Kara Bazzi is a licensed marriage and family therapist in the Seattle area specializing in work with eating disorders. She is a veteran provider of individual, family, and group therapy. From her own personal background and her experience working with clients, Bazzi supports the Intuitive Eating approach to eating disorders.
In part one of our interview, Bazzi speaks to the ways in which eating disorders can develop and how she brings her expertise to her clients.
Question: What drew you to specializing in eating disorders?
I pursued this field as a result of my experience running long distance at the collegiate level. I was surrounded by a community of women (including myself) who struggled with food and body issues. My passion to work with those suffering from eating disorders developed from this personal experience. I saw the suffering firsthand and I knew I could have an impact on other women like myself who wanted to be free from the torment.
Q: Specifically, what kinds of clients do you normally see?
I typically work with women in their 20s, as well as adolescents. I have quite a few clients who have an athletic background as well. I am trained in family systems work so I encourage working with a system (i.e., parent, boyfriend) if the opportunity arises.
Q: There are lots of philosophies about diet and healthy weight management. How do you describe yours?
I subscribe to the Health At Every Size movement/philosophy. Therefore, I work with dietitians who believe in a non-diet approach as they are working with their clients. I feel strongly that in order for clients to have a life-long recovery, they must learn to make peace with food and rid themselves of all food rules. Once a client has done that and becomes an intuitive eater, the difficult work becomes accepting the client's body shape for what it naturally is.
Q: How do you apply your philosophy in working with clients?
I think the application part falls more on the dietitian. The dietitian works directly with the client on the person's daily relationship with food. Therefore, I am very mindful of the dietitians with whom I will work because it's important for me to trust that they are like-minded in their philosophy. Other than that, I think my philosophy comes out in the way I talk with my clients in maybe more subtle ways like language usage.
Q: How does your philosophy shape your language with eating disorder clients?
For example, I don't make any references to dieting, judgments of food, preferences of body shape, and so on. Also, there are times when I am more direct in my beliefs if the opportunity feels right.
Q: There seems to be no consensus on how eating disorders develop. Do you have specific thoughts on what are specific risk factors for eating disorders?
Although all my clients are different, I do believe there are some commonalities in my clients that could be classified as risk factors. These include things such as personality characteristics (e.g., perfectionism, obsessiveness, being highly motivated and driven), a history of abuse, a history of dieting, issues in the family of origin, performance pressures with athletics, and difficulties identifying, accessing, expressing, and managing emotions.
