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Center for Positive Change, PLC
Stephanie Fellenberg, Psy.D.
1200 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Tel: (703) 201-8140 Fax: (703) 704-5719
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 You may expect a primary care physician, a personal trainer, or a dietitian to help you with your weight management, but you may not know how a therapist can help you in your quest for a healthier lifestyle. If you are like most people who are trying to shed a few (or more) pounds, you may already know all about the  benefits of maintaining a healthy weight and a regular exercise regimen that includes cardiovascular as well as resistance (weight) training. You have learned all about healthy nutrition and that removing weight comes down to the simple equation of burning more calories than you take in. You have been successful in beginning healthy habits, and may even have removed some weight. You probably experienced a greater sense of well-being, increased amounts of energy and better sleep during the time  you kept up the healthy habits. However, somehow you are never able to maintain that healthy lifestyle. Inevidably, something in your life eventually derails you from your new-found path. So what happened? You didn’t suddenly forget about the benefits and how-to of a healthy lifestyle. However, all the information and changes have not helped you stick with your plan. This is where therapy comes into play.

 How therapy can help with weight management
Therapy can help you examine the reasons why you never seem to be able to keep up your habits. In many ways, managing your weight is like playing a sport: you can have all the skill and know-how, but if you don’t believe that you can do it, you will not succeed. In the journey to a healthier lifestyle, most people are their own worst critics. They are experts in beating themselves up about their perceived failures and therefore inadvertently set themselves up for failure.  In therapy, you can learn how to silence that harsh critic in you by changing those automatic negative (and usually unconscious thoughts) and replace them with more supportive ones.

Of course, there are many psychological reasons why people don’t stick with their plans for a healthier lifestyle. Some people are emotional eaters and are thrown off the proverbial wagon when life gets stressful. Others are all-or-nothing thinkers and abandon their entire plan because they ate one high-fat meal.  For some their body size serves as a shield against a world that seems scary and unpredictable and they often do not realize that they sabotage their own weight loss efforts. Yet others want to please everypone else by losing the weight but haven’t really connected their weight loss goals to their own needs and wants.

So – if you are ready to explore and deal with the real reasons that keep you from making a permanent commitment to your health -and living your best life, you might want to think about adding psychotherapy to the exercise, eating plan, and calorie counting that are part of any weight loss plan. Dealing with the emotional issues that derail your lifestyle changes will not only help you remove the weight, but will also empower you to stay the course in the long-term.  And as a bonus, tackling your psychological roadblocks will most likely have a positive impact on other areas of your life.

Dr. Fellenberg knows that it is very important to find a therapist that is right for you. Therefore she offers 20-minute ”meet the therapist” sessions. For more information please contact Dr. Fellenberg at (703) 201-8140.