Be the person you needed when you were younger

-Ayesha Siddiqi   

The Virtual World

I could never comprehend the idea of virtual eating disorder treatment. It would be so easy for clients to hide their food or engage in disordered behaviors behind a screen. How could I really connect? Especially with my young clients, I imagine them secretly watching Netflix behind the computer screen while I try and explore their deepest fears.


Cut to Covid! The world shut down, and my ideas on virtual treatment shifted as this became the new reality for all therapists. I have always worked with eating-disordered clients in one way or another since before I even completed graduate school. After working with eating disorders in community mental health, I started to burn out with the lack of support and knowledge in the field. As a recovered clinician, eating disorders are my passion and the reason I became a therapist. This is the population I want to work with, but this is also the most complex population which requires a complete treatment team and effective provider collaboration.

For my professional sanity — and to continue this career without burning out — I needed to shift gears and investigate a more supportive environment in which to treat eating disorders. The thing is: I live in a place where you must travel at least an hour to get to any eating disorder treatment center, which would mean I would have to travel at least an hour to work at one. While I was offered a position at one of these centers, I saw myself continuing the burn out with the commute and two young children at home.

As fate would have it, the treatment center connected me with their virtual eating disorder partial hospitalization program, which, as it just so happened, was hiring. I was still very hesitant but wanted to keep my mind open. I’d been through many treatment centers as a young teen — I know ALL the tricks. How could I help anyone, virtually? It was during my interview process that I came to the realization that there are many places where treatment is unavailable. What if this is the only treatment available to some individuals due to lack of transportation, living distances, or family circumstances? Would it have helped me as a teen if it were my only option? I must give this a shot. I must explore how I can best support this population virtually, because this is the only thing available to some individuals.

So, I made my decision to hop on the virtual train. It took some adjusting, soundproofing, and office plants to make the switch manageable — at least on my end.

The Young Anorexic Client

The sound machine is roaring.

Two boxes appear on my screen.

One screen showing my face, the other showing that of a new, adolescent client.

She is starting our program today after being discharged from a residential treatment center. I am meeting with her to introduce myself and complete a risk assessment. She admits that she is not thrilled to be on virtual, but that there are no other options near her. Her parents and treatment team are forcing her to complete this program. She admits to knowing that she needs it, and she is a minor, so her parents have leverage. She presents guarded, as teens usually do, waiting to see if I pass the obligatory therapist “vibe check.” I appreciate the honesty but notice the apathy in her voice. This is going to be a difficult client to connect with. I must learn how to connect with her.

Finding Connection

If I’ve learned anything about the virtual world, it is the importance of finding the ability to connect. Yes, it is more difficult virtually than when you are in person, but still doable. In fact, some people open up more through a virtual encounter because they feel safety in distance. New research has shown that the brain neuropathways activate more with in-person interactions. Which means I have to be more creative about forging a meaningful connection. (1)

Because the individual on the other side of the screen can’t get a sense of my “vibe,” and because a digital image of myself elicits different responses from neuropathways, I must rely on building rapport quickly.

I’ve learned the hard way, through moments of uncomfortable silence, that this sometimes requires talking about random teen trivia to get young clients to feel safe with me. My clients are experts in their life. I am merely a guest. The more my clients let me into their world, the more I can show them tools that will appropriately work for them. I have to meet my clients where they are at.

I find the best way to build trust is to find out their interests and build on that. That doesn’t mean I just pretend that I want to know about their interests. I mean taking the time to learn about them and ask deep questions. This helps me understand my clients and what treatment approach works best for them. My job is not to heal my clients. My job is to help them learn the tools to heal themselves.

Only with trust can a client effectively “buy-in” to what I am talking about regarding treatment. Why would anyone talk to me if I don’t feel safe? Building connections and creating a therapeutic alliance is about helping clients understand that you are a safe person.

Young teens are my favorite clients to work with. The most important part of effectively working with teens is to teach them to build connections that are stronger and safer than their eating disorder. The first safe connection might be with their therapist. The eating disorder is my client’s safest and most secure relationship. Which is why it is so difficult to recover from — it works.

The eating disorder becomes an entity of its own that protects the clients from trauma, rejection, fear, and most importantly has the capacity to numb. For clients with significant trauma or poor attachments, the predictability of this disorder is comforting. Ironically, it is providing them a mental refuge while slowly killing them. Accepting and understanding that the eating disorder has served a function for my clients is the most important starting point towards genuine connection. The eating disorder is my client’s biggest and most secure connection.

The Young Adolescent Client

The session starts the same.

Two screens.

Sound machine whirring.

I will call this client Abby.

Abby is hunched down on the floor with her laptop facing her. She is anxious and having difficulty sitting still as evidenced by a bouncing leg. This is not her first time in treatment. She has already told me she does not prefer virtual but has no other options at this time. By this point in our sessions together, we have discussed the usual eating disorder behaviors and worked on increasing Abby’s ability to talk back to the eating disorder voice. The ability to assist her in calling out the eating disorder is crucial. That means knowing how the eating disorder talks. Hint: it’s sneaky and insidious.

Since working together, what stands out about Abby is her increasing discomfort with the present moment. It is more than the eating disorder; I know the look of unresolved trauma. Abby is living in fight or flight. Her eating disorder being taken from her is forcing her to confront difficult traumatic experiences.

Abby started Cognitive Processing Therapy while in residential care but stopped it when the therapist realized she was not benefiting from the therapeutic intervention. So, what can I do here now virtually?

New research has shown that treating PTSD and the eating disorder at the same time yields better results for both. (2, 3) This is contrary to what was first taught to professionals about only treating one at a time.

I worked with Abby for some time, but Abby’s mother’s insurance eventually changed, and her parents no longer wanted her to participate in our program for understandable financial reasons (This is another aspect of eating disorder treatment that is complicated).

Abby will need long term therapeutic intervention for her complex trauma and the increasing severity of the eating disorder. Her motivation for recovery continues to wax and wane.

Let me explain what we were able to do virtually and how.

My work with Abby explored relationship patterns, boundaries, and the impact her trauma has had on her eating disorder relapse and recovery process. Abby learned evidence based therapeutic interventions to effectively talk back to cognitive distortions and her eating disorder voice.

And while all of this work was pivotal, I want to emphasize what got us there…

Soccer!

I know you are thinking. What is she talking about?

Hear me out. Gaining trust from my adolescent clients must come first.

The connection I made with Abby was as simple as soccer. Soccer was Abby’s motivation for recovery, soccer made her feel confident and alive. Soccer activated neuropathways in Abby that allowed her to feel seen by me.

All of the in-depth work that needed to be done started and ended with soccer. Ultimately all of the work that was done on a virtual platform started and ended with my ability to see my client and connect. In the end, my initial reluctance about working virtually with eating-disordered teens was largely unfounded. I would likely have encountered similar challenges had I worked face-to-face with Abby. It was the connection that built the bridge and soccer that reinforced it.

References

(1) Neuroscience News. (2023). Zoom conversations vs in-person: Brain activity tells a different tale. Neuroscience News, 27 Oct.

(2) Perlman, M. D. (2023). Concurrent treatment of eating disorders and PTSD leads to long-term recovery.” Psychiatric Times, Times, 17 Oct.

(3) Brewerton, Timothy. D. (2007). Eating disorders, trauma, and comorbidity: Focus on PTSD. The Journal of Treatment & Prevention. 15(4). 285-304.  


File under: The Art of Psychotherapy, Therapy & Technology