How To Become An Eating Disorder Coach?
How To Become An Eating Disorder Coach?
Coaching is an influential approach to treating individuals with eating disorders. Coaches provide the solution to clients to cope with it. They have the ability to assist clients from where they are to where they want to be. Eating disorders include unhealthy eating behavior.
A person may eat a lot or eat too little in this situation. Sometimes they are worried about their body shape or weight.
People suffer from eating disorders at any age, but teenagers are at high risk. Eating Disorder Coaches help you to treat and recover from an eating disorder.
This blog post aims to spread awareness of how to become an eating disorder coach, symptoms, and treatment of eating disorders. You will also get the answer to many other questions by reading this article. These questions include the benefits of becoming an eating disorder coach, required qualifications and skills, and many more! So let's dive into our topic.
In Brief : How To Become An Eating Disorder Coach?
- Find Your Specialty - Choose a specialization field within eating disorders to focus on and help individuals in need.
- Use Your Personal Journey And Experience - Leverage personal experiences and recovery from eating disorders, even without healthcare qualifications, to assist others going through similar struggles.
- Certification - While not mandatory, pursuing certifications and courses can enhance knowledge about eating disorders and their treatment for aspiring coaches.
What Are The Benefits Of Becoming An Eating Disorder Coach?
- Eating Disorder Coaches Provide Support And Guidance To Those Suffering From Eating Disorders - Eating disorder coaches effectively understand and address individuals' eating problems, offering crucial support, guidance, and kindness to make mealtimes stress-free, aiding clients during challenging moments.
- They Can Help You Develop A Healthy Relationship With Food And Your Body - Coaches empower individuals to cultivate a healthy mental and physical state by providing guidance on proper nutrition, fostering meaningful relationships with food, and promoting overall well-being.
- Coaches Can Also Helps You Set Goals And Work Through Any Challenge You Face - Eating disorder coaches inspire and assist individuals in setting and achieving realistic goals, playing a pivotal role in restoring healthy body weight, enhancing positivity, and reducing negative behaviors associated with eating disorders.
What Skills Are Required To Be Successful As An Eating Disorder Coach?
- Mental Health - Proper nutrition is essential for maintaining a healthy, stress-free mental state, and addressing chemical dependencies through meals contributes to overall well-being.
- Treatment Plans - Specialists create comprehensive treatment plans that include crucial patient information, treatment requirements, costs, precautions, and potential side effects, ensuring a holistic approach to healthcare.
- Community Organizations - Non-profit organizations dedicated to helping individuals with eating disorders establish vital connections with police, hospitals, and various institutions, fostering a supportive community for those affected.
- Community Resources - Essential services provided by community resources, such as housing and population assistance, contribute to the daily struggles of individuals with eating disorders, creating a supportive social network for effective treatment.
- Group Therapy - Group psychotherapy offers mutual support and encouragement for individuals with eating disorders, facilitating healing through shared experiences and cooperative treatment.
What Are The Certifications To Become An Eating Disorder Coach?
- Precision Nutrition Level 1 - A four-and-a-half-month program providing essential knowledge on nutrition's impact, enabling individuals to make healthy food choices, and culminating in a PN Coach Level 1 certificate.
- Institute For Integrative Nutrition - Offering foundational health coaching skills, this course covers nutrition science, coaching methods, and various topics through tutorials and lectures.
- Duke Integrative Medicine - A university-based program addressing negative thinking, requiring a bachelor's degree, and providing face-to-face and video sessions leading to certification.
- Dr. Sears Wellness Institute - Geared for non-professionals, this entry-level program emphasizes healthy habits and four cornerstones—attitude, lifestyles, exercise, and nutrition—offering online learning and a valuable coaching certificate.
What Are The Eating Disorder Coaching Methods?
- In-Person Eating Disorder Coaching - Traditional coaching adaptable to the patient's needs, offering privacy, insight into subtle cues, and the flexibility to change environments.
- Virtual Eating Disorder Coaching - Convenient online coaching with flexibility in attire and timing, affordability, and the option to access recorded sessions.
What is an Eating Disorder?
