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Walk-in Counseling Now Available in St. Paul

 

Over the past several months, The Emily Program St. Louis Park office has offered walk-in counseling and referral services to our adult clients. We now offer this same service to adult clients at our St. Paul location, 2265 Como Ave.

Service Overview:

The Walk-in Counseling & Referral team is made up of a group of therapists who are experienced in the treatment of eating disorders and crisis intervention. Walk-in counseling is not intended to take the place of individual therapy. Instead, it is a service offered to help clients in emergency situations through support, feedback, and referral to services outside The Emily Program that will promote stabilization.

Walk-in services can be utilized when a client experiences an increase in the severity of depression, anxiety, suicidal/homicidal thoughts, and eating disorder symptoms. Situational stressors can also be a reason for using walk-in services (example: a conflict at work, loss of a loved one, domestic violence, or consequences of chemical abuse).

The St. Paul walk-in hours are:

Monday: 11 AM-12 PM
Tuesday: 1-2 PM
Thursday: 10-11 AM
Friday: 10-11 AM

Counseling sessions are 30 minutes in length. Clients are advised to arrive 30 minutes before walk-in hours to complete a Needs Assessment.

Depending on the number of clients in need of services, there may be a wait time to see a walk-in counselor. 

Summer Groups Begin June 3

It’s time to start thinking about your summer outpatient 
group opportunities. The summer group catalog is now available on The Emily Program’s website and will soon be available at front desks of our Twin Cities locations!

The summer catalog includes descriptions of all of our ongoing outpatient groups and a number of new groups being offered during summer quarter.

For clients who participate in intensive programs at our St. Louis Park office, this season also brings a pilot program that let’s you choose various groups to attend during your program day.

Some of the new outpatient therapy groups that are open to all clients, include:

Intro to Therapy: This is a 4 week group designed for clients who are
new to The Emily Program. It will be led by a therapist and a dietician. This group is considered an “orientation” for new clients. Staff will introduce clients to basic treatment terminology and the “language” of The Emily Program. Clients will learn about TEP’s approach to treatment in terms of both therapy and nutrition. They will be introduced to meal plans and the exchange system and psychoeducation about eating disorders. In addition, they will learn about levels of care and groups offered at each site. Clients will also have the opportunity to process and gain support from others’ who share their experience of being new to treatment.

DBT Skills Training: In this group participants learn core skills to increase abilities for managing distressing situations without relying on symptoms. DBT targets struggles with extreme emotions/moods, impulsiveness,interpersonal chaos, and confusion about self and identity. Prospective group members are asked to commit to six months of participation in the group, and may continue for up to one year. Participants are required to regularly meet with their individual therapist, in addition to being part of DBT. Open to males and females 21 and older.

Assertiveness & Self Esteem Skills: This group introduce strategies and skills to help clients address thoughts and behaviors that lead to challenges with assertiveness and
self‐esteem. Group will help clients to examine how their eating disorder impacts their self-esteem as well as help to identify other contributors to low self-esteem. As clients with low self-esteem often have problems with assertiveness, clients will learn skills to become more effective in the way that they communicate with others. They will learn the difference between assertive and aggressive communication, identify their style of communication, and practice their new skills in a safe setting.

Emotion Regulation: In this group participants will learn skills to provide coping methods for handling intense emotional experiences and their causes. DBT skills for emotion regulation include: Identifying and labeling emotions, identifying obstacles to changing emotions,reducing vulnerability to “emotion mind”,
increasing positive emotional events, increasing mindfulness to current emotions, taking opposite action, applying distress tolerance techniques.

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Interested in any of these groups? Please speak with your individual therapist. Your provider can answer any questions you have about groups, and help you choose one that is a good fit for you and where you are on your path to recovery. Your provider is also your resource for enrolling in group programs.

The summer quarter begins on June 3, 2013. For more information and to view a complete list of all our outpatient eating disorder support groups offered at the Twin Cities locations, visit our website and download the Summer 2013 Group Catalog.

Community Event: Exploring Eating Disorder & Recovery Addiction

Mark your calendars for June 20th at 7 PM.  Cindy Solberg, MA, LPC, LADC is a therapist at The Emily Program. She will discuss the topic: Eating Disorder and Recovery Addiction at The Recovery Church.

Date: Thursday, June 20
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: The Recovery Church, 253 State Street, St. Paul, MN 55107

Most people are usually very surprised to learn that eating disorders have little to do with food. Especially when one considers that many people who suffer from eating disorders actually have an unhealthy obsession with food. Eating disorders and addiction often come hand in hand as well. This session will provide a basic level of understanding of the multidimensional nature of eating disorder and addiction recovery. It will also discuss how someone might learn to have a non-addictive relationship with food.

