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Group Gears Up To Support Those With Eating Disorders

Sunday News (Lancaster, PA) - 8/12/2014

BY JENNIFER KOPF Staff Writer

jkopf@lnpnews.com

They're not just about food, and they're not just about weight.

Eating disorders, says the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, can be caused by multiple factors. Psychological issues, social pressures, metabolism and genetics all can play a part.

And the occurrence of these disorders isn't rare. According to the organization's website, anad.org, more than 11 million Americans have eating disorders - and it's not just girls and women; about 10 to 15 percent of those people are male.

Now a local support group is forming that its organizer hopes will extend hope and help to those who are struggling with anorexia, bulimia or binge eating.

A registered nurse at Lancaster General Hospital, Kristen Ebaugh knows what people with eating disorders face. Now 28, she was 17 or 18 when she herself really began struggling with the issue. She found support and community in a support group that met near where she was living.

"It was very recovery-focused, and it kept me looking forward," says Ebaugh, who will lead the group as a peer. "A place where you can be with people who understand and empathize with you can be so healing."

Now recovered for five years, she says, "I feel like I have finally reached a place where I can give back."

The new support group will begin Sept. 4 (see accompanying information box), and will meet weekly. Though the group will meet at LGH's Women & Babies Hospital, Ebaugh says, it is not a Lancaster General Health support group.

Instead, Ebaugh has partnered with the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, and Kari Slater, a Millersville-area licensed professional counselor, will serve as a support adviser. The treatment of eating disorders is one of the areas in which Slater, who has been in practice nine years, specializes.

Ebaugh is working to spread the word about the new group, reaching out to local college counseling centers, for example, to reach more people.

"There's a real vulnerability" in the Lancaster community, Ebaugh says. It can be difficult to find a practitioner who specializes in eating disorders, she says.

Providing somewhere for people to turn for information and help, she says, feels like a calling "that was meant to be."

Only a small percentage of people who have eating disorders ever seek help, according to Ebaugh. She's hoping the new group will make it easier for Lancaster residents who have this issue to start their recovery.

WHEN: Meets every Thursday, starting Sept. 4, 6-7:30 p.m.

WHERE: LGH Women & Babies Hospital

INFO: Kristen Ebaugh, 891-4352 or kristen1449@aol.com

(Copyright 2014 Lancaster Newspapers. All rights reserved.)