The Curriculum

The Out of the Cave Group Program is a transformational 14-week coaching experience that empowers you with the skills, tools, education, and support you need to use your struggle with food & body as a path to mind-body-soul alignment so you can embody a life of freedom. Designed for anyone struggling with “disordered” eating habits (over-eating, under-eating, mindless eating, stress eating, emotional eating, yoyo-dieting, compulsive dieting, etc.), this holistic, trauma-informed curriculum is designed to support participants in understanding:

• How you got “here” (where/how exactly the mind-body system became disconnected in the first place and why “intuitive eating” has become so elusive) –  (Modules 1-4)

• How to get “out” (reconnect with yourself, embody authenticity, and feel safe honoring your needs – mentally, emotionally, physically, socially, spiritually, and physiologically) – (Modules 5-8)

• How to maintain it (design a lifestyle supportive of a regulated nervous system, emotional eating “recovery,”  and sustainable mind-body-soul alignment moving forward) – (Modules 9-12)

This strengths-based program is rooted in the belief that using food to cope is a normal, human, and valid method of managing stress, coping with emotion, and regulating energy AND that it is possible to heal from the inside out.

 

Module 1 | Orientation: Mind-Body-Soul System

Before we can get into a discussion about food and eating, we have to first raise the consciousness and shift the paradigm of how you're thinking about what it means to even be a human. You are a spiritual being having a physical experience with an animal brain in a social context relying on food to survive. There's a lot to understand about the mind-body-soul system before we dive into healing emotional eating. If we're still thinking of ourselves as bodies that only exist in the physical dimension, there's a lot that we're missing and that's the reason other approaches don't work long term. What happened throughout our lives that created a chasm between our mind, body, and soul to begin with? How and why did we arrive at a place where fueling ourselves became so dysregulating? To bring more stability to the relationship we have with ourselves, our bodies, and food moving forward, we have to understand the many factors at play. 

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Module 2 | How You Got Here: “Macro”

As a Social Worker, I am trained to understand individuals through a “person-in-environment” lens and consider the complex biopsychosocial factors that contribute to presenting problems to address them at the root. I always think of the “macro” as the backdrop to our human experience; this includes the social, cultural, economic, and political influences that directly affect our individual lives. To understand why we think what we think and why we want what we want, we're going to explore social identities, cultural relativism, the process of socialization, privilege and oppression in a fatphobic, patriarchal, and diet culture, and self-care in a time of capitalism and consumerism. By setting the intention to release outdated belief systems and identify internalized thought patterns that no longer serve our well-being, we incorporate Dr. Gabor Mate’s work to support us in deciphering the “true self” from the “false self” and begin traveling the path back to embodied authenticity.

 

Module 3 | How You Got Here: “Micro”

Having examined the “macro” considerations influencing our perception of ourselves and our bodies, we now must understand how these external factors directly impact our lived experience and the “micro”-level activity going on internally. What happens in our brains when we eat? Why do we feel the way that we feel when we eat certain things, chemically and emotionally? How exactly do food and eating function to manage stress and regulate emotion? This module covers the brain science and neurobiology of emotional eating (and extreme dieting) and explains the overlap between our compulsive relationship with food and other addictive tendencies. You’ll understand from a scientific perspective why emotional eating is a valid attempt to self-soothe rather than a personal shortcoming, and that it’s safe to release any shame you may still be carrying around it.

 

Module 4 | “Addiction” → Recovery & Chronic Conditions

Through deepening the understanding of our addictive tendencies around food (overeating, under-eating, emotional eating, stress eating, etc.) with the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE Study) and science of mind-body medicine, now we begin to define “recovery” and what “abstinence” entails for emotional eaters. Inspired by the work of Nicole Sachs, LCSW, we'll also talk about chronic conditions and chronic pain from a mind-body approach to healing the root issues within your energetic system. This module includes fundamental concepts about how to begin feeling feelings, practicing radical acceptance, and incorporating the “inner child” for deeper integration of the material.

 

Module 5 | Nutrition

Now that it’s clear what belief systems, thought patterns, behaviors, habits, and practices aren’t working for us, we’ve cleared the space to focus on those that will. Inspired by my time working with a specialist in childhood obesity at a pediatric practice, this module discusses the difference between weight and health and unpacks the outdated and often ineffective medical model. We redefine “healthy” through a holistic lens and what “reparenting” yourself around food looks like moving forward. This module covers foundational nutrition education, “how to eat” for health, and a fresh mindset about nourishing your body from the inside out. It introduces the concept of bio-individuality and includes tips for grocery shopping as well as meal planning. While our primary focus in this program is the deeper emotional work, you also need to be supported with “how to” feed yourself in the physical dimension for lifelong health and healing. I couldn't put this entire program together without honoring the fact that food is part of it, right?

