On October 13, 2010 Lori D. Galperin, LCSW- Castlewood Treatment Center’s Clinical Co-Director was interviewed for Safe Space Radio. Lori was interviewed by Dr. Anne Hallward, a board certified psychiatrist who runs a weekly radio show called “Safe Space Radio.” In the interview,  Lori describes the many roles that eating disorders serve in the life of a young person, and the importance of not getting into power struggles to try to remove it. She highlights anorexia as an attempt to turn the body into a machine that is not subject to vulnerability and unpredictability, as a way to feel safe. This is a central philosophy at Castlewood Treatment Center for eating disorders.
Safe Space is a show about subjects that are difficult to talk about–a forum for the courageous discussion of topics that make people feel uncomfortable. It is a space for the respectful discussion of matters that touch hearts and yet feel risky to share; subjects that deserve, but rarely get, thoughtful consideration.
The topics on Safe Space often deal with the guests’ courage to accept difference in themselves, especially when they feel afraid or shamed about that difference. Shame is a painful psychological and emotional experience, but it is also a political force. All acts of courage inspire others to take risks, to express themselves, to be themselves. Such acts have political force to stand up to silencing, to create change.
Each show attempts to name and acknowledge difficult feelings, and to honor those who have found their own way of putting them into perspective. Listening to Safe Space will introduce you to many who are daring to speak about what is true for them as they find a way to turn their deepest wounds or hidden struggles into a gift for others.
To listen to Lori’s interview please go to the following link:
Lori D. Galperin on Safe Space
Over 10 million women struggle with eating disorders in United States alone. Castlewood Treatment Center for Eating Disorders is committed to the comprehensive treatment of all types of eating disorders. Castlewood supports any community effort that works to combat the development and maintenance of the eating disorder mentality.
Delta Delta Delta Sorority sponsors a week each year to promote healthy body image and combat “fat talk.” Fat talk is anything that we say about ourselves or others in pursuit of the thin ideal. This can be  as simple as asking the age old question, Do I look fat in this? or even a seemingly positive comment to a friend such as “you look so great, have you lost weight?” Each of these statements suggest that our worth and beauty is tied to our weight or body type. Fat Talk Free week invites women to stop this type of meaningless conversation and practice complimenting ourselves, our body, and our strengths.
Castlewood Treatment Center for Eating Disorders supports Fat Talk Free week 2010. We encourage each of you to stop the “fat talk” that occurs between women of all ages. Challenge yourself and your friends to NOT discuss weight loss, dieting, calories, how your thighs look, etc. Instead discuss how much you care about each other, discuss how beautiful your friends are, discuss each others strengths! Challenge yourself to have deeper more meaningful conversations and thus relationships with your girlfriends.
For more information about Fat Talk Free Week 2010 please go to:
Fat Talk Free Week
Treating Eating Disorders with Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, and Dissociation
Castlewood Treatment Center for eating disorders specializes in the treatment of all types of eating disorders as well as co-occurring Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, and Dissociative Disorders. At Castlewood, we understand that eating disorder symptoms are accompanied by an underlying problem. The symptoms are like a red flag being waved saying there is something wrong which I cannot verbalize. Sometimes the client doesn’t know exactly what the problem is, but there is an underlying problem such as Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or Social Anxiety. Some clients have unresolved trauma that has resulted in PTSD, or a Dissociative Disorder.
Castlewood’s Approach
Clients who are admitted for treatment are thoroughly evaluated for anxiety disorders, PTSD, and Dissociative Disorders and their treatment is tailored accordingly. Castlewood’s philosophy is to treat each client holistically with the goal of reducing the relapse rates due to untreated anxiety disorders, other co-morbid disorders (i.e. PTSD, or Dissociative Disorders).
Treating Anxiety Disorders & OCD:
The most powerful treatment for anxiety disorders involves evidenced-based Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in combination with cognitive-behavioral, cognitive, and acceptance and commitment therapies, including mindfulness and dialectical behavioral therapy. ERP is exceptionally effective and produces remarkable results, allowing individuals to learn that they can successfully face their fears. Repeatedly facing one’s fears and learning to manage the uncomfortable feelings and thoughts associated with these fears allows the anxiety to gradually dissipate. ERP anxiety disorder treatment occurs in both, group and individual formats. In an effort to provide clients the most effective treatment available, Castlewood incorporates anxiety and OCD Exposure and Response Prevention in the treatment of ED clients who have co-morbidity with one or more anxiety disorder.
