Felicia Cota

If you find yourself struggling, feeling overwhelmed or experiencing painful emotions in your everyday life or perhaps experiencing triggers from past trauma, I work with people like you, who sometimes get stuck in a cycle of self-defeating behavior in your personal life and relationships. Together we can address your needs of improving your quality of life such as helping you manage stress and anxiety. We would start by creating a collaborative relationship. I facilitate this by doing my best to create a comfortable space where you can share not only your issues, but one that helps shape your ideas for growth and change

My job is to provide you with information, empathy, and understanding to support you on your journey of personal growth for individuals and couples. I focus on bringing a wide range of healing interventions that focus on the whole person, mind, body and spirit, that allow for emotional regulation, clear thinking and intentional action.

There are times in our lives when it makes sense to reach out for help and support. I commend you for recognizing that time and taking action as it often comes when we feel pretty low and vulnerable. This is why I am standing by with compassion ready to meet you where you are at and help you take the next steps to build the life you want.

Felicia Cota

Eating Disorders - It's Not About the Food

By Kelly Lopez

If it’s not about the food, what is it really about?

The eating disorder serves a function, it does a job. Despite the problems an eating disorder creates, it is an effort to cope, shield against, communicate, and solve problems. Behaviors may be a way to establish a sense of power or control, self-worth, strength, and containment. Bringing may be used to numb pain. Purging may be a way to release emotions. When one cannot cope in healthy ways, adaptive functions (behaviors) are created to ensure a sense of safety, security, and control.
According to Carolyn Costin*, some of the “adaptive functions that eating disorder behaviors commonly serve are”:
It’s not about the food, it’s a way of coping with low self-esteem, negative emotions, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, unstable home, difficulty resolving conflict and much more.
*Costin, Carolyn. The Eating Disorder Sourcebook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Causes, Treatments and Prevention of Eating Disorders. 3rd. edition, McGraw Hill, 2007.
Fuller, Kristen. “Eating Disorders: It’s Not All about Food.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 22 Mar. 2017