Bulimia /Binge Eating

Many patients present for treatment stating they “binge” eat. We generally define “binge eating” as eating,  in a discrete amount of time (e.g. a two hour period), — more than most people would eat in that same time period and feeling a loss of control while eating and/or guilt and regret when done eating. It is important to note that binge eating is on the continuum of “normal’ eating behavior; rather, it  is the frequency, duration, and intensity of binge eating  that determines whether one meets criteria for binge eating disorder (BED.) It is practically impossible to lose weight with frequent binge eating episodes, and binge eating has many unwanted implications including weight gain, depressive symptoms, anxiety, shame, and feeling “out of control.” Dr. Saks has specialized training, experience, and expertise in the area of binge eating disorder and provides these services to treat it:

• Identification of binge eating disorder and binge eating behavior
• Psychoeducation regarding the physiological, emotional, genetic, and cognitive underpinnings of binge eating disorder
• Cognitive-behavioral treatment of binge eating disorder; the only empirically validated and most clinically effective treatment for binge eating behaviors
• Problem solving training for relapse prevention
• Behavioral training for dealing with “trigger” foods

It is important to note that general/nonspecific psychotherapy is typically not enough to effectively reduce and/or eliminate binge eating behavior. Similarly, talking about “why” you binge, while helpful in terms of understanding the behavior, is not effective in and of itself in stopping the behavior and preventing the behavior from recurring. Dr. Brad Saks can teach skills to understand and stop binge eating behavior now as well as skills that will allow you to prevent or minimize recurrences in the future.