Reclaiming Your Body After Abuse and Assault

Trigger Warning: Impact of abuse and assault on physical, mental, and emotional health. Reader discretion advised.

You may ask: Where does the voice of a registered dietitian treating eating disorders/disordered eating belong in a conversation about the impacts of abuse and assault?

Our answer: Front and center.

Experiencing a loss of body autonomy through traumatic events such as abuse and assault is a topic that is becoming more openly discussed in media and research. Finally! – a realm of experiences that many (most) of us can relate to on some level is no longer “hush-hush”. With the growing amount and variety of community support for survivors, where does the non-diet, body neutral dietitian fit in?

Trauma affects everything. Survivors often experience changes in their physical, mental, and emotional health (sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly).* Many of these changes are intricately weaved with digestive health and eating behaviors. Cue the non-diet, body neutral dietitian!

It is our hope to help survivors of trauma move forward in their healing journeys by encouraging a reclamation of body autonomy and educating on the specific ways traumatic events can alter the how we feed ourselves. This. Takes. Time. All the time one may need. Some ways in which a dietitian at Nutritious Thoughts** may support you in reclaiming your body autonomy include the following:

• Restoration of balanced and adequate nourishment
• Rehabilitation from eating disorder/disordered eating behaviors
• Attunement to bodily cues (hunger, fullness, other digestive and emotional cues related to eating)
• Creating a self-care plan
• Cultivating a space where your voice and experience is heard and respected

If you or someone you know needs support around the topics of abuse and/or assault, please consider reaching out to or providing them with the following resources:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline – 1-800-799-7233
• National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) – 1-800-656-4673
• Our Voice (local Western NC support!) – 828-255-7576
• For crises, medical emergencies, etc. – Dial 911

*Details on these changes can be found via Dialogues of Clinical Neuroscience here: Traumatic stress: effects on the brain

**A registered dietitian is an important part of a treatment team for survivors with dis-regulated eating behaviors but they cannot be the entire team. Survivors deserve a team that involves multiple clinicians and at minimum, the addition of a therapist and physician.