Physcological consult sessions?

I had my psych eval and was cleared, but I also proactively found myself an amazing therapist who specializes in disordered eating. I've been seeing her for just over 6 months, and I plan to continue seeing her. Very few people become morbidly obese unless there is disordered/emotional eating going on. This is my last and final chance. I'm not going to fail. And I believe that therapy will be a huge part of my success.

How did you find your therapist? I'm having a tough time finding one who takes my insurance, at least partially specializes in food issues, is in my area and is taking new patients. The person who did my clearance seemed good--but he's an hour away (and I actually would prefer a female therapist). I live in a major city, so it's a bit frustrating.

I have been doing some mind work on my own. I don't let any emotion or feeling about and around food pass by without examining it and writing down an observation. I've definitely uncovered patterns. But ultimately, I think I will only get so far without a professional, outside perspective.

My insurance has a "find a provider" link, and I went through the therapists in my area, then looked them up to find one specializing in eating disorders. The website said that she's not taking new patients but I gave it a shot anyway and called and left a voicemail. I am so grateful she took me on, and that we meshed right away. I was fully prepared to "therapist shop" until I found the right one!

So my advice would be, even if they say they aren't taking new patients, still reach out to them! All they can say is no.

Thanks! You're right..all they can say is "no". I appreciate it.

If you're having a hard time finding someone local, check if your insurance covers telemedicine. There are several services that offer therapy by phone or email, such as Talkspace, and some insurance will cover it.

Thank you! That's a genius idea--I've been hearing lots of ads for Talkspace on my podcasts, but somehow didn't stop to think if I could get my insurance to cover. Therapy is a new world to me. This is really helpful.

My initial 'sign off' was a joke. It was a form-based verbal questionnaire that I'm pretty sure any average person could have fudged one way or the other. The questions were obviously designed to ask about your support systems, if you had reasonable expectations of the surgery, etc.

The thing that was ridiculous to me was at the end of the session where she seemed to scratch her head and told me she was going to have to diagnosis me as "Eating Disorder Otherwise Not Defined" because she didn't feel like "Binge Eating Disorder" was a proper diagnosis and I "needed a diagnosis" to be approved for surgery.

I've since then found another therapist that's a good fit for me and I really look forward to our weekly sessions. I do find that the pairing for the initial consult oftentimes seems to be a poor match.

It really sounds like the doctor left it up to you. Many of us have emotional eating issues; I didn't have the evaluation because I was self-pay, but I worked in mental health until retirement. And I've got a counselor, although don't go more than about once a year these days. I do find journaling since my sleeve helps me when I feel discouraged, or maybe think I'm "hungry" when its about feeling annoyed, frustrated, etc.

If you have a support group affiliated with your bariatric office, maybe that's a way you could go if you feel like it would help. Also, www.gastricsleeve.com has been a great deal of help and support for me with questions, concerns, frustrations. It's set up a bit differently than this board.

Beset of luck to you! You'll make a good decision either way! And the sleeve is an awesome tool

I met with a psychiatrist (rather than a psychologist) who, together with the surgeon, endocrinologist, and dietician, is part of my team. He asked me about my motivation for the surgery, how I felt about my body, and so forth. He also wanted to know how I planned to handle it when I started losing weight and people asked how I was doing it. II didn't get the impression that there were "right" or "wrong" answers to most of the questions; it was more that he wanted to make sure that I understood my own motivation and had thought about (or would think about) how to handle various situations. I found him very intelligent, and he asked some insightful questions. I had given a lot of thought to my decision, so I didn't have any difficulty answering his questions. The whole process made me feel even more confident that I was making the right decision, so I felt it was time well spent. Also, if there were some emotional issue that might sabotage my surgery, I would certainly want to know about it, and I'm sure he would have spotted it.

He said he wanted to see me once or twice after surgery. That seems reasonable to me. Although things are going great so far, anything that makes a big change to your life is bound to have some repercussions. A "mental check-up" might come in handy in a few months.

You might find it helpful to work with someone to put together a plan for how you will deal with emotional triggers when your eating is restricted. It could be that psychologist, or another of your own choosing.