LU 051: Andrea Wachter – How to make therapy work for you (whatever your struggle might be).

Download Episode! Hey lovely radicals, podcast alert! This week on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, it’s my pleasure to talk to Andrea Wachter from California. Andrea is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the author of "Getting Over Overeating". She is also the co-author of "The Don’t Diet, Live-It Workbook" and "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Breaking the 'I feel fat' Spell", a book for kids who struggle with body image. Andrea is an inspirational counselor, author and speaker who uses professional expertise and her personal recovery to help others overcome their struggles with food, body image, exercise and weight. Today, you’ll hear Andrea talk about: – How she remembers feeling in her body as a child – How her parents related to food and weight – What made her feel ashamed about her body and got her to start dieting – How she hid her struggles with food from her family – Why she compares the way she related to food with the way a drug addict relates to drugs – Why she, as so many, believed "If I just change my body, I will be ok" – How her eating disorder took over her life, and no one had a clue, because she looked so "put together" and pretended everything was fine – Why she eventually did turn to alcohol and drugs to numb her pain from feeling "not enough" – How she found her way back to herself – Why she feels hope that more people are getting help these days – What concerns her about this "age of social media" we are living in today – How she has to deal with younger and younger girls and boys who are already obsessed with their appearance and restricting food – How to avoid the "addiction transfer"-trap – How our emotions (usually the ones we repress the most) play into the way we relate to our bodies – Why body- and weight-obsessing is often a distraction from deeper issues – Why for so many, their struggles with food tend to get overlooked in therapy – What she found out about people’s issues with their bodies when she worked with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics – Why having the "wrong" therapist can do much more harm than good – What to look out for in a therapist, and how to spot it it’s the right one for you – The fallacy of thinking that "staying in the disordered mindset is easier than having to face the pain" – The fallacy of believing that we are supposed to "be happy" all the time – What happens when we try to avoid difficult feelings – Why it is crucial never to forget the reality behind social media and people’s performance of "health", "happiness", "fitness", etc. – How we can all upgrade our unkind mind patterns – How to become aware of the nasty tricks our minds can play with us – How our negative thoughts turn into negative feelings and into negative behaviors – How to find out what the next steps are that you are actually capable of taking that will lead to more and more steps – What she found out about the bad body image legacy that was passed on to her from talking to her parents – How our own beliefs shape our perception, which, in turn, shapes our behavior – How we can break the bad body image legacy – Why never to expect other people to change, but to focus on our own growth instead... ... And so much more! Check out Andrea’s websites: www.andreawachter.com www.innersolutions.net Here’s the link to "The Human Fulfillment Institute": www.humanfulfillment.org And here’s the link to Andrea Wachter’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Andrea-Wachter/s?ie=UTF8&page;=1&rh;=i%3Abooks%2Cp_27%3AAndrea%20Wachter Please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refi; ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/