Who here has been to counseling for eating issues?

Christa's thread below makes me wonder...anyone had counseling for binging and what do you say now about it? I went to OA, never an official counsleor.  OA is more like group counsel, but very structured and at no cost.  You can give donations in some groups.   I went up to 4x a week when i was first battling my binge/purge disorder. I felt i was in crisis mode and took it very seriously. Well, how about y'all????

I've never been to see a counselor, but if it helps, go for it is my motto.  I did go to OA for a while, but it  really didn't help me lose weight.  I didn't particularly care for a few of the people there so I quit going.  I didn't like the way it was SO STRUCTURED.  I didn't feel like I could relax like I do on this board.  There was some bickering there between some of the people which was a turnoff.  Brenda

That's one of my criticsms of OA, folks are at the mercy of the skill levels and personalities of the people who come.  However, one of the steps is:  principles above personalities...which means it is up to each person to look beyond the idiot yapping on and on about not much and study the steps for his/herself.  THAT is the group leader responsibility to limit soliliquiys (sic)

In 1988, I went to a "Fat People's Group" headed by a man who had lost a lot of weight.. He was pretty weird.  Used some kind of rocks to tell us about each other. He also said that by what I was saying, he'd bet that I'd been sexually molested as a child.  (NOT that I remember).   He was not a professional and had no right to what he was saying or even having this class for that matter, but we didn't know. He is now VERY obese.....gained all his weight back!  So be careful of who and what you go to.   I learned my lesson! Bren

I went to a few counselors (licensed psychologist, therapist, etc).  They did not specialize in eating disorders but a lot of them will tell you that the eating issues come from the same place.  I was never really in danger of dying from the problem so I felt like dealing with my universal problems was a better plan of attack for me.  When I started to get help the first couple of times there weren't a lot of people who specialized in that anyway unless the disorder was anorexia and I am a binger.  I would binge and starve over and over again.  The medical community has difficulty seeing binging as an eating disorder and it is really tough to get treated under that-well, it was difficult when I was going through therapy.  They all thought I needed to stop stuffing my face which wasn't really supportive and why I ended up with traditional therapy. The last time I went I think I was in a really different place with my life.  I wanted to figure out where this stuff was coming from and really work on it.  So I did.  The other times I felt better and quit rather than working through.  I think I could still benefit from it but it can be an expense.  At the time my insurance covered a certain amount of visits per year and I used about 75% of them.  The therapist I went to was comfortable with my progress when I was ready to move on.   This was in 2004-2005.  I think that treatment is actually what's helping me now.  The reason I gained the weight this last time was b/c of the wedding, getting married, losing our jobs and our house and now living with my folks that did it.  I didn't use the right coping mechanisms to deal with the stress and had to start again. In the end I think it really helped me.  A lot of people roll their eyes at therapy but it does work for some people.  If I had not gone and followed through with it I know I would be in a very different place right now. This is a really great thread b/c so many people are tackling the same issues with eating patterns. Beth

Never been for eating issues specifically, but was quite a nutty kid, so I've tossed many a Blue Cross buck their way.

Therapy, in combination with anti-depressants saved my life a few years back.

It had nothing to do with weight though.

I have been to my former PCP, as well as a NP specializing in nutritional counseling, RD, endocrinologist, and psychologist for my compulsive eating--all in the 20th century.  None of them addressed my eating disorder to resolution at all.