Hi there,

I struggle so much with overeating and I realize that I will not really succeed unless I get some help. The problem is, I don't even know how to go about finding help. I try Google searches for counselors and nothing really comes up except places that do counseling as part of weight loss surgery and I'm not interested in surgery at this time.

How do I search for a counselor? How do I find out if they specialize in counseling for people with compulsive overeating?

First things first: Kudos on recognizing the issue and seeking help for it!

You can call your health insurance company and they will give you a list of providers in your area who specialize in compulsive overeating.

There also may be some support groups for COE in your area, those kinds of arenas help me.

Good luck!

Great ideas, thanks. I didn't think of asking the health insurance company.

As mentioned, your health insurance is a good place to start. But mine was really limited. So I decided to go out of network which really opens up your options if you can afford it.

I recently did my own therapy search. I ended up going with a person that I was referred to by my nutritionist. But I found this site really helpful (Psychology Today Therapists directory in case the link is removed):

http://therapists.psychologytoday.co...rof_search.php

In my area there were a lot of counselors/therapists registered here. I also did a google map search starting with my address to therapist. Anyone that's advertising will pop up on that search and you can look at their personal websites. That's how I found my psychiatrist. I wouldn't include compulsive eating (or something like that) in your search because it might limit you too much in your results and there could be therapists out there that do specialize in it, but just have it listed differently on their site. I also found that a lot of therapists that I came across specialized in it in some form or fashion. I think it's a big topic these days. Mine actually doesn't say that she specializes in it, but she does address it as part of the overall treatment. And that's enough for me.

Finding the right therapist can be a difficult process because you really do have to click with their personality in my opinion. But it'll be worth it in the end. I won't say that I look forward to my therapy sessions, but I do know that they're helping and I'm beginning to rely on them to get me through the week. And I'm learning that the overeating is yet another symptom of the overall problem for me.

Good luck on your search!