The Secret Ingredient For Success

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22, 2012 | POSTED BY DR. GOULD

A patient came in the other day with the best advise I've ever heard!

"I realize now that I have to recognize my personal development issues as much as I have to pay attention to what I eat."

In all of my experience with the Shrink Yourself program, and with the patients that I have treated, I can tell you that this perspective is absolutely essential for overcoming emotional eating.

I saw a patient recently who was suffering from a great deal of anguish about her binges. Even though she was in pain, she was also ambivalent about accepting help. I insisted we talk only about her ambivalence until we understood it.

Her greatest fear was that she would lose weight and try again to have a fulfilling romantic relationship. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. But for her it was very scary, because she was predicting that every romantic relationship would end in failure. She was sure she would suffer such great hurt that it would take her months or years to recover.

In this case, she has to acknowledge her "fear of success" in order to overcome her dependency on food.

She started her pattern of emotional eating because of her disappointments with previous relationships. She stopped trying and stopped learning and therefore, stopped growing. Now she has to pay attention to this area of her life. This is her personal development issue.

I am sharing this example so that you may find your own story. Think about your ambivalence. Ask yourself why you are afraid to succeed.

Is your ambivalence stopping you from starting this program?