Nature or nurture? That’s been the question for ages. Fascinating new research is pointing to the possibility that underlying neurobiological factors drive the behaviors exhibited by Anorexia Nervosa. Most abide by the belief that some combination of genetics, culture, and family dynamics contributes to the development of eating disorders: society is the gun, genetics loads the gun, and the family pulls the trigger. Unfortunately, many afflicted individuals and their families have lived with a negative stigma associated with this disorder. [...]
Rachel Cantrell, MFT Intern
Rachel Cantrell is an MFT intern specializing in the treatment of eating disorders. She also has experience working with other addictions, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, trauma and dissociation, and depression. She enjoys working with individuals, couples, and families and is devoted to providing help and service to the community of Santa Barbara County.
Articles
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe your weight is not the problem? Have you ever noticed that you feel worse about your body when you’re stressed out or frustrated? Maybe the real issue is not your body. Glamour conducted a survey of more than 300 women of all sizes. They found that, on average, women have 13 negative body thoughts daily. Some women even attest to having 50 or 100 hateful thoughts about their bodies each day. Cultural [...]
Most people who get sick want to get better. When we contract a disease we usually go to the doctor to get medicine, right? Well, anorexia nervosa is one of the few diseases that the affected like having. This is what makes treating the disease so incredibly difficult. Image that you are a doctor. You know that the cure for your patient’s illness is a simple pill. If she would just take it, she would be cured. But she doesn’t [...]
