Overview of Careers in Eating Disorders

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Why do people eat for comfort? How bad can the habit get? It can be truly bad, and perhaps even damaging to one’s livelihood. The eating disorder remains a very prominent disorder and is common among many different groups of people. If you are looking for a position working with eating disorders there seems to be a variety of paths that you can take. There are doctors and nutritionists who work with people who have eating disorders and well as psychologists and psychiatrists. They all approach the same problem from different areas of life.

A Nutritionist’s View of Careers in Eating Disorders

An eating disorder means that your food intake is grossly off kilter for providing adequate nutrition for your body. It can be too little food or too much food or too much of the wrong kinds of food. However the out of balance occurs, the nutritionist approaches the problem from a food intake point of view. All things will improve if you simply eat the proper types and amounts of food.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists Approach

This type of position requires a specific bachelor’s degree. These tend to be very specialized approaches to eating disorders. Whereas a nutritionist might say it is the type or amount of food, the psychologist/psychiatrist will try to identify underlying causes for the disorder. They feel that once the underlying cause is identified and dealt with, the physical problem will no longer be a significant issue.

Psychiatrists are required to have an M.D. designation before gaining their psychiatric training and a psychologist will usually have to earn a master’s degree before they get into licensure and more specific training. Both of these fields require a significant time commitment before you begin to work with clients.

Physicians and Careers in Eating Disorders

Unfortunately, it is often our family doctor who has the least amount of training and exposure to eating disorders It is ironic that this person is also the first that we come to and the most trusted on the subject. Most doctors acknowledge their knowledge gap in this area and defer to a nutritionist to help the patient.

This path takes the normal M.D. path which is a bachelor’s degree and then four years of medical school, with an internship and residency also involved. There is so much for the doctor to learn that the shortcomings in their nutritional knowledge is understandable.

How Do Most People Find a Career Working with Eating Disorders?

Most people seeking careers in the field of eating disorders do it through the path of a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition, followed by either a master’s or supervised training under a specialist.. Regardless of how you choose to approach your career, it will be interesting and varied. The nation has a billowing obesity problem as well as increasing numbers of people with anorexia and bulimia. Both are eating disorders that require an entirely different approach, but, ironically, can have similar roots.

You can follow many paths to a career in working with eating disorders. The choice comes down to your abilities and what you would like to accomplish.