tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post2480232839553586171..comments2023-10-31T04:16:04.331-05:00Comments on Feed Me!: Practicing with a licenseHarriethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-39948848632614476732007-12-09T08:29:00.000-06:002007-12-09T08:29:00.000-06:00Thanks, Laura. You know that and I know that but t...Thanks, Laura. You know that and I know that but those other folks just don't seem to get it sometimes. :-)<BR/><BR/>Fat Gal, that's appalling! Truly. Ack.<BR/><BR/>a:), I hope Carrie's explanation was enlightening. The brain is an organ in the body, and its job it so think, so there's always a physiological and psychological component to illnesses like eating disorders. Actually I think physiological/psychological is a false dichotomy. The act of thinking grows out of physiology. We are learning all the time how the body affects the mind (and vice versa).Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-33704537482239087902007-12-09T06:41:00.000-06:002007-12-09T06:41:00.000-06:00Harriet,Your advice - based on experience and evid...Harriet,<BR/><BR/>Your advice - based on experience and evidence and clear thinking - is better than a bushel of these people who think a degree in anything makes them qualified to dabble in everything.<BR/><BR/>You have an advantage no set of letters confers: you are right.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17219492984914810944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-42828749279452216152007-12-09T03:02:00.000-06:002007-12-09T03:02:00.000-06:00Harriet, just move to Australia. The counselling/t...Harriet, just move to Australia. The counselling/therapy profession here is unregulated, so you dont need a licence or even any quals to hang out your shingle! Scary really...<BR/>Interestingly enough most social workers here dont work as counsellors, it is mainly psychologists and people who have trained specifically in counselling that practice. Social workers tend to work in community service organisations or public institutions like schools, hospitals, the Defence Force etc. I am doing a Masters program in counselling because I would feel like I was a fraud if I practiced without a specific qualifiction, even though I am a qualified social worker.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-81562167977014008742007-12-08T20:57:00.000-06:002007-12-08T20:57:00.000-06:00A-A brain disease is simply that- a disease that a...A-<BR/><BR/>A brain disease is simply that- a disease that affects the brain. And every illness is a combination of genetics and environment, nature AND nurture. There will be some sort of trigger for an eating disorder (usually "environmental" of some sort) since people aren't born anorexic.<BR/><BR/>There are some inborn metabolic disorders- such as PKU- where the child will die within 2 years because a basic metabolite cannot be broken down by the body and the toxins build up causing brain damage and death. However, by avoiding the metabolite that can't be broken down (for PKU, that's phenylalanine, an essential amino acid), they will love long, happy, healthy lives. An example of a disease we thought was solely genetic that now has been shown to have environmental effects.<BR/><BR/>Anorexia is the same, but kind of in the opposite direction. And anorexia isn't all about the food. It is as long as you're underweight or purging or whatever. But the reason that anorexia is 'effective' from a sufferer's standpoint is that it's almost like an anti-anxiety drug. At first, not eating does decrease anxiety by decreasing the serotonin in the brain. Then it spirals out of control. But learning better ways to deal with anxiety has been crucial.Carrie Arnoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02569839838912988783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-15071945907641576342007-12-08T18:50:00.000-06:002007-12-08T18:50:00.000-06:00I do think that ED's may be genetically based, but...I do think that ED's may be genetically based, but I don't know if I agree that they are "brain disorders" (or maybe I don't know quite what is meant by this term) -- I cannot agree that an ED is solely a brain disorder and not perpetuated or triggered by ANY environmenal or psychological reason.<BR/><BR/>One can be predisposed to an ED -- but to get an ED purely accidentally. . . it seems foolish.<BR/><BR/>I think sometimes they can BE about emotions -- certainly I did relapse into AN to stop feeling everything that was bothering me, from my lack of social life to pressure to do well in my last year of high school. I have copatients who acted similarly.<BR/><BR/>I probably do have some kind of predisposition to destructive behaviour.<BR/><BR/>And certainly, I think emotional issues are important to sort out in therapy and often underlie an ED -- if your ED began to ESCAPE these emotions or problems you must learn to CONFRONT these problems w/o symptoms -- and that is the work of therapy. In this aspect it is not about the food.<BR/><BR/>However, to be able to do this important work it is necessary to be refed and at a minimum BMI of 20. Certainly, therapy is not effective when one is underweight.<BR/><BR/>just my views -- I don't think it needs to be one way or the other, (psychological or physiological)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-17093410727498297172007-12-08T16:47:00.000-06:002007-12-08T16:47:00.000-06:00Hi Rachel,Unless you live in a major metropolitan ...Hi Rachel,<BR/>Unless you live in a major metropolitan center like New York, I'm not sure I'd recommend journalism as a career. I've been a journalist for 28 years and it's pretty tough to find rewarding work outside of the major publishing hot spots. Social work, on the other hand, and sadly, is always needed. So it might be a good career switch. :-)Harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09774535311853591028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30178203.post-32845902071937819492007-12-08T10:23:00.000-06:002007-12-08T10:23:00.000-06:00I'm actually thinking of switching from a graduate...I'm actually thinking of switching from a graduate program in history into the social work program. I love journalism, but the opportunity to work with eating disordered patients is also something I'd like to do, or, at least have the proper training on.<BR/><BR/>As for the advice column, I find it troubling that a so-called health professional would so casually conflate terms that are actually quite different.<BR/><BR/>It does appear as if the child is suffering from <I>anorexia</I>, because anorexia is a term that denotes a loss of appetite, which sounds to be the case here. It's often pathological in nature, and can occur even when the person <I>wants</I> to gain weight. The term <I>anorexia nervosa</I> is a much more loaded term, characterizing the clinical eating disorder. <BR/><BR/>And I think it is ethically irresponsible to make a diagnosis or medical recommendation on the basis of a letter.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06442545891223505489noreply@blogger.com