The Benefits of Partnering with a Psychotherapist for Weight Loss

Losing weight can be hard, even if you’re doing all the things you’re supposed to, like eating a healthy diet and engaging in regular exercise.

There’s also a component that many people overlook: the psychological blocks you’ve put in place over the years that may make it hard to stick with a healthy weight loss plan or see the results that you want.

At Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic, board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Kanwaljit “Kavi” Sidhu, NP-C, PMHNP-BC, and our staff offer a medical weight loss program for our patients in Palm Harbor, Florida, who want to lose the pounds but need some help in accomplishing the task.

Our program is different from many other medical weight loss programs in that we give you psychological support in addition to physical support, to help you achieve your goals. Here’s what’s involved.

The problems with overweight and obesity

Having too much body fat puts you at risk for a number of serious but preventable diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), Type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, in 2019, there were 5 million deaths from noncommunicable and preventable diseases such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes that were caused by a high body mass index (BMI), a measure of overweight and obesity.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 children and 1 in 3 adults is obese, and obese children are more likely to become obese adults, with all the associated risks for cardiovascular and other types of diseases.

What is medical weight loss?

Medically supervised weight loss programs are services provided by a team of healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered dietitians, and psychologists.

At your initial consultation, they take a complete medical history, including past weight loss attempts, a weight history, and if you have any weight-related diseases, such as high blood pressure or heart disease. They also try to determine if there are any underlying medical causes for increased weight, and what your psychological relationship is with food.

Your treatment plan is tailored to your individual needs, and it may include lifestyle modifications (i.e., a healthy diet and enough exercise), medications such as appetite suppressants or the new GLP-1 agonists, and psychological and emotional support.

The plan also includes accountability, which is something a solo diet attempt can’t provide. Because you have regular weigh-ins, you have to keep up your end of the work, making you accountable for your own treatment. In addition, the staff can provide the necessary congratulations when you start to see results. It’s a great motivator.

Why partner with a psychotherapist for weight loss?

How you view food plays an important role in whether or not your weight loss attempts are successful. Many people develop an unhealthy relationship, using it to comfort themselves when they’re angry or sad or to entertain themselves when they’re bored. These negative feelings can easily sabotage an attempt to lose weight on your own.

A psychotherapist can help you understand the problem and fix it. At Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic, Kavi helps you determine your underlying relationship with both food and exercise, guiding you to explore any issues you might have and helping you resolve them so you can see success with your weight loss goals.

Working with a psychotherapist also helps you develop the self-confidence to believe you’ll be successful in your weight loss journey and not derail your efforts if you fall off the wagon occasionally.

Two techniques that may prove helpful are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which allows you to fundamentally change the way you eat and lose weight, and mindfulness-based eating therapy, where you focus on what you’re eating instead of overeating because you’re not paying attention.

If you’re trying to lose the pounds and need some help, the team at Sidhu Psychiatric Clinic can help. Call our office at 727-382-1383, or contact us online today.