It is a behavioral disorder due to acute and continuous disturbance in eating behavior. Eating disorders are associated with unwanted thoughts and emotions that are often repetitive. It significantly harms the physical health and functioning of the body.
Different Types of Eating Disorders
Here we mention the most common list of eating disorders.
- Bulimia
- Binge-eating disorder
- Anorexia nervosa
1. Bulimia
It is an abnormal and intense desire for food. Another name for bulimia is hyperoxia, a severe eating disorder found in women. In this condition, you lose control of how much you eat.
2. Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
It is associated with eating more food until you feel uncomfortably full.
3. Anorexia nervosa
It is the condition linked when you try to eat too little food to reduce weight. It may be related to when you do too much exercising or doing both.
Besides the types mentioned above, some people may suffer from Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder (OSFED). It is also one kind of eating disorder.
Eating Disorder Symptoms
If any person has an unhealthy relationship with food, they may suffer from an eating disorder. Here we discuss the symptoms of an eating disorder:
- Worried about weight and body shape
- Eating less food
- Changes in mood swings such as anger, depression, etc
- Doing a lot of exercising
- Have a very tough schedule about eating food
Some physical symptoms also include:
- Feeling tired and cold
- Feeling pain in arms and another part of the body
- Feeling faint
- Digestion problems
- Slow breathing rate
- Muscle weakness
- The immune system doesn't function properly
- Pale yellow skin
- Low blood pressure
- Your weight does not match according to your age, height, and many more!
Warning signs of Eating Disorder:
- Considerable weight loss
- Eating a large amount of food very fast
- After eating a lot, going to the bathroom
- Eating very slowly
Eating Disorder Treatment
Recovery from an eating disorder is possible, but it takes time. Do remember that the recovery process is different for everyone. If you are going to an eating disorder specialist, they are responsible for your treatment or care. It severely affects the mind and body, so appropriate treatment is compulsory.
- Different eating disorders have different treatments, but the most common and best treatment of eating disorders is talking therapy. Keep a record of your regular health check if an eating disorder disturbs your physical health. In case of bulimia or binge-eating disorder may be treated with group therapy. Some names of therapy that can assist in coping with eating disorder problems are mentioned below.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Family-Based treatment
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This therapy usually involves 20 sessions across 20 weeks. During this period, you talk to therapists who help you explore emotions and thoughts. They also ask about your feelings about body shape and weight. They planned a regular healthy diet for you and motivated you to stick to it.
2. Dialectical Behavior Therapy
It is one type of CBT. This therapy aims to change negative thoughts and bring positivity to life. The main formula of this therapy is acceptance and change. DBT is divided into four main parts.
- Individual therapy
- If there is any crisis between sessions, then phone coaching
- Group skills training
- Healthcare providers consult about patient's recovery and care
3. Family-based Treatment
Another name of FBT is the Maudsley method that is used to treat eating disorders. The trained professionals do this treatment. Family-based treatment is the first-line approach to recover young adults and children suffering from eating disorders. It involves three phases.
- Full parental control
- A slow return of control to the adolescent
- Set up healthy independence
What is Eating Disorder Coaching
Eating disorder coaching is a secret weapon that assists you in recovery. It helps you to overcome mental illness. Coaches serve various services for you so that you get better as soon as possible. It is growing very fast due to the different skills of coaches to assist people through the different sessions. These sessions may be conducted through phone, videos, or live meetings.
Focus on the Recovery process
They focus on the goals of your recovery process. During the treatment, you may talk about your past with the coach in order to be aware of what you want to change. In this way, they can quickly identify the specific goals and then help you to reach these goals by developing different strategies.
Focus on Strengths
They help you find your strengths. It is the foremost important thing you can do for your treatment. They lead you to develop the sense of likes, dislikes, and purpose of your future. So, strength is the healthiest thing for a change!
Focus on Support
Many eating disorder coaches support you when you lose all your good hopes. They assist with urges and encouragement. In a nutshell, eating coaching services provide critical support for those who suffer from these abnormal eating habits.
In conclusive words, we say that eating disorder coaching is a field in the world of psychology. They help to manage lives that are suffering from eating disorders.
