This article is to show how a change in consciousness can be a miracle. In the OA (free and online too) program you can join others who share their love and inspiration with others in need.  After deciding to be willing, then interpreting the twelve steps and with dedicated reading of the Big Book you can finally experience peace and serenity.  All this is free and in these times this is the best solution for you if your funds are low.

As a leading eating disorder expert you are my concern.  In my seventeen years of private practice and my internship experience in a 12-Step Hospital for eating disorders, I found validation for my balanced eating techniques and I learned to further value my commitment to connecting those who choose to connect to their Higher Power as they know it.  You too can find those who are willing to help you.  Furthermore, finding your willingness to learn to connect to your Higher Power as you define it, you’ll gain healing help beyond what you have ever imagined.  Then the healing of your purpose accelerates dramatically. Miracles happen. 

When I interned in Glenbeigh of Tampa, Florida’s 12-Step Eating Disorder Unit in 1991, the unit director and the inpatients unsolicitedly praised my creative clinical work in treating eating disorders.

In clinical work today my personal and humanistic approach in sharing from a knowingness of what it takes to be abstinent and to stay abstinent, can greatly help you.  It is a great joy to work with patients that are working the OA Program.  They can accelerate their healing with the combination of therapy, OA, and they can find an OA sponsor to work the 12 steps with them.  With such great support these patients make tremendous progress.  I love hearing their joy in moving beyond eating compulsions.

The twelve steps are woven into my clinical psychotherapy practice using individualized treatment plans for each patient.  For instance, I have a 22 year old girl who seems willing, but she has had no prior success with any past therapists or even inpatient treatments.    After we build trust, I’ll do a time line technique with her, and as I go along I’ll be listening for crucial points in her history.  At that time I’ll ask her if she felt powerless over her food and point out “the out of control” circumstances surrounding her eating experiences as she shares her life.  This sets the ground work for her to later connect to an OA program.

Next I’ll ask her to follow up on written assignments.   However, for now she doesn’t complete assignments outside of therapy sessions.  When I encounter a block of poor follow though, I use my creativity to alter the technique to fit the patient’s circumstances.  Writing assignments will be something we will focus on in small step by step increments.   Since the OA first step is of the upmost importance, my purpose is to thoroughly see that she has the opportunity to “get it.” That is to understand her powerlessness over her food. 

If you are reading this article and you don’t think you are powerless over your food or your eating then keep reading and ask yourself to be open to what can help you in this information.

Locally even in your area wherever you live, OA has a few active OA Programs that can help you with your struggle with eating issues.  I applaud the efforts of those that continue to organize meetings and also those that continue to courageously commit to attending.  These OA Programs are changing the face of our nation’s struggle with eating and food issues. 

Understanding Your Personal Cycles Technique

Try the following exercise to better Understand Your Personal Cycles. Answer all the questions, then ask, “How can I understand the cycle I am in right now? What could strengthen my awareness and help me choose to ascend, wherever I am in my cycle?”

 Understanding Your Personal Cycles

1. Follow the timeline and mark a red “X” on where you are now.

Birth and Growth
1-2-3-4-5-6
7-8-9-10-11-12
13-14-15-16-17-18
19-20-21-22-23-24 (4 cycles of 6 years each)

Youth
25-26-27-28-29-30
31-32-33-34-35-36
37-38-39-40-41-42
43-44-45-46-47-48
49-50-51-52-53-54
55-56-57-58-59-60 (6 cycles of 6 years each)

Old Age
61-62-63-64-65-66
67-68-69-70-71-72
73-74-75-76-77-78
79-80-81-82-83-84
85-86-87-88-89-90
91-92-93-94-95-96 (6 cycles, 6 years each)

(2) Now write a list of significant life events in your journal. Be sure to write the date and how old you were at the time.

(3) Take a yellow highlighting pen and put an “X” on the timeline where a significant event occurred, such as getting married, the birth of a child, deaths, graduations, a residential move, and different diets. Notice the cycles. Mark the major turning points in your life. Ask yourself about your possible life patterns. Do you see a pattern of two-, three-, four-, six-, or twelve-year cycles? This doesn’t have to be exact, just approximate. Trust what you see as your cycle of change.

(4) Ask God or Your Higher Power for insight and wisdom on what there is for you to learn about your cycles.

(5) Take notes about the insights you receive. There’s no right or wrong way to do this exercise.

Now that you know where you are in your cycles, you can see that taking one step at a time—starting now—can bring you to the top of this cycle in the best health and weight balance. Start good habits now and you can build them into the cycles that follow as shown in the above timeline.

Knowledge of cycles can help with your awareness of life and nutrition, keeping you growing on the positive side of the loop. All this renews body, mind, and spirit for a longer, happier, more fulfilled and serene life.