Treating Eating Disorders with IFS

More often than not, people see eating disorders as their symptoms:

• People with anorexia restrict their food intact and are fearful of gaining weight.

• People with bulimia purge after meals.

• People with binge eating feel a loss of control with food.

Then, judgments are attached to these symptoms:

• People with anorexia care too much about their weight and appearance.

• People with bulimia need to just distract themselves after meals.

• People with binge eating need to gain some self-control. 

In Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, we look beyond the pathological diagnoses, including the requirements of symptoms to meet these diagnoses, and see the eating disorder as a ‘part’ of our identity. 

Throughout our lives, when we experience stressful or traumatic events, we might develop a ‘part’ in our identity to help us cope.

These ‘parts’ can look like:

• Distraction - Focusing on food and body is a means of distracting from the stress or trauma in one’s life.

• Planning - Focusing on what a person is going to eat, and when, can give a person a sense of control and predictability in their life.

• Perfectionism - Focusing on ‘perfect’ eating, exercise, and body size can feel like a way to protect oneself from rejection, shame, or disappointment.

Our ‘parts’ have only good intentions. They believe they are helping us survive, even if the stress or traumas in one’s life are no longer present. 

The first step in a ‘part’ knowing they can relax and trust they can give you some space in your life includes creating a relationship with this ‘part’. This can be started through offering your ‘part’:

• Compassion - You might feel tenderness for your younger self for developing this ‘part’ to help you feel safe.

• Curiosity - Wanting to have a genuine understanding for why that ‘part’ was created, and why it is still working so hard, can be a way for the ‘part’ to feel validated and seen.

• Clarity - Looking at the ‘part’ with acceptance and non-judgment, which can help you see things from a larger perspective, and help you see connections between other ‘parts’ you may hold. 

Woof, I know that is a lot of information. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend checking out Richard Schwartz’s book, No Bad Parts!