CENTER FOR EATING DISORDERS
BRIDGEPOINT PHILOSOPHY
What is our Philosophy? We intend to offer you a safe,
comfortable, nurturing environment in which you may begin to heal. We, your
facilitating team, have varying strengths, talents and resources to support
your needs. We are here because we want to be here. Updated from last year, the following is the evolving description of the services available at BridgePoint, the philosophical framework that offers opportunities for self-discovery, self-actualization and self-realization at whatever depths or heights the client [participant] is ready to explore. Further work is in the process of being done to more fully describe the nutrition, medical and evaluation components. Life is a moveable feast (inspired by Ernest Hemingway) The perspective at BridgePoint is that eating disorders are coping mechanisms that also present a very serious health risk. They replace healthy ways of dealing with issues related to stressful and traumatic life experience and personal conflicts. Persons with eating disorders often disassociate from their feelings and consequently do not have a clear sense of self. In the recovery process, the person with an eating disorder develops an understanding of the issues underlying the eating disorder and how the eating disorder is related to unexpressed feelings and personal pain. The transition to better ways of coping with life stresses and healthier living is normally a lengthy and highly individualized process that requires continual self-discovery. The role of BridgePoint is to support self-discovery, as well as skill building, in the transition from letting go of old, unhealthy life patterns to discovering a variety of new and healthy choices in how to respond to the challenges of life. This support is provided in a program with three sequential modules that symbolize the process of building a bridge to recovery. Each module is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of individuals with extensive and diverse experience and skills in human services. The diversity among team members is well suited to the diverse individual needs of the participants. All members of the team understand the nature of eating disorders and are committed to the philosophy of BridgePoint and to the content and goals of each of the modules. The format of each module includes intensive experiential learning and teaching sessions within a group model, individual discussions and processing of personal issues. Individuals are encouraged to progress at their own rate toward their personal or optimal level of wellness. Self –responsibility is encouraged and supported in all modules. Group building is emphasized in each module in order to provide a milieu for personal sharing. A variety of concepts are presented in order to facilitate and enhance personal growth and learning. These concepts build upon one another to assist in integration of information within and across modules. However, flexibility in content and experiences are maintained in each module in order to be responsive to the needs of the participants as issues arise rather than adhering to a strict curriculum. - 2 - The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is
a faithful servant. Creativity is not something that is taught by someone out there. Inherent in all of us, creativity is a quality to be explored, expanded, and new learning integrated by the individual who becomes his/her own teacher. Some participants entering the Creative Expressions component of the program for the first time label themselves as “not creative”, forgetting that everyone has talent and that self discovery is a process not of control, but of surrender into uncertainty. Creative Expressions is an integral part of the teaching and experiential sessions that flow through the programs. Each activity is timed and aligned with other module components so that participants experience the holistic nature of the work that is offered. It is the responsibility of the creative expressions facilitators to create a committed, safe, supportive environment where exploration and learning takes place. The facilitators engage in all of the activities, helping to preserve a sense of healthy group intimacy through modeling and personal sharing. The real challenge of participants who are caught in the loop of obsessive behaviours around food, body image, relational and boundary issues is not to create greater freedoms in the world around them, but to start looking inside themselves. Most of us use both sides of our brains, however we lean more toward one side or the other in our mental processes. Creative Expressions is designed to foster a more whole-brained orientation. Visualizations, centering exercises, movement and free form drawings temporarily disengage the logical left-brain more methodical, linear thinking processes. Conversely, these same activities tend to open or expand right-brain thinking into free form, big picture, new learning and adventures. Where as the left-brain analyses, the right brain synthesizes. Where as the left-brain is rational, the right brain is holistic. Where as the left-brain focuses on accuracy and detail, the right brain opens to generalities. Participants explore their emotional responses and preferences using tactile experience, colors, gesture drawings, improvisation, metaphors, symbolism, imagery and silence. Integration is invited through left-brain journaling and sharing. While these two half brains do work like separate departments, they do so in an interconnected and collaborating way. - 3 - Silence is a natural, integral part of the Creative Expressions experience. Unsolicited evaluations and interpretations of other’s work are discouraged to avoid interrupting or altering unique, sometimes deeply personal processes. Again, however, participants are encouraged to remain open and