CALM Counseling Austin

01/06/2026

In a world shaped by technology, instability, and inequality, it makes sense that insecure attachment is rising.

When safety, belonging, and predictability feel scarce, many of us turn to what looks like a solution: dieting, control, self-surveillance, “fixing” the body.

Diet culture thrives here — co-opting insecurity, amplifying body dissatisfaction through algorithms and ads, and selling control as care.

But disordered eating isn’t the problem.
It’s often a coping strategy in a disconnected world.

Healing doesn’t happen through more discipline or optimization.

It happens through repairing attachment — deepening community, resisting oppressive systems, reducing overexposure to comparison, and reconnecting to our shared humanity.

When we feel safer with people and in our world, our relationship with food — and our bodies — can soften too.

You’re not broken. You are responding to the world you live in.

01/02/2026

Meet Makena, one of our therapists here at CALM Counseling!

She has training in EMDR and works from an attachment based lens with her clients. Makena works with adolescents and adults as they navigate trauma, disordered eating, anxiety, depression, and grief.

If you want to work with Makena or anyone else on our team, request an appointment through our bio link.

12/24/2025

During this season of amplified diet talk, it can be easy to forget that food has always been about more than optimization or control. Food is relational. It can be a place where care is offered, where connection is practiced, and where attachment security is slowly built—at a pace that feels safe.

12/17/2025

When food access is unstable, it doesn’t just affect what we eat — it affects how safe the world feels.

Insecure systems create and contribute to insecure attachment. And in that uncertainty, many of us learn to manage fear through food, control, or constant connection to our screens.

Disordered eating and technology aren’t happening in a vacuum. They often emerge as adaptations to a culture shaped by scarcity, isolation, and mistrust.

What happens to our relationship with food — and with each other — when care becomes predictable again?

What would it feel like to trust the world to meet our needs?

12/08/2025

Anxious attachment and binge eating don’t come from broken willpower — they come from a body that learned to survive inconsistency, scarcity, and emotional unpredictability.

Diet culture recreates that same scarcity, pushing your nervous system into overdrive and making binge episodes more likely, not less.

When you stop restricting and start offering your body steady nourishment and emotional safety, the binge–restrict cycle begins to lose its grip.

Food becomes less urgent.
Your body becomes less afraid.
And you finally get to feel__enough.

12/02/2025

The world continues to see significant increases in disordered eating as well as tech overuse, all while experiencing an epidemic of loneliness.

Along with other relational strongholds, shared meals are decreasing too. The World Happiness Report states that “dining alone is associated with loneliness” and that countries with higher rates of social eating rank higher in happiness.

These trends are especially true in the United States among younger people. The report also found that shared meals were as predictive of happiness as income or employment status.

Social connection is strengthened through shared meals and is a powerful driver of overall well-being and secure attachments.

11/13/2025

When we grow up needing to not need, our bodies and minds learn to go without.

Avoidant attachment often forms when emotional closeness feels unsafe or overwhelming. Over time, we learn to rely only on ourselves—shutting down our needs for comfort, connection, or care.

But hunger—both emotional and physical—isn’t a weakness. It’s a signal of life.

Healing starts when we gently allow ourselves to need again. To be fed, held, and connected—without shame.

11/04/2025

When we feel securely attached, our body knows safety.

A regulated nervous system doesn’t only rely on food or movement behaviors to manage distress — it already trusts connection to bring it back to balance.

Secure attachment teaches the body: I can feel, rest, and nourish without control.

Safety makes regulation possible — not restriction.

10/27/2025

10/24/2025

Fromm reminds us: love isn’t about one person—it’s an attitude we carry. In an uncertain world, cultivating secure attachment lets us be a safe base for others: steady, caring, and present. 🌱
When we show up rooted in ourselves, we help our communities thrive in connection and trust. ☀️.

10/17/2025

Can we trust our intuition with food in a landscape of big food, big pharma, diet culture, food insecurity, and mass consumerism? The concept of “food noise” is debatable. Hunger is complex and may be impacted by medical issues, certain medications, or food scarcity. Signals for hunger can also be related to our emotional state.

Hunger isn’t just a biological signal from the body—it’s often a call for connection and safety. When that call is repeatedly unmet or punished, or we experience trauma within society or in our homes, it leaves a wound that shapes how we relate to food, to our bodies, and to other people.

Hunger wounds are the result of attachment distress, societally and individually. Quieting these signals does not result in finding peace with food, but rather minimizing the attachment needs and emotional longing. Reach out to the link in our bio to set up an intake appointment or to learn more.

10/09/2025

Eating disorders take on different forms, many of which are an attempt to keep close proximity to safety. As the social safety net of our world continues to degrade, we are experiencing increased desire to find security elsewhere.

Eating disorders and disordered eating can act as pseudo-companions when human connection is in short supply. However, these “artificial attachments” never fully meet the need for deep understanding and authentic connection.

Building resiliency through forming real life bonds can increase our sense of emotional security, despite the chaos and uncertainