Money and Empowerment in St. Louis

Last week, I had the honor of presenting a workshop for McCallum Place, a treatment center for women struggling with eating disorders located in St. Louis, Missouri. The participants were staff members and treatment providers such as mental health counselors, dietitians and social workers dedicated to helping individuals and families impacted by anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.


What does money have to do with eating disorders recovery? More than you would think. Here are the top three connections and why it is so important for those working in mental health to address the financial aspects and complications of treatment:


The average cost of treatment for an eating disorder is over $100,000 per person. Eating disorders treatment is long term and expensive. Often clients require inpatient stays as well as outpatient work including nutrition appointments, counseling appointments and medical check ups, all of which add up in copays and out of pocket expenses.


There is a large correlation between binge eating, bulimia and compulsive over shopping. Many people who binge on food also binge shop. Unless both the spending and the eating behaviors are addressed, individuals may substitute symptoms and not get to the root of the issue - learning how to cope with difficult feelings and life circumstances.


Women need to learn to make peace with food and money. Many women have conflictual relationships with food and money. Those who tend to not eat enough also have trouble spending money on themselves. Individuals who over eat often over shop. The real issue is affect regulation. If you obsess about money or food, you are often too distracted to look at or feel what is really going on. While this is okay ever once in a while, when used as a consistent coping strategy, a person is likely to develop an eating disorder and/or a money disorder. Successful treatment and long term recovery depends on addressing both areas of a person's life.


What is your relationship with food? Does it mirror your relationship with money? Please share your thoughts and stories here so we all can learn to be at peace with both.