A Registered Dietitian is an important part of the multidisciplinary healthcare team that should be involved in eating disorder recovery. An eating disorder is a mental health diagnosis and therefore requires the involvement of healthcare professionals from various disciplines, including a General Physician (GP), a therapist (a psychologist, psychotherapist or social worker) and a dietitian.
What is a Dietitian?
Dietitians are regulated health professionals who have gone through years of school and training. They are qualified to provide evidence-based recommendations to help clients meet their nutritional needs. Dietitians who specialize in eating disorders have undergone further specialized training related to eating disorders to qualify them to work with this demographic.
Dietitians at Change Creates Change
The dietitian nutritionists at Change Creates Change are here to support clients throughout the eating disorder recovery process. It is important to have trust and rapport between the dietitian and the client because clients may work with a dietitian for a long period of time. This means that our dietitians will spend time getting to know our clients so they feel comfortable discussing their food behaviours, and their thoughts and emotions about/around eating. This builds a foundation for the dietitian-client relationship that allows the client to feel comfortable disclosing personal information without fear of judgment.
Those struggling with eating disorders tend to have misconceptions about nutrition and what foods they should be eating. Our dietitians understand the vital role food plays in the body and why it is essential for health. They have studied the effects of food in the body and why many nutrients are needed each and every day.
At Change Creates Change there is no pressure for our clients to set goals right away. It may take time for the client to feel that they are ready to begin changing their eating behaviours and that is completely okay. Our dietitians are here to support our clients throughout their recovery journey even if the client is not yet ready to change.
It may take time for the client to feel that they are ready to begin changing their eating behaviours and that is completely okay.
What to Expect in Dietitian Appointments
Over the first one or two sessions, our dietitians will conduct an in-depth nutritional assessment with the client to determine their usual eating patterns, food intake, feelings and fears surrounding food, supplement use and goals the client wishes to achieve if they are ready to set goals. Our dietitians will not only explore the factors which influence what the client eats but also where, how and whether the client eats as well. This aspect of the dietitian-client relationship can be emotionally draining as the questions may stir up some strong thoughts and feelings.
We encourage clients to take fresh-air breaks during sessions when needed and to be gentle with themselves following appointments. Oftentimes, our clients report experiencing a “vulnerability hangover” and we ask that our clients use self-soothing skills and reach out to their support system while they process their experience. During sessions, clients can work with the care team to build a list of self-soothing skills that work for them.
Normalizing Eating Behaviours
One of the main roles of a dietitian in eating disorder recovery is helping the client normalize their eating behaviours. Since an eating disorder is a mental health diagnosis, those suffering from an eating disorder will most often have a distorted view of food, exercise and/or their body. Our dietitians help clients to work through these distortions and overcome their fear surrounding food.
Normalizing eating behaviours is also important for recovery because the brain must be adequately nourished to function properly. This is necessary to do the hard work that is required in their therapy sessions. One of the ways this may be achieved is through the development of a mechanical eating plan.
What is a Mechanical Eating Plan?
A mechanical eating plan will help the clients’ bodies get used to eating regularly again and help them relearn hunger and fullness cues which may be diminished by their eating disorder. Eventually, the client will ease off of the eating plan as they relearn these cues and get more comfortable and skilled in eating normally. Eating normally may also be referred to as intuitive eating. This eating plan will be individualized to include a recommended number of meals and snacks per day. It will also have examples of food categories that should be included at each meal time to best meet the client’s nutritional needs. This will help to reduce the negative physical symptoms of refeeding they experience.
Our dietitians can also help the client view food in a more positive way. For example, a client may believe that eating foods containing fat will make them gain weight. Our dietitians can explore this food belief in detail with the client. Our dietitians could also provide education around why fat is essential for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, production of hormones, and maintenance of the reproductive system, among many other functions.
Additionally, our nutritionist dietitians will assess the client’s current food skills. This includes their efficacy in meal planning, grocery shopping, food preparation, and general knowledge of food. In addition to improving the client’s knowledge of food, there may also be the option to work on further developing skills like meal planning and grocery shopping.
Learn More About How Our Dietitians Can Help
The dietitians at Change Creates Change are here to help clients and their families navigate eating disorder recovery. Our dietitians play an important role in helping to normalize eating behaviours and repair clients’ relationships with food. Book a free, 15-minute consultation call with us to learn more about how we can help.
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