If you or a loved one are struggling with an eating disorder it’s important to have support in recovery. This might look like meeting with different specialists such as doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, and a dietitian that specializes in eating disorders. Each member of the team serves a different role that will help on the road to recovery. Keep reading to learn what meal support is and 3 examples of meal support.
What is Meal Support?
So what is meal support? Essentially, it’s a wide variety of tools and strategies that people can use during meals. For many people with eating disorders mealtimes are a source of great anxiety. Whether it’s related to specific foods or eating in general, these anxieties can cause people to develop negative coping behaviors or simply avoid eating. However, these behaviors are contradictory to one of the main goals of eating disorder recovery, which is to eat regular meals with a broad range of foods. This is where meal support comes in.
The different types of meal support can vary greatly in terms of difficulty and time commitment. But these different types of support can be used to meet people where they are in their recovery journey, and based on what level of support they need. Below are a few different examples of meal support and what they might look like.
3 Examples of Meal Support
1. Learning coping techniques
This can be used if a client is struggling with intake and needs support to get through a meal. The dietitian can offer therapeutic remedies, such as deep breathing, to support the client if they feel anxious or having eating disorder thoughts come up during the meal. These techniques can be employed in an individual or group setting.
2. Incorporating fear foods
If you or a loved one have specific “fear foods” that you struggle to incorporate it can be helpful to try them in session with your dietitian. Oftentimes your dietitian will bring the same food to the session, and then you can spend time processing the experience in a safe space after you try the food.
3. Meal Outing Experience
Oftentimes clients struggling with an eating disorder have a fear of eating in front of others or eating in public spaces. With the help of your dietitian, you can choose a restaurant you would like to go to and you can meet there for an exposure. This can also be helpful if you find yourself staring at the menu for a long period of time or feeling distressed about what to order. Your dietitian will be there to support you!
Final Thoughts on Getting Meal Support
Thank you for reading this resource on “What is Meal Support.” Meal support is utilized to incorporate flexibility and to ensure clients are meeting adequate needs. Again, this can look different for each client based on where they are at in recovery. At Courage to Nourish, it is important to us to meet each client where they are at. The goal of meal support is to provide tools to help clients regulate through the exposure, so that they can transfer these tools outside of sessions as well. Dietitians can also provide education as eating disorder thoughts or judgments come up during an exposure.
Contact US
Courage to Nourish is a group of eating disorder specialized dietitians. We have in person locations in Alexandria, Virginia, Columbia, Maryland. and College Park, Maryland. We offer virtual services across the state of Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. We offer individual nutrition therapy. As well as support groups. We would love to guide you in building a better relationship with food.
Contact us for more information. And to schedule a discovery call. Also, sign up for our client or clinician newsletter!
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Leslie is a weight-inclusive, anti-diet eating disorder dietitian who specializes in working with adolescents, families, and college students who struggle with all eating disorder diagnoses. Additionally, she enjoys working with those who are curious about intuitive eating and looking to have an
overall better relationship with food. Learn more about Leslie here.
