Trauma is common, with about 60 percent of adults in the United States experiencing at least one trauma in their life. People experience a range of reactions following trauma, and while most people recover given a little time, a small but significant number go on to develop more serious problems, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The men and women struggling with eating disorders often have very painful thoughts about sad and traumatic experiences on their minds, and they judge themselves harshly as a result.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a cognitive behavioral therapy that teaches patients the skills and practices needed to take steps toward the life they value and not be ruled by their emotions, thoughts or feelings. This therapeutic approach is used extensively in adult treatment at Eating Recovery Center, and can help individuals with eating disorders live a rich, full and meaningful life. Additionally, ACT specifically includes each of the components of PTSD treatment that are known to have the most effective outcomes, including psycho-education, anxiety management and exposure/tolerance/acceptance work.

Dr. Steven Hayes, one of the founders of ACT, notes a special relationship between Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and trauma recovery. Dr. Hayes states:

"Bad things do happen to good people. It does not have to be for a reason. Often, things are beyond our control. Trauma survivors know how deeply this reaches. ACT helps people learn to let go of the "we are in control" when that is no longer working. Instead it walks through the process needed to come into the present member, and to still care, and to move toward the lives we want to live. ACT creates a way to help trauma survivors to be themselves, to be present, and to care, without first trying to create some kind of order of the mix of thoughts, feelings and traumatic experience they leave behind." (Forward from "ACT for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder & Trauma Related Problems," Walser, PH.D., Westrup, PH.D., 2007)

PTSD limits and narrows people's lives in many ways. Trauma sufferers are most likely working hard to avoid anything that might "trigger" the thoughts, feeling or memories of their experiences, and avoidance behaviors can often spiral into evasion of many other things that aren't directly related to the trauma. Many people, including those suffering from anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS and binge eating disorder, turn to numbing, addictive processes to try to be free of past painful experiences. While these harmful practices might give short term relief to the sufferings, untimely addictive processes add to the suffering problem, causing people to lose connection with the life they want and value.

Trauma recovery means being able to be fully involved in a life that is rich with value rather than one ruled by past painful experiences and avoidance strategies, no matter what thoughts or feelings or body sensations show up in the mind. ACT processes are designed to help people learn how to take "committed actions" toward the life they want for themselves.

ACT and Trauma at Eating Recovery Center: The Course of Recovery
From the ACT perspective, people are not broken-rather, they are stuck. No one is taught the skills necessary to be able to tolerate pain and function after a traumatic event. ACT is focused on helping people change their relationship with the difficult emotions so their lives are not ruled by them and they are free to make the choices toward their valued lives. At Eating Recovery Center, the trauma recovery process is based in ACT processes and includes the following components:

Medically and Nutritional Stability: Simply put, no one has the ability to do the hard work of trauma recovery without this basic platform.

Values Work: Identifying values and valued life directions is a key part of trauma work. Values serve as a compass for people's lives, helping to understand why change is necessary, even when it feels overwhelmingly difficult. People who have had traumatic experiences can be at risk of never focusing on or having developed an idea of what they value. Values work sheds light on the "big picture," as opposed to the everyday small experiences which can fill our lives and steal our time.

Mindfulness Skills: Mindfulness means being able to be present, as opposed to slipping into thinking about the past, or jumping ahead to worrying about what is next in the future. Gaining the skills to not turn to old addictive coping methods to manage the moment when having flashbacks or becoming flooded by emotion when discussing trauma is critical to trauma recovery.

Grounding, Safety and Containment Skills: This set of skills allows the trauma sufferer to be able to tolerate that which shows up in her or his mind. These skills provide the "outlet" for painful feelings so that individuals do not become so overwhelmed that they turn to old behaviors to "numb out" and avoid emotions.

Exposure Work: Cognitive and exposure-based treatments have empirical evidence of the best outcomes for treatment of trauma. Together with their therapists, patients work to slowly tolerate exposure to the "feared" things so that they may learn to accept these things instead of being ruled by them.
Cognitive Work: The ability to be able to "think about how we think" is a key part of trauma recovery. Patients cultivate the ability to examine their thoughts and perceptions, and learn to notice how their minds work, which thoughts show up and how they react.

Psycho-Educational Work: Patients learn how the brain functions, including how they are "wired" and have been "programmed" into beliefs about themselves and others over the years. The brain likes to judge, evaluate, compare and make connections, and these simple mental processes can cause trouble until they are understood and managed.

For more information about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its use in the treatment of eating disorders at Eating Recovery Center, visit their website at www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com.