Everything You Need to Know About Food Exposures
This blog post was written by our intern Josie Miller
Exposure Therapy
As a part of our human nature, we try to avoid items, situations, and experiences that cause us fear. Fear sends our body into fight or flight mode, and oftentimes the most logical choice in these scenarios is flight. In other words, our innate response is to completely avoid and ignore situations that make us uncomfortable. When our fears are things such as snakes, roller coasters, or clowns it is easy to go about one’s normal, daily-life avoiding these encounters. However, when fears are integral parts of our lives that inevitably cannot be avoidable, such as doctors visits, social settings, or even food, avoiding these encounters begins to negatively impact one’s quality of life. This is where exposure therapy comes into play.
Exposure therapy is when a practitioner creates a safe environment where an individual can be exposed to items or situations that they fear or avoid. During exposures, the individual works to create new, more realistic belief systems about their fears.1 As daunting as exposure therapy may sound, it can also be an empowering experience. Participants learn that they have the power to confront their fears and manage their feelings of anxiety.
How does exposure therapy relate to eating disorders?
Food exposures are a common technique used for individuals in treatment or recovery from an eating disorder. Food is one of those fears that cannot be rationally avoided. First of all, food is fuel necessary for the body to function properly. Second of all, food is a foundational part of many social settings. Therefore, not eating and avoiding certain foods solely because of fear and anxiety can negatively impact a person’s social life and lead to feelings of isolation.
During food exposures, individuals try foods that they typically avoid or challenge themselves to eat in an environment they would normally find anxiety provoking, such as a restaurant or friend’s house. For example, someone who is afraid of gaining weight might challenge themselves to eat food that society incorrectly labels as “unhealthy” such as pizza, burgers, or ice cream. Then, after the exposure, ideally this individual realizes that enjoying these foods did not cause them harm and their anxiety around consuming these foods begins to decrease. It is all about disproving and challenging incorrect belief systems.
Common Tools and Tactics Used During Exposures Therapy
Food exposures may be done under the supervision of a registered dietitian or on the client’s own depending on their comfort level. A common technique used by dietitians is called graded exposure. The practitioner helps the client rank objects, activities, or situations according to difficulty. The idea is that graded exposure therapy will begin with mild to moderate scenarios and progress gradually to more difficult scenarios. This allows for a smoother, less stressful transition.1
Another common tool utilized by dietitians during exposure therapy is the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS). The client is asked to rate their level of anxiety from 0 to 10 before, during, and after a food exposure. This tactic encourages the participant to acknowledge and sit with their emotions and instead of compensating with negative behaviors, such as purging or cutting their food into tiny pieces. The goal is that as more and more food exposures occur, anxiety levels on the SUDS decrease. In summary, the SUDS is a concrete tool that helps the practitioner and client track progress and setbacks.2
The Freedom that Comes from Food Exposures
Fear is a limiting factor. It prevents us from fully experiencing the opportunities that life has to offer. Through food exposures, individuals are given the power to take back the experiences and opportunities that their eating disorder has stolen from them. It is important to acknowledge that challenging our fears and sitting with uncomfortable emotions like anxiety is difficult. So using healthy coping mechanisms like breathing techniques, meditation, journaling, and talk therapy are all positive ways to process the experience. Thus, food exposures should be viewed as empowering opportunities that free individuals from negative belief systems and emotions.
If you are ready to tackle your fear foods and eliminate anxiety from eating schedule a session with one of our eating disorder experts by clicking the button below.
Exposure therapy is when a practitioner creates a safe environment where an individual can be exposed to items or situations that they fear or avoid. During exposures, the individual works to create new, more realistic belief systems about their fears.1 As daunting as exposure therapy may sound, it can also be an empowering experience. Participants learn that they have the power to confront their fears and manage their feelings of anxiety.