 

Module 6 | Weight vs. Health

Now we're diving deep into the distinction between weight versus health (because the outdated cultural narrative that they are the same has been proven false). It becomes clear how you’ve likely sacrificed your health for your weight in the past, and how you can begin to establish more stability and harmony in your mind-body system especially as it relates to food and the lifelong responsibility of feeding yourself. This is about balancing our valid preoccupation with physical health with everything going on internally: mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, environmentally, and physiologically. From this place, you can reconnect with all parts of yourself, heal the fragmentation between mind and body, and practice remaining in one piece as you progress with a safe and sustainable approach to eating.
 

Module 7 | Psychology of Feeding

Given my life’s purpose to contribute to a new generation of children who don’t struggle with food the way I did as a kid, this one is my personal favorite. Because we’ve now covered nutrition and food (in the physical dimension), we get into the depth of our trauma-informed approach to stabilizing our relationship with food and eating by incorporating the psychology of feeding and the concept of the “higher self.” This module includes a profound education about how to feed and raise a healthy family, building on Ellyn Satter’s “Division of Responsibility” for preventing and treating disordered eating in children. We discuss the process of integrating mind and body (“reparenting” around food and feelings) by providing more structure around “how to eat” for stability and safety to nourish both the internal and external family systems from the inside out moving forward.

 

Module 8 | Love vs. Fear

This is a juicy one. As a spiritual being having a physical experience, it’s important that we now explore the energetics of our relationship with food and how it affects your nervous system regulation (or lack thereof) on a deeper level. You will learn about why it’s not what you’re doing (or eating) that needs “fixing,” but the energy with which you’re doing it. For example, you can eat a salad from a place of love (with the intention to nourish yourself and support your body with micronutrients) or from a place of fear (because you “need to,” “should,” or are driven by a sense of judgment, shame, criticism, or insecurity). The bowl of vegetables is the same either way and nothing has changed in the physical dimension, but, because you are an energetic and intuitive being by nature, your experience is completely different based on what’s going on mentally, emotionally, energetically, and physiologically. This module will support you in shifting out of a relationship with food (and lifestyle) of fear, scarcity, lack, and inadequacy into more embodied practices of self-love, compassion, and safety.

 

Module 9 | Feelings, Resistance, & Re-Parenting

Now that we’ve cleared up a lot of the “how to” move forward around food and eating, we dive deeper into the inner emotional work to support you with making changes that can be sustainable. This module covers “parts work,” feeling feelings, dealing with resistance, and integrating the inevitable fear that arises when you move outside your comfort zone. Instead of going back to the old way of eating your feelings (or starving yourself to cope with them), how do you actually feel, express, and integrate them in a way that supports your long-term well-being? How do you address the resistance to doing the work? How do you show up as the parent that you need – not just physically around food, but mentally, emotionally, and somatically as well? Through the lens of conscious reparenting, you will move through a trauma-informed step-by-step guide for setting goals and moving toward them in a way that feels safe and aligned for you and your unique intentions. 

 

Module 10 | Limiting Beliefs

To continue our journey into the depths of your mind-body-soul system, we now explore the deeply-rooted, often dysfunctional, belief systems and “I’ll be happy when” traps that contribute to your dysregulation around food (and in many other areas of life as well). You’ll learn how to take your power back from outdated limiting beliefs and codependent/people-pleasing tendencies to facilitate embodied safety on a deeper level. For you to change your habits and behaviors long-term – and to ensure you don’t get stuck repeating the same cycles that brought you here in the first place in the future – we’ll excavate and update your beliefs about yourself, your body, and your world to support a lifestyle of recovery, empowerment, and freedom beyond just your time in this program. 

 

Module 11 | Exercise & Body Image

Because you will have a body for the rest of your life, exercise, and body image (ongoing, lifelong relationships you will continue to navigate), are both opportunities to practice integrating the knowledge, tools, skills, and tips you’ve learned along the way. You’ll receive a step-by-step guide to managing body image concerns when they inevitably come up as well as a trauma-informed education about how to reclaim a relationship with exercise that supports your holistic health and longevity. We’ll discuss common obstacles and struggles so you feel armed to address these areas moving forward in a way that maintains your internal sense of safety and mind-body-soul alignment.

 

Module 12 | Self-Compassion, Relapse & Recovery

Inspired by Dr. Kristin Neff's work and research, our final chapter offers a transformative education about balancing tender self-compassion (practicing acceptance for inner healing) and fierce self-compassion (taking action for outer change) for long-term integration and lifelong recovery. Designed to equip you with a guide for how to handle “relapse” and what it means for you to stay committed to yourself, your health, your body, and your well-being when life inevitably gets “lifey,” the last module prepares you to embark on an authentic life Out of the Cave.