Deciding to work with a dietitian is not always an easy decision. For some of us, nutrition therapy is a relief because it helps us learn how to eat and feel less anxious around food. For others, we’ve had many negative experiences with eating and the idea of exposing ourselves feels too vulnerable.
However you feel about seeing a dietitian, it’s still nerve-wracking to reach out and ask for help. The purpose of today’s post is to help you understand the process of working with a dietitian and our process here with Erica Drewry.
The first session
We will spend 90 minutes together to give us plenty of time to understand your story with food, your history with your body, your current eating routines, your life and how it impacts what you eat, any medical or psychiatric conditions you may be dealing with, and most importantly, your goals for nutrition therapy. If any of these topics are uncomfortable to speak about we will not discuss them until you are ready to do so.
Once we gather a history, we try and tackle some of your biggest opportunities for change. It’s our job to help answer questions you may have and offer our recommendations to help you. We may only get through a couple of these in a first session. Our goal is for you to leave the session with some clarity, some ideas, and connections you didn’t have before you came to the session.
Follow up sessions
Following an initial session, we collaborate on how often we will meet. We decide on the program that best suits where you are now and how much support you need. We evaluate your overarching goals and decide what sustainable steps will get us to that endpoint. Maybe you want to feel more comfortable with eating out and thinking about food less. We can create a specific plan working towards that goal.
Follow up sessions are outlined by your goals but also driven by you. For example, if we planned to discuss lunch ideas but you had a difficult situation at a cookout, we can process that and problem solve for next time. These sessions are where the real work happens – challenges, victories, reflection, frustration, joy, rinse, and repeat.
Best practices
We recommend and often require our clients to with a therapist. Eating disorders are biologically based illness but they are mental illnesses with nutrition implications. Having a team of skilled professionals is best practice in treating eating disorders.
Some pointers
Nutrition therapy is a) difficult work b) very rewarding and c) improves the quality of our client’s lives. Many find they think about food less, plan meals, learn about food their body needs, improve digestive issues related to eating chaotically or not enough, and generally feel more comfortable around food and in their bodies.
If you are ready to do this work and make changes, contact us today to get started.
