Group Therapy

“Weighty-Issues” is group therapy for women of all “persuasions” of eating difficulties. There are two groups that meet weekly: one for women 30+ on Wednesday evenings at 7-8:30pm, and one for women between the ages of 18 and 30, held Tuesday 5 to 6:30pm. Each participant is encouraged to be in individual therapy with her own private therapist. Prospective members are interviewed to determine if group therapy is an appropriate modality. If you or someone you love is seeking treatment for an eating disorder, call Dr. Janet for a consultation at  310.473.6169, or email her at JanetKSmithphd@gmail.com. Groups meet in West Los Angeles, California.

Treatment philosophy

The group provides a safe environment for exploration of the issues behind disordered eating. When these issues can be understood, healing can begin. A group offers the opportunity to speak openly and listen to others in a private and confidential setting. Where there's an eating disorder, there's a voice that's not being heard. Groups provide a way to bond with others - to feel less alone and hopeless in the pit of the eating disorder. We make space and time to listen to the voice that's gotten lost or has been disowned.

Painful feelings are less overwhelming when they can be shared and understood. We address wishes and fears that make us feel freaky and disturbed and find we have more in common with each other than we thought. We debunk the “bad” voices that say we're doomed so why bother? We laugh, cry and grow through understanding how and why we've turned to the eating disorder and away from our true selves.

In more psychological language, we address anxieties and defenses against feeling pain, guilt, envy, and fears of self-expression. We come to understand the reasons for self-destruction and self-mutilation and the wishes behind the ideal of thinness and the pursuit of perfection and how they apply to our own unique situations. We come to terms with the history of the eating disorder and how it affects relationships with others, our ego strength, our strivings to be all we can be and the obstacles that keep us shackled.