Dietitians have an unfortunate stereotype.
If you google dietitian you will be presented with images of thin, white females in white coats with tape measures around their neck and baskets of fruit! (I just did a quick google image search and it was the first 9 images and the next 6 images were photos of fruit!)
When we tell people that we are dietitians they assume we focus on weight loss only; and are strict dictators who shame people. We don't blame anyone for this stereotype - it is perpetuated at a cultural level in many many ways! And like all biases and stereotypes we aim to change it - one step at a time!
Yes, there are dietitians who focus on weight loss and body size as part of their work. They were educated in a weight centric system where patients are not centered as individuals with autonomy as they should be.
And, there are many dietitians who responded to the uncomfortable feeling in their gut, examined their own values and worked hard to unlearn this bias and relearn another way of looking at bodies and health and who intend to support body autonomy and do no harm.
Dietitians are humans - all on their own journey. Consumers are able to research with the wonders of Google and find the dietitian they feel is a good fit for them.
Dietitians can do amazing things!
They are integral parts of ICU teams and other essential medical teams in hospitals and healthcare systems keeping people alive and healing. They assist people who need nutrition provided in alternative ways for a huge range of reasons.
Today I want to focus on being a dietitian in our setting; private outpatient setting focusing on supporting people to heal their relationship with food and body; disordered eating and eating disorders. I want to speak to what the dietitians at Eat Love Live aim to be. We work hard to listen and learn from our clients and to reflect on our practice so we don't make the same mistake again.
Dietitians in the disorder eating and eating disorder space can do more than just provide a meal plan. Absolutely there is a time that meal plans are imperative for healing and moving forward and dietitians are able to bring in the scientific knowledge to create a meal plan around nutrition but we can do a lot more than talk about nutrients.
Dietitians have a deep understanding of the physiology of the human body. They have a deep understanding of what happens to the human body when there isn’t enough nutrition and dietitians have the skills to be able to explain this in a way that’s understandable to help clients.
Dietitians have the skills to hear and validate the impact of an intrusive thoughts or an irrational belief and present the rational alternative with the scientific information to provide reassurance.
Dietitians are not the expert our clients are. The people that show up and are courageous enough to be vulnerable and talk about their experiences. You are the expert of your own body. We value the absolute privilege we have of listening to our clients and learning from them. This deeply informs our practice with others.
Dietitians have relational skills. We are able to hold a space for people to explore their relationship with their body; their relationship with food. To reflect on and unpack all of the things that have happened while they’ve growing up, currently; and all the parts of their identity and how that intersects with their relationship with food and body. Understanding these important aspects of ourselves is so important as a step towards healing; towards being able to make change. We often need to understand something; to have it witnessed and validated by someone; in order to be able to be ready to shift our perspective.
Dietitians have the skills to be able to hold a space where the clients can feel heard and validated, to have their reflection summarized and presented back to them so they can learn from their own understanding.
Dietitians don’t provide therapy but often we understand the therapy framework that our clients might be using with their psychologist so that we can echo the language. We can understand the techniques that you’re using and we can help to encourage people in implementing them.
Yes, Dietitians talk about food and nutrients and all things associated with that. We talk about how to get food, how to prepare food. All the practical steps involved in feeding ourselves and all the possible challenges with that. Sometimes our sessions might be actually writing that shopping list and emailing it to you. We can focus on those practical skills. And our clients get to direct the sessions. If they are not ready for the practical then we can sit in the discomfort and nuance exploring the subjective and hypothetical.
Sometimes your Dietitian will be there just to hold space for you to talk about what it’s like to move through the world in your body, with your identities. To validate that maybe what you’re experiencing isn’t your fault. To help you understand the systems that are built to oppress people in their bodies and with their identities; And, hopefully create a little bit of space where our clients start to let go of the shame that might be maintaining some stuckness for them.
Dietitians can work with ambivalence. We know it's hard to always or ever be 100% committed to change in one direction (and we know making that change is a whole nother difficult step). The fear of the unknown, the fear of the known, the fear of change itself is real. We want to sit in this muck with you, wade through the discomfort, feel the ambivalence and to hopefully find some pearls to help with your motivation.
So if you’re here having a look through this blog because one of your team members has said maybe a Dietitian will be helpful and you’re not really sure why; because you know everything about food (in fact it would be helpful if you didn’t have so much knowledge about food and calories etc!). I want you to know that we’re not just here to provide a meal plan; as dietitians we aim to listen and help clients feel heard, to empower our clients.
There are no bowls of fruit, no tape measures and there are no white jackets. There are just humans who are deeply passionate about supporting other humans to improve their relationship with food and their body and make living in this crazy world easier.