“One is free ..when self-esteem is based on the authenticity of one’s own feelings and not on the possession of certain qualities.”
-Alice Miller
On any given day, we’re bombarded with cultural messages idealizing certain body types. No wonder we feel pain just for having the bodies we do. Most of us know that being physically attractive shouldn’t be the abiding basis for happiness or well-being. Yet, everywhere we turn, our culture is insisting otherwise. Physical beauty is so often conflated with some sort of superiority, happiness, or power. Isn’t there a different way of feeling good about ourselves?
Psychotherapy is a profound tool for gaining insight into our feelings of inadequacy so that we no longer link our self-worth to our body image.
What is Emotional Eating?
We all have our own individual relationship to food, but most of us haven’t defined what that relationship is. “Emotional eating,” or when we eat, not for nutrition, but to relieve us from stress, loneliness, or pain, is another issue that can be dealt with in psychotherapy.
It’s normal to encounter a barrage of demands during the course of a single day: work, relationship responsibilities, bills to pay. Sometimes we use food to cope with these stressors. Food may feel like your only reward. Or food may be a quick escape from uncomfortable feelings. Whatever the source of your emotional eating, therapy can help. I help you to identify the triggers for your emotional eating. I listen with an open mind as we explore what food means to you. Then we work together to develop the mental tools you need to respond in a new way, without using food. Ultimately, there are many alternatives to emotional eating. I will add to your repertoire of coping skills and together, we’ll collaborate on creating a solution.
Therapy for Emotional Eating Menlo Park
Gina Hayashi, Ph.D. provides psychotherapy for individuals in Menlo Park, California. Areas of specialty include: anxiety & stress management, romantic relationships, grief/ loss/ and life transition, overachievement, and body image & emotional eating.