“We can’t fix what we don’t recognize as a problem.” Pa Kou Vue (my therapist)
I learned about doing a chain analysis this week in therapy, which my therapist calls the bread and butter of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). Full disclosure: I struggle with emotional eating. It is rooted in my childhood. I lived next door to my maternal grandparents, who helped raise my sister and me. When I was upset as a child, Grandma would offer me something sweet, and often it would be something she made. And could Grandma bake! As an adult, I often shove something sweet in my mouth, a repeat of the comfort grandma offered me as a child.
I am prone to high cholesterol and high triglycerides because of the genes I inherited from the same grandmother. As my therapist pointed out last week, eating sweets whenever I am scared or sad harms my body. It is a habit I long to break. Enter chain analysis which helps break down the behavior we seek to stop. Here is an example:
Identify the problem.
Emotional eating at home by myself.
Prompting event.
I found out I had to stop taking antihistamines for a week before allergy testing. I became anxious and fearful thinking about a week without the medication that keeps me from feeling like I have a cold.
Vulnerability factors.
I worried about the week before the testing. Those worries made me vulnerable to fear.
Consequences.
I felt shame throughout the process: before, during, and after eating sweets. (short-term consequences) I know that eating too much sugar is bad for my health. (long-term consequences)
The advantage of doing a chain analysis after emotional eating is that I can see a pattern, and by seeing it I can work on breaking the pattern. Since this is a behavior deeply rooted in my childhood, I know it will take time to break it. I am in recovery for the long haul.
Observed skills
I learned another skill called observation. It is something I already practice during my daily meditation time. I observe my thoughts without getting caught up in them. I spend time in silence once a day and focus on my breathing. I notice how my belly rises and falls with each breath. I notice how the breath feels going in and out of my nose. The advantage of doing this daily is that it trains me to be in the moment, according to my therapist. And awareness of the moment will help me overcome emotional eating.
Not every thought that comes into my mind is worth grasping, particularly thoughts about eating sweets when I feel sad or scared. Delving further into mindfulness meditation will help me the next time I feel overwhelming emotions. I can transfer what I learn in therapy and meditation into a tool that helps me feel what I feel and not stuff my emotions down with food.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
“We are not our thoughts.” Pa Kou Vue
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You sound like you're doing fine don't be so hard on yourself