Castlewood has several staff that specializes in Anxiety disorders and OCD treatment. They have extensive experience and have specialized training in Anxiety disorders and OCD, which allows Castlewood to intensively work with clients to overcome these obstacles to recovery.
Treating Trauma, PTSD, and Dissociative Disorders:
At Castlewood, we help clients address not only the resulting anxiety disorders associated with trauma or PTSD, but we are committed to helping clients work to resolve their unresolved traumas. Trauma can be caused by any overwhelming experience in childhood, adolescence or adulthood that is too overwhelming and difficult to integrate or make meaning. Although there is a large incidence of child sexual abuse such that one in three eating disorder clients have unresolved sexual abuse, there are also a large number of other traumas commonly associated with eating disorder. For example, when childhood bonding with caretakers has been problematic or when painful experiences in school with peers or dating were traumatic. Our staff members are familiar with trauma and the symptoms of PTSD and Dissociative Disorders. They are trained in effective grounding and containment techniques to help clients learn to manage their dissociation, flashbacks or other symptoms of PTSD. Our therapists are trained in the latest trauma techniques for trauma stabilization and resolution, a requisite before the symptom can remit.
At Castlewood we utilize Internal Family Systems therapy for trauma resolution. Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a powerful tool in working with eating disorder clients. Its founder, Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., has trained the staff and currently works at Castlewood with our staff and clients. The cornerstone of IFS is to facilitate self-leadership and integration of “parts of self†that may become fragmented, split off and polarized within an individual. One part of a person may both want to give up the eating disorder and another part may want to not give it up; or in another instance, one part may feel fat, while another part knows the person is starving. IFS allows for working with such parts of self to facilitate integration.
For more information about Castlewood Treatment Center and the treatment of Eating Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, OCD, PTSD, and Dissociative Disorders, please go to our website at www.castlewoodtc.com or call one of our intake specialists at 1-866-225-0377
Mark Schwartz, Sc. D. - Castlewood Treatment Center for Eating Disorders
The attachment system of the brain is conceived as a biologically and evolutionary-based survival system that evolved to encourage people to connect with other people in times of distress to improve their safety. The rules governing that system are laid down in early childhood through close attunement between the infant and caregiver, and are actively implemented thereafter. Sometimes attachment goes awry or is incomplete, resulting in too much or too little attachment. The avoidant child actively “snubs or ignores†the mother, restricting his attention while exploring his environment in a hyperactive fashion in order to discourage attachment (Wallin, 2000). The preoccupied child seems content but strictly confines his attention to monitoring his mother’s whereabouts, ignoring exploration and mastery.
Attachment theory suggests that restrictive anorexia or binge eating could be a dismissive strategy to actively keep the individual from needing food and love, or to substitute the transitional object value of food preoccupation for needing people. A failed attachment system exposes the infant to extreme levels of unmodulated stress, aloneness, and inner emptiness,. This stress can drive the urge to restrict, overeat, or both. Addictions, in general, provide an illusion of control when individuals experience the disequilibrium resulting from the simultaneous activation of their attachment system and fear system. When the person who cares for you is also perceived as dangerous, the result is this type of destabilizing dysphoria. At first glance, eating disorders appear to be about preoccupation with food. On closer observation though, the obsessive regulation of the intake of food is often a frantic attempt to cope with life stressors, particularly intense, dysregulated emotions and confusion regarding identity and self-esteem. Eating obsessions may be used to avoid potential rejection from friends and romantic partners.  They can also create the unfortunate, self-fulfilling outcomes that reinforce the original unrecognized, yet enacted, fears around attachment.  Unable to establish a stable identity base, the individual states, “I don’t know who I am,†“I feel like an imposter,†or “I’m really bad, but pretend to be good.â€Â This confusion and dichotomy is exemplified in the oft-repeated history of the “good girl who earns “A’s†and never gives anyone a “moment of trouble,â€Â who then compulsively lies, steals, and has promiscuous sexual relations.
At the core of any individual’s capacity to bond, lie self-empathy and the related capacity for self-care. Without a caretaker who mirrors and validates the individual’s real self, facilitates the expression of attuned affect and who also provides meaning in situations that overwhelm, the individual is often left with feelings of profound shame. They may also display a need to people please, and experience perfectionism that is channeled into the symptom of “feeling fat.†  They come to believe that only food, or the restriction of food, will reliably quell the internal emptiness. Continue reading “Attachment, Trauma, and Eating Disorder – By Mark Schwartz, Sd. D.” »