Thank you to The Recovery Church and Minnesota Recovery Connection for hosting this event.

Intensive Treatment Lodging at Hillside

In January we introduced Hillside Lodging, a 4 bedroom lodging option located in St. Paul, MN for female clients in Intensive Day Program or Intensive Outpatient Programs. We are thrilled to be able to offer a convenient and peaceful lodging option for out-of-area clients.

Take a photo tour of the warm and welcoming interior of the house.    

Relax and unwind in this sunny room.

Come home to a bright welcoming living room and dining room.

Curl up to your favorite book in this cozy corner of the house.

Our single bedrooms allow you to have privacy and a place to relax and reflect. 

If you are interested in Intensive Programs and Hillside Lodging, or have any questions please contact our Lodging Manager, Erin at (651) 315-3302.

Spring Group Catalog Now Available!

Spring is nearly here. That means it’s time to start thinking about the March outpatient
group opportunities. The spring group catalog is now available on The Emily Program’s website and at the front desks of our Twin Cities locations!
The spring catalog includes descriptions of all of our ongoing outpatient groups and a number of new groups being offered during spring quarter, including:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Enhanced (CBT-E)
CBT-E is a cutting edge treatment that focuses on how over-evaluating your weight and shape  can lead to eating disorder symptoms. Clients will create an individualized model of the factors that have been keeping the eating disorder stuck in place. This group provides tools and techniques to help clients understand how their specific eating disorder symptoms function as well as how they can intervene and change their behaviors.  Clients can expect to make progress in normalizing eating patterns, decreasing symptom use, and developing effective strategies for regulating mood changes.

Cooking Group
This group provides basic cooking and meal planning skills to clients who want to explore their relationship with cooking and food preparation.  This group is open to adults. No previous cooking experience is needed. Clients will not be eating a full snack or meal in this group, but will be encouraged to sample what they have prepared. The recipes and skills learned can be tailored to cooking for one person, two people, or a larger family.

Healing Through WritingWriting can play a valuable role in recovery and healing from many kinds of pain and loss. Writing one’s story provides perspective and helps clients arrive at a clearer understanding of how to process difficult experiences. Using books as guides, participants use various forms of writing to support one another and discuss what helps keep writing flowing. Writing background or experience is not necessary.

Yoga and Body Image: Level 2This group is for clients who are in the mid to later stages of their recovery journey, who have been actively working on body image, and/or who have been in Yoga and Body Image for a significant amount of time and are ready for “the next level.” The group will utilize a combination of yoga postures (asana) and verbal processing in order to emphasize how one’s body feels, to explore the relationship to one’s body, and to understand personal and societal messages sent/received about one’s body. This practice will provide opportunities to improve body image, awareness, and acceptance both on and off the yoga mat. Participation in Yoga and Body Image level one is recommended, but not required.

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Interested in any of these groups? Please speak with your individual therapist. Your provider can answer any questions you have have about groups and help you choose one that is a good fit for you and where you are on your path to recovery. Your provider is also your resource for enrolling in group programs.

The spring quarter begins on March 1, 2013. For more information and to view a complete list of quarterly, open-enrollment, and free groups offered at the Twin Cities locations, visit our website and download the Spring 2013 Group Catalog.

Top 5 Eating Disorder Recovery Tips for the New Year

By: Kate Kaczor, Dietetic Intern

1. Think of where you want to be next year and recognize the progress that has been made from the year before. The New Year is a good time for reflection. Thinking about where you’d like your life to be can help you make active steps for achieving it. Don’t forget to praise yourself for all you have accomplished in the last year! This can help motivate you with your current goals.

2. Ignore diet resolutions. Some of the most prominent New Year’s resolutions deal with dieting and weight loss—they are also some of the most abandoned. Don’t let all of the post-holiday diet talk negatively impact your recovery. Remember that the over-whelming majority of diets fail and that with the help of your dietitian and the rest of your treatment team you are on the right path to a healthy body.

3. Don’t postpone. It is easy to say you will start tomorrow. Your ED may tell you that it’s okay to follow your disordered eating behaviors today—you’ll begin your recovery meal plan tomorrow. Too often, however, this leads to more and more days with ED in control. Decide to take the control back today. Making small, realistic goals can help you stay focused.

4. Don’t expect a miracle. With all the fireworks, confetti, and balloons, the New Year gives off a false impression that something magical is happening. Just because 2013 has arrived doesn’t mean things will suddenly be different. Only your continued efforts will help you reach your goals.

5. Continue with your team. The New Year can bring about a great deal of change. Change can be just what is needed to get your recovery headed in the right direction, but it can also be an opportunity for ED to sneak in. By staying in continuous communication with your team and attending all appointments you can help ensure that your recovery path is headed in a positive direction.