curious. The invitation is to observe and express whatever they are feeling -pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral- with dispassionate acceptance. In the final analysis, the result “the end” of their creative artistry is not as important as the self-awareness that unfolds through the process “the means”. In the final analysis each participant is the end because of human dignity. The program is holistic in approach. Eating disorders are considered within the broader context of personal health and well-being, social support and community resources. BridgePoint is part of, and complements, the continuum of services for eating disorders in the province of Saskatchewan. Highlights of program services available at BridgePoint are sketched below. The sketches are intended to give the reader a “taste” or “flavor” rather than a full description, in recognition of the use of food as a metaphor for life. Access to the services provided at BridgePoint is through referral by health professionals in Health Districts. Specifically, a medical referral is required and participants must be assessed as medically stable prior to entry into the program. They must also be ready to engage in a recovery process that will require intensive personal work. All participants must have the support of a counsellor in their home community. Weekend Retreats Orientation and Assessment The beginning is the most important part of the work Introductory level services are provided on Weekend Retreats as well as Orientation and Assessment. Weekend retreats are self-referral. Participants who arrive with trepidation and the uncertainty of having made the decision to venture into uncharted territory, literally and metaphorically, experience their own courage as they tell their stories, tentatively acknowledging their issues, some for the very first time. - 4 - In the context of no right, no wrong, the invitation is to just
be Creative Check-in offers a glimpse into the artistry of self-expression; where participants center themselves through the use of breath, register passing thoughts and sensations, and when ready trust their hand to express who, what and how they are in the moment. Other projects such as Door Poster, Boundary Box, Layers of Self and Self as a Vessel are intended to explore their uniqueness and sameness in relation to others. Opportunity is provided at the end of each session for personal sharing and closure. Orientation and Assessment is the prerequisite to the modules described below. Participants encourage themselves by exercising the necessary first steps to meet the referral criteria. The very act of considering who, what and how family and friends will attend that portion of the program often serves to bring foreground issues surrounding relationship, communication and boundaries. During Orientation and Assessment, participants become familiar
with the physical facilities of BridgePoint. The importance of the concept
of living in community is emphasized, particularly because of the residential
nature of the program. - 5 - Creative Expressions during orientation and assessment sessions introduce
participants to the beginning processes of self-exploration, personal
choice, safety and group building. This is offered through Creative Check-in,
the making of a Door Poster that identifies and claims their private space,
also a collage Animal Poster/I Am Story. The Adult Program |
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Self-awareness is fostered through interaction among participants
and with team members with a focus on clear communication skills. Personal
sharing and invitations for direct feedback from others provide a context
for exploring personal issues and patterns. Learning to clear conflicts
in communicative exchanges allows for learning about different perspectives
and encourages curiosity about self and others. The group context allows
for each client to personally share in, and learn from, the experiences
of other members. It also provides an opportunity to set personal boundaries
with other people that lead to greater self-definition or sense of self.
The concepts learned and practiced during Module I are accompanied by
various forms of breath-work. Breath-work provides experiences in increasing
body energy and vitality to foster a state of increased well-being. Feelings
and emotions that have often been denied in the course of the eating disorder
can be experienced through body awareness facilitated by the breath-work.
Within the context of Creative Expressions, the core process, Shadow,
Light and Essence- spans the entire module.
Exploring what lies on a level below the surface, allowing that to affect
what lies
upon the surface, leading to something new above the surface
- Unknown
Mask making is a way of bringing forth and learning a new persona. Participants
explore both revealed and unrevealed aspects of self, expressed through
the medium of clay, paper maché, paint and other materials.
Individual exercises, visualizations and free flow drawing are introduced
at various stages to frame the process. These include: -Creative Check-ins,
-Childhood, Current, Future Picture & Letter, -“I AM”
Poster, -Mirroring Movement, -Nature Outing, -Nature Story, -Tool Box,
-Door Envelope and -Personal Symbol. Improvisations, journaling and group
sharing facilitate integration.
Essence, the new persona, is the merging of Light and Shadow. The process
ends with a drawing that combines both aspects, followed by an opportunity
for each participant to “Play” their Essence while group members
witness in silence, providing the container. The uncertainties of sharing,
performing, being vulnerable before others, and doing it anyway, offers
tangible self-evidence of the individual’s potential and courage
to stretch beyond the familiar.
Module I is the building block that invites more of the same.
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Module II-Building the Bridges
Sometimes just being alive feels like raw flesh…
vulnerable, responsive, irritable, in constant danger.
Those are the times when I most need to sense my place among other people,
to hear their tales and know that they are mine as well.
I badly need to be sure that someone can hear me
and I need to receive the answering cry.
- Sheldon Kopp
The focus of Module II is on the development of the self in relationships.
Continued self-discovery and practice of different choices in living and
coping cannot be done in isolation although the latter is often the refuge
sought in difficult personal times. The facilitation of learning about
the self in relationship with others in Module II encourages personal
contact as a context for learning and as a resource in times of crisis
and stress. Concepts presented and practiced in Module I continue to be
emphasized and integrated.
Self-awareness increases in a developmental process of seeing differences
in personal qualities and viewpoints from those of others. Initially,
power struggle or conflict is expected because these differences are usually
seen from a stand of who is right and who is wrong in a relationship.
Remaining in the power struggle is an obstacle to further personal growth.
Encouragement to be curious about how personal viewpoints and those of
others came to be is a way to begin accepting differences and learning
more about self and others. It is then possible to move out of the power
struggle by accepting differences from a stand of agreement or disagreement
without investment in who is right. The relationship can then become a
context for collaboration in supporting each person’s personal growth
rather than remaining in conflict.
Seeing and accepting the viewpoints of self and others is an essential
component of clear communication and of the setting of personal boundaries.
The issue of perspective or different viewpoints is further emphasized
in qualities of mindful living. These qualities facilitate and encourage
awareness of choice in any given situation rather than living in automatic,
habitual patterns that limit personal awareness. Seeing different choices
comes from acknowledging different perspectives, challenging rigid beliefs
and conscious alteration of old life patterns. There is a continued emphasis
on feelings and emotions, through breath work, as a way to become personally
aware so that new choices can be made.
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Recognizing old patterns and positive qualities and accessing
the support of other people, particularly during difficult times of personal
learning, contribute to a person’s resilience or ability to “bounce
back” from stressful experiences rather than being overwhelmed by
them and resorting to old, ineffective ways of coping. The facilitation
of self-awareness and the development of self in relationship in the Modules
as well as learning about different choices in living and coping can have
a very positive impact on life and assist recovery.
The Module II “Essence”, Creative Expressions component, is
intended to intensify and deepen work begun in Module I, an exploration
of Self in relationship to self and others. It is one evolving metaphoric
piece of work.
I came to see that spirituality is not so much about spirits or other
worldly phenomena; it is about discovering one’s own self, being
at peace with one’s self in the world, becoming more in touch with
a deeper sense of purpose, and freeing the mind from unnecessary fear
and anger so that compassion and empathy can emerge.
- Peter Russell (“Is the Future My Responsibility?”)
Participants “ease” into the process by watching a video that
deals with body image, objectification, exploitation, commercialism and
the media. They are invited to explore and discuss their reactions. They
are encouraged to recognize where diversity and oneness converge; examine
“external conditioning” that influences their perceptual lens
versus that of another.
In choosing a Gallery piece, participants are invited to consider the
emotional response that led to their selection, to explore and incorporate
any new awareness into story form through the medium of journaling.
“Giving voice” in community and hearing from others is encouraged
as important practice in cultivating communication skills. The simple
act of “being heard” seems to become more liberating for many
participants as their creative journey evolves.
As the process unfolds, participants sketch, “…how I feel
in my body”, annotating with symbols or language those areas of
the body that are the focus of obsessive thoughts. They transfer their
sketch onto a life size cardboard drawing, followed by an actual body
tracing. Extensive visualizations and centering exercises assist participants
to reflect on physical, spiritual, and emotional components of self. Through
the use of symbolism they transform their drawing, incorporating these
perceptions into “Essence”. The cardboard piece is then cut
out, painted and embellished within an environment that promotes freedom
of design and versatility in their choice of materials.
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Closure includes writing a letter to Self (Essence). This is a time for
silent reflection, making peace, and revealing. The journey culminates
in a walkabout within the community they themselves have created, and
then moves beyond this container into the larger world of BridgePoint
where others see their “essence”. The closure process is a
time of both vulnerability and strength, offering new depths of intimacy
“into me see” through the relationship mirror.
Follow-up Weekends
To exist is to change; to change is to mature; to mature
is to go on creating oneself endlessly
- Henri Bergson
At present, follow up weekends and retreats are co-joined, although sessions
sometimes occur independent of each other. Participants who have immersed
themselves in the intensive Module I and Module II exhibit the elegance
that comes with knowing they are free to explore at whatever level they
choose. This is their opportunity to reconnect with themselves and others,
to recognize and appreciate the choices, changes and successes they have
realized since their last stay.
A mutual, integrated learning process is invited. Past participants awaken
to their capacity for compassion as they make room for others who are
at the beginning of their journeys. In community, first time participants
are offered a glimpse of their own potentialities modeled by others who
have gone before.
Adolescent Program
Many of the girls … can remember some of their choices---the choice
to be quiet in class rather than risk being called a brain,
the choice to diet rather than eat when they were hungry,
the choice to go out with the right crowd rather than the crowd they liked,
the choice to be polite rather than honest, or to be pretty rather than
have fun
- Mary Phipher
The adolescent program is available for individuals from 15 - 18 years
of age. It recognizes adolescence as a significant developmental period
for individual growth within the context of family and the pressures of
society. There is an Adolescent Intensive Module that includes a significant
Parent/Guardian program component.
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Awareness of choice is a particularly important concept given the standards
adolescents often believe they are expected to meet or exceed and how
they cope with the associated stress. Learning about the process of striving
for perfection is important in clarifying the difference between choosing
to live up to an idealized image or discovering the real self, particularly
through the development of personal boundaries.
Access to alternative choices can occur by listening carefully to the
perspectives of other people when learning clear communication skills.
Especially important is remaining curious about the viewpoints of others
rather than making judgments about who is right or wrong. This is particularly
relevant in parent-adolescent interactions where often the need for independence
in the adolescent comes into conflict with the concern of parents for
the safety of their child.
These conflicts become the context for boundary conversations between
adolescents and their parents. These discussions can lead to a better
understanding of each other's viewpoint and to reaching a mutually acceptable
solution rather than remaining in conflict. The result is that a parent
and adolescent both experience greater self-awareness and personal growth
in the context of being in relationship with one another.
The concepts learned and practiced during the Adolescent program are accompanied
by a variety of activities. These activities afford opportunity for the
release or building of energy as a balance in the program with other experiential
activities that have a more specific learning focus.
Furthermore, the family unit is considered an essential resource for supporting
the adolescent through this important and challenging developmental period
particularly in view of how issues related to eating have an impact on
the entire family. In recognition of the importance of the family unit,
the participation of parents and siblings is requested for a portion of
the adolescent program. The intention is to discover and facilitate strengths
in the network of family relationships that foster a sense of well-being
in the family as a whole that, in turn, can provide a supportive context
for promoting the health of the adolescent. Clear communication and collaborative
solutions to current concerns are a focus so that the family is supported
in the process of becoming more able to meet future challenges.
When possible, an important feature of the adolescent program is the inclusion
of a young adult who can share with the adolescent participants her own
recent experiences of adolescence and as a past participant in the program.
This person acts as a supportive guide and as a resource for clarifying
the intention and relevance of the philosophy and content of the program
for promoting general health and well-being.
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The promotion of a healthier approach to life is in recognition of the
adolescent program as an early intervention/prevention program, given
that the average age of onset for eating disorders is in the teen years.
Disordered eating often arises out of the larger context of the stressors
associated with that developmental period. The primary focus of the program
is on those stressors and their impact on feelings of well-being rather
than on the details of eating behaviors. This is considered important
in promoting an attitude of coping in self-constructive ways that decrease
the probability of further development of an eating disorder.
The concepts learned and practices during the adolescent program are accompanied
by a variety of activities. These activities afford opportunity for the
release or building of energy as a balance in the program with other experiential
activities that have a more specific learning focus.
Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.
- James Thurber
An exploration of feelings, the opportunity to cultivate peer relationships, explore the attributes of individuation and maturity, give voice to thoughts and experiences within respectful boundaries are all part of the creative journey. Specific Creative Expressions activities continue to evolve in response to the particular needs of adolescents who enter BridgePoint.
We are unique from anyone else by virtue of who we are. Our emotional,
spiritual, and moral blueprint is different form anyone else on this planet,
-now, that ever was, and ever will be-.
And yet, we are all united in the search for meaning.
- Dr. Yassin Sankar