recovery, I remembered where she said she had gone and called Remuda Ranch. Through a miracle, I ended up at Remuda and was shown, unconditional love. It was the first time I wasn't judged for struggling, labeled non-compliant or told to "just eat.” It was also the first time I was challenged with the truth in love.

There I met Kelley, an RD, who modeled acceptance of her body, challenged me, and laid the foundation for me to navigate the inevitable pitfalls of the recovery process. I had two pivotal experiences with her. The first was shortly after admission when she met with me and asked how she could help me meet my meal plan since I was refusing pretty much everything.

I started listing off "safe foods" and other ED- related demands when she stopped me. She told me she loved me too much to compromise with my eating disorder and walked off. At first, I was hurt and angry with her but I came to trust and love her because she fought for me and not ED.
The second was when she led our cooking experiential and we made chocolate chip cookies. I asked about sampling the cookie dough and she did it with me without commenting on how it was a "bad" food or how it would impact her body. She modeled that all foods fit into balance, variety, and moderation and that none are "good or bad."

Thanks to the love, support, prayers, and challenges, when I left, I was doing well. I was in my weight range for the first time as an adult and happy.
I thought I wouldn't have to fight this battle again.

A few years passed and then I contracted a serious illness and relapsed. Because I went from healthy to critically ill in the space of a few months, my insurance denied care and nearly cost me my life. I ended up in a program that was a poor fit and caused additional mental and emotional damage. Upon discharge, I connected with Kendra, a registered dietitian new to my area. Slowly, with her help and support and the support of additional team members, I begin to heal.
For me, the hardest part has been becoming comfortable in my body. There's a place of the recovery process when physically things look stable objectively, but mentally and emotionally it's the most dangerous because, yes, physically I'm healthier but ED is still very vocal. It takes time to learn how to be ok in my own skin and not jump right back off the cliff again. Kendra has been the most instrumental and helping me accept my body. First, she taught me touch can be safe—she's a hugger. At first, it freaked me out, but over the years it's something I've come to look forward to and even ask for.

Another neat aspect of working with her has been she's a former competitive gymnast and has been able to relate to some of my struggles with clothing designers because I'm more muscular than many women as the result of doing a very physically demanding job. It's hard to find clothes that fit well off the shelf. Having someone who can normalize that struggle helped me stop trying to mold my body in ways it's not meant to be. She also models that all foods can fit, and has joined me on many an impromptu snack when I brought something I've made into a session.

Overall, though what has helped the most has been what Kendra, Kelley, and Kacey have not done: try to force me to change. The common thread with all of these amazing women is they've led, guided, and listened. I've tried at points to force them away and yet they refused to go and for that I'm grateful. It wasn't until I was shown love that I could begin to love myself. It's still my most vulnerable area, but I'm no longer abusing my body. Even on hard days, I still meet my needs and give my body the care it needs.

What’s Your Story?

We want to give you a chance to share your story of learning to celebrate the beauty of your own unique body and soul.,p> Was there a major turning point in your eating disorder recovery where you finally accepted and appreciated your body? At what point did it happen, and what led you there? In what ways did it change your life?

 

Send a 500- 1000 word essay to asauceda@themeadows.org. The first ten essays to be chosen for The Remuda Ranch at The Meadows blog will receive a free Remuda Ranch blanket as a special gift! Submit your essay by Jan. 15, 2017. We look forward to reading your incredible stories!

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Trauma Can Lead to Eating Disorders

Heather was raped when was she was a young adult. Her feelings of fear, rage, and powerlessness that followed became overwhelming and unmanageable. Initially, the stress she felt robbed her of her appetite; but, eventually, she began restricting her eating by choice. It gave her a sense of power over her body.

In recent years, it has become more and more apparent to researchers that people like Heather who struggle with eating disorders often also experienced trauma related to abuse. When someone experiences neglect, and/or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, they are frequently left feeling helpless and out of control.

Survivors of trauma may develop an eating disorder as a method of coping with those feelings of helplessness, and the severe anxiety and conflicting emotions that often come with them. They may adapt unhealthy eating behaviors because food intake is something they can control and the focus on food rituals helps them to mask their emotional pain.

Trauma is by far not the only factor in the development of eating disorders—personality and temperament, perfectionism, cultural and peer pressures, family expectations, and genetic and neurological factors can also contribute to the disorder—however, it is a very common one. In order for an individual to achieve long-term recovery from an eating disorder, they must address not only their unhealthy eating and body image issues but also their underlying emotional trauma.

How Does Trauma Trigger Eating Disorders?

There is so much that scientists and researchers still don’t know about the way our minds and bodies are connected. What we do know, thanks to researchers and clinicians like Dr. Peter Levine (who is also a Senior Fellow at The Meadows) is that trauma is held within the body. It cannot be released through intellectual processing alone.

Dr. Levine’s insights are based on the idea that the methods in which we, as humans, subconsciously react to threats aren’t all that different from the ways in which our fellow mammals in the wild react to threats. When animals are presented with a dangerous situation, their brains and bodies automatically produce a survival response of fight, flight, or freeze. Once the threat is gone, they release all of their survival energy through their bodies—often by shivering, sweating, crying, or yawning. Once they have released all of the pent-up energy, they resume their normal activities.

Human beings are missing the crucial, final “release” step in their fight, flight, and freeze responses. Once we experience a survival response, the energy can get “trapped” in our bodies, leading to the development of chronic disorders such as anxiety disorder, depression, and PTSD. It can also lead to the development of disordered coping mechanisms, which is what often happens with addiction and eating disorders.

Not only can the trapped energy from trauma trigger the eating disorder, it can also make recovery from the eating disorder very difficult. If the energy from the trauma is not addressed and released during the course of treatment, relapse is much more likely.

Those at high risk for eating disorders because of trauma include victims of sexual abuse, particularly those who suffered at a younger age; victims or observers of domestic violence; and, those who suffer from PTSD.

Treatment for Trauma and Eating Disorders

Successful treatment for eating disorders and trauma requires a multi-disciplinary, integrated approach. Talk therapies, including group and individual counseling sessions, are important, as are coping skills training and nutritional counseling However, since trauma lives in the body as much as in the mind, it’s important to also incorporate body-based therapies including Somatic Experiencing® (SE), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Yoga.

Somatic Experiencing® (SE)

Somatic experiencing is a body-awareness technique that was developed by Dr. Peter Levine. It was first introduced in his book, Waking the Tiger. With the help of a therapist, patients explore sensations in their bodies as they work to identify and regulate feelings of distress.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

In an EMDR session, a therapist uses external stimuli, like eye movements, tones or taps, to help the patient develop new insights or associations with their memories, triggers, and traumatic experiences. For example, the patient may be asked to focus on a particular memory or bodily sensation while simultaneously moving their eyes back and forth, following the therapist’s fingers as they move across the patient’s field of vision.

Yoga and Meditation

A number of mind-body therapies can aid in stress management, boost mood, and help release trauma from the body. Trauma-sensitive meditation, acupuncture, yoga, and breath work are a few examples of techniques that can be helpful in treating eating disorders and trauma as part of a larger, integrated treatment program.
If you or someone you love is struggling to maintain recovery from anorexia or bulimia, they may be experiencing underlying trauma that needs to be addressed through treatment. Remuda Ranch at The Meadows conducts a thorough assessment of all patients to help determine what, if any, trauma or co-occurring conditions might be making recovery especially difficult for them. We then develop a personalized treatment plan to help ensure progress in recovery. For more information about our programs call our intake staff at 866-329-7713 or send us an email.

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