How to Feel More Confident in Session with Eating Disorder Clients
The real challenges behind eating disorder care and how to build your confidence as a clinician.
The emotional and clinical realities of working in eating disorder care, and why so many skilled providers still question their effectiveness.
There are a lot of (valid) reasons that providers opt out of specializing in eating disorders care. I get it. Eating disorders are incredibly complex conditions where the “solutions” are often unpredictable and may take years to land on. This work, particularly outpatient, requires enormous capacity to tolerate a great deal of unknowns.
- •Is what I’m doing effective?
- •Am I making a difference?
- •They say progress is slow but are we just moving in circles?
- •Would my client be better off seeing someone more (experienced, specialized, etc, etc.)?
Not to mention, providers often feel deeply alone in the hardest moments of our jobs. It’s just you, your client, and perhaps your inner critic sitting in those counseling sessions.
If you were to name the top challenge (or two) you face when sitting with clients, what would it be? I have noticed clear themes in my role as a supervisor that I often find myself thinking,
“Oh gosh, if you could sit in on my other supervision sessions you would be feeling so much less alone right now!”
Here are three of the most common challenges I hear on a weekly basis from well-trained, skilled, highly compassionate providers such as yourself.
1. Feelings of imposter syndrome and inadequacy.
This often sounds like,
“I just wonder if I had more training in….(fill in the blank) I’d be better able to help my client.”
“Marci, it seems like you always know just what to say. If I had more experience, maybe my client would be making more headway in their recovery.”
Hint: Every single seasoned clinician you know has felt or feels this way about someone they’ve worked with or are working with. When it seems clients are stuck, clinicians often feel stuck too.
Lack of positive movement in eating disorder recovery rarely boils down to,
“You’re a crap provider who doesn’t know what you’re doing and you should probably quit your job to become a barista.”
Confidence doesn’t come from knowing everything; it comes from trusting your presence, your empathy, and your commitment to learning.
You are doing meaningful, difficult work. The confidence you seek is already in you; it just needs practice, support, and permission to shine.
2. Dysfunctional treatment team dynamics.
This might include breakdowns in communication, mistrust, and lack of alignment in treatment approach, leaving providers feeling emotionally vulnerable/de-valued, alone, ineffective, and overextended. When things aren’t going well on the team, those same emotions often creep into client sessions. And it sucks.
This dynamic is one of the hardest parts of our work because it challenges not just our clinical skills, but our emotional boundaries. It’s okay to name that and seek support for it.
3. Feeling underprepared or underinformed on rapidly changing topics.
This happens particularly for issues related to diet and weight loss medications. Many clinicians feel de-skilled and ill-equipped to navigate tricky conversations.
“How will my client trust me if I haven’t read all of the newest research on intermittent fasting, Ozempic, or, or, or….”
This is challenging when there is so little time to assign to this task and no way to stay up to date on everything, and trying to can quickly lead to overwhelm.
What matters most is how you ground your work in compassion, curiosity, and evidence-based principles, not in knowing it all. Build your confidence in you and your skills – that is how you will affect your clients’ lives the best way possible.
I hope that this short list leaves you feeling in good company rather than overwhelmed by the intense emotions that arise for us during and after our sessions.
I want you to know this: You are not alone with whatever hard feelings or moments you struggle with while in session.
You deserve support to feel confident in your work
So much of what we need in session with eating disorder clients was not taught in school. My online courses are designed to help clinicians feel more confident and supported in session – with practical tools and a community that reminds you that you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
And right now they are all 20% off.
Click and Explore all Fall Sale courses – save 20% with code CONFIDENT.
And please remember this… You, just like your clients, deserve all of the self-compassion for how hard this is. Just as our clients learn to tolerate their imperfect bodies, their imperfect eating, and their imperfect life with grace and kindness…
How beautiful is it that you are alongside them in a parallel process of learning to extend compassion to yourself for your own imperfections as their provider?
Confidence as a Clinician grows when you stop demanding perfection from yourself and instead allow space for learning, reflection, and connection.
I would love to know: what is most challenging for YOU when in session with your clients? DM me on Instagram to share your top challenges. I’m thinking about using your responses to create some (hopefully) supportive content for you in the new year.
Thanks for being here. I can’t tell you how good it feels to know you’re alongside me – even if we don’t know each other yet.
Sending my best to you. Always.
In case you missed it and might be interested, my annual sale is now through October 20th. All of my online courses, workshops, and course bundles are 20% when you coupon code: CONFIDENT at checkout. You can head to my training page to learn more about my offerings.