Los Angeles

How Black Swans Feed Their Young

How Black Swans Feed Their Young

By Susan B. Krevoy, Ph.D. How many of us have an unhealthy split between our light side and our dark side? The movie “Black Swan” brilliantly depicts the difficulty in integrating the different parts of ourselves. Don’t we all have a “white swan” in us? It’s our “good” positive feelings of hope, love, kindness, humility, generosity, and compassion. And don’t we all have a “black swan” inside of us as well? These are our “bad” negative feelings of anger, envy, greed, arrogance, false pride, resentment, and self-pity. The struggle we face is how…Read more
Learning to Communicate

Learning to Communicate

Paulson V Veliyannoor, MS Pre-Doctoral Intern/ Clinical Staff Susan B Krevoy Eating Disorder Program Khalil Gibran famously wrote in The Prophet: “In speech, truth is half-murdered.” Well, there is much truth in this statement. Yet the inability to speak may leave the truth fully murdered with its remains leaking through the pores of one’s being. An Eating Disorder is one such leakage which results from, among other things, the difficulty to verbalize one’s needs and feelings. In other words, eating disorder is one form of maladaptive communication. Learning to communicate, then, is one of…Read more
A Cultural Perspective on Gender and Eating Disorders in Group Therapy By: Stephen L Salter, Psy.D

A Cultural Perspective on Gender and Eating Disorders in Group Therapy By: Stephen L Salter, Psy.D

When I began running groups at the SBK Eating Disorders Program, I wasn’t surprised to find I’d be working primarily with women.  I was aware that the epidemic hit women three times harder than men, but I wasn’t sure why.  I knew larger social forces were at play.  After all, The United States fosters more eating disorders than any country in the world.  Many point to the flooding of media images—unrealistic, unhealthy, and grossly underweight ideals of what it mean to be beautiful.  Is it possible to avoid these external influences? Why not…Read more
Non-Hunger Eating and Change

Non-Hunger Eating and Change

Eve Lahijani,, RD Nutritionist for the Susan B. Krevoy Eating Disorder Program Every few months I buy a pot of orchids from Trader Joe’s to decorate my home/office.  However, on this trip to the market, I could not find the exact shade or orchids I usually select.  In turn, I chose a slightly pinker shade of purple. When I brought my orchids home I tuned into my irritation at the fact that the potted flowers did not match the decor on my table – and tuned into my frustration thatthings will not be…Read more

Acknowledging Needs

Mitzen Black, M.A. Psychology Intern Wright Institute Los Angeles Fuller Graduate School of Psychology As a new staff member at the Susan B. Krevoy Eating Disorders Program, I have noticed how much our patients struggle with acknowledging and expressing their own legitimate needs, both to themselves and to others. In this society that encourages self-sufficiency, it can be very distressing when someone realizes needs that require outside help. Working with this program has confirmed to me the importance of learning about healthy dependency in relationships. One person asking for his or her needs…Read more
Growth Through Writing

Growth Through Writing

By :Sandeep Atwal This group allows clients to explore their dynamics, issues, and struggles in a creative and nonthreatening manner. The group opens with the clients receiving prompts by the therapist (prompts usually consist of words, sentence stems, or concepts), the clients write their associations to the prompts, and then they share their writings with the rest of the group. This exercise facilitates access to autobiographical episodic memories. In other words, the writings enable the clients to recall and describe experiences and events from their past and present. This exercise also helps clients…Read more
Nutrition Therapy

Nutrition Therapy

By Eve Lahijani, MS, RD Dietician for Krevoy Eating Disorders Program Nutritional status can be impaired for those suffering from an eating disorder. Erratic meal patterns, restriction, inadequate nutritional intake, recurrent binges, vomiting, etc. wreak havoc on one’s metabolism. In addition, these practices can stress the physiologic system, take a toll on one’s psychological well-being and profoundly compromise one’s relationship to food. The goal of nutrition therapy is to re-establish a regular meal pattern, improve nutritional intake, expand food choices, dispel nutritional myths and finally relearn how to use the body’s signal to…Read more
Mindfulness on a Toothpick

Mindfulness on a Toothpick

By Eve Lahijani, R.D. According to a survey by the Promotion Marketing Association, being able to sample food is the most influential factor when customers decide to buy a new product. Furthermore, seven out of 10 shoppers report that they would occasionally or usually buy a product they sampled. Here’s how it works: People want to try something new yet they fear the unknown. A free sample is a safe, low risk way to do that. When they have a taste, they really pay attention to what they like and dislike about what…Read more
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorder Treatment

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorder Treatment

By Philip Pierce, Ph.D. Private Practice, Former CBT Group Leader of Susan B. Krevoy Eating Disorder Program An important aspect of treating binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The CBT approach focuses on changing negative thought patterns and teaching problem-solving techniques so our patients can more effectively deal with negative mood states which so often trigger eating problems. Homework is assigned to both reinforce and expand the work done in session. These assignments include outside reading, thought record diaries and self-monitoring tools. Long standing negative patterns and cognitive distortions…Read more
How can group therapy help with my eating disorder?

How can group therapy help with my eating disorder?

By Vanessa Pawlowski Group leader of Susan B. Krevoy Eating Disorders Program Group therapy creates a different experience from individual therapy, as the group itself attains responsibility for the treatment. Members learn to depend on one another to show up for meetings consistently, and to participate actively and honestly. In groups facing the challenges of eating disorders, members begin to discuss how to overcome their very individual struggles with food, together. What changes do they wish to see? Where do they wish to go, and how do they talk about getting there? Group…Read more