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I mentioned how important it
is that you feel comfortable with the professional you are working with. Here
is something to help you start that process.
After growing up in England, I moved to the United States and completed my Bachelors in Nutrition and Medical
Dietetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1988. I started practicing as a Registered Dietitian
at the Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Jersey. I taught a weight management program and learned that
the participants had complex struggles with managing their food, weight,
eating and exercise habits.
My experiences as an Eating
Disorders Dietitian at the Somerset Medical Center’s Eating Disorders program in New Jersey showed me repeatedly that people enjoyed working with me
but they experienced different resistances when it came to making changes in
their thinking and behavior around food, weight and eating. These resistances
often included their emotions like anger, anxiety, depression, and the
meaning and purpose that food, weight and eating held in their daily lives
and relationships. Sometimes, controlling weight with, what and
how much food they ate was a way of bringing back control in life when
everything else felt out of control. Sometimes it was a form of communicating
a message or an emotion because the words couldn’t be found and
sometimes it was a way of coping with stress. It was so complex and there was
so much to learn!
As part of my professional
growth, I was attending seminars to understand more and learn new techniques
and then I pursued my Masters degree in Social Work, at Rutgers University in New Jersey. I completed this in 1997 and developed my mental health
counseling experience as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in a community
mental health agency and group practices. I could now look at the struggles
that people present with their food, weight, eating, depression and anxiety
from a mental health and a nutrition perspective.
Having children helped me to
grow personally and professionally. I now experience the stressors that
families experience with developing healthful eating behaviors in our
children at mealtimes! A good plan and lots of patience is key!
It is important not just to learn about healthful foods but also to develop
healthful attitudes and behaviors towards food, weight and eating and prevent
eating disorders and obesity as they grow older.
Our family has now
settled in Texas and we are enjoying all that the surrounding
“family friendly” communities have to offer as we move towards
the “quality of life” that we have visualized for ourselves.
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