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Yoga incorporated into eating-disorder therapy
By JESSICA KELTZ
Reporter Contributor
Catherine Cook-Cottone believes it's essential to recognize and accept that a person's eating disorder has in some way helped him or her cope with things in life. The challenge in helping these individuals achieve better physical and mental health, she says, is to find something to replace the eating disorder that does not harm them and helps them heal.
"As soon as you take care of and connect with your real self, that disorder will not have a job," says Cook-Cottone, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology in the Graduate School of Education,
She suggests that yoga can be that healthy alternative.
Toward that end, she has developed a new method of treating individuals who suffer from eating disorders that incorporates yoga, as well as journaling and other types of therapy, as part of regular counseling sessions.
She'll be using the new method of therapy with a counseling group at UB that will begin meeting this month with individuals at risk for and struggling with eating-disordered behaviors. Cook-Cottone already has used this new approach with groups at the Center for Eating Disorders, located at the Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo, producing what she describes as "statistically significant positive results."
She's also working with other groups—aimed at preventing eating disorders—at Transit Middle School in Williamsville and at Wyndham Lawn Residential Center in Lockport.
Cook-Cottone says the prevention group has yielded two highly significant studies, with one in press in the journal Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. She and her assistants are compiling data from some of her groups to see how these methods compare with controls.
Rather than telling participants not to do certain things, Cook-Cottone focuses instead on what they will do. Sessions begin with one hour of yoga led by a certified instructor. Participants then write journal entries on a topic of the day chosen by Cook-Cottone; one such topic might be a quote about harmony by Gandhi. Next, they learn about a more concrete or specific topic; one class, for example, learned about the hypothalamus and its function in the brain and body. Finally, the session concludes with 15 minutes of meditation that integrates what participants have learned that day.
"It's grounding and very peaceful. It gets you ready to go back into the world," Cook-Cottone says of the meditation session. Participants can pursue additional self-enrichment learning, she adds, and can turn in the journals for review if they choose.
Cook-Cottone says that in working with eating-disorder patients, she has noticed some common traits—some well-known and some not. It's common, she notes, for these patients to be individuals who are highly sensitive to the needs and wants of others, but at the same time withhold their own needs and feelings. They strive for perfection in other parts of their lives, not just their weight or appearance.
"A big part of what we talk about is that 'perfect' is not human," Cook-Cottone says. "Perfect has no boundaries, and perfect is always outside of you.
"If you're going to judge yourself by those external factors, you're just setting yourself out there and saying 'I'm not good enough.' You just have to figure out inside who you are," she adds.
Another common trait among sufferers of eating disorders, she says, is a history of physiological problems, such as temperature regulation, hypothalamic disorders or thyroid problems.
In those cases, "their eating disorder is, in part, an attempt to regulate their body," she says.
Both the psychological and physiological triggers create a disharmony between the person's internal and external self, Cook-Cottone says, and an eating disorder is only one possible result of that type of disharmony—someone else, for example, might instead develop a problem with drinking.
She says the new form of therapy she's developed, which the UB group will use, addresses emotional regulation—helping participants understand that they are emotionally sensitive, then helping them learn skills to negotiate that sensitivity.
"We have to figure out something healthy to do to get you what you need, and that's what the yoga does," Cook-Cottone explains. "That's what makes it so strong."
Cook-Cottone is evaluating the results of previous therapy groups. She's working in conjunction with the Office of Student Affairs to conduct sessions on campus, and in the future may become part of the Student Wellness Team, she says.
The UB counseling group—"Wellness and Yoga Project: A Mindful Approach to Healthy Eating"—will meet from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesdays from Feb. 21 through April 18 in 118 Clark Hall, South Campus. Cook-Cottone will conduct the sessions with school counselor and yoga instructor Linda Kane and doctoral student Meredith Beck. The cost is $80 ($10 per session), with scholarships available. For more information, contact Beck at msbeck@buffalo.edu or Cook-Cottone at 645-2484, ext. 1073, or cpcook@buffalo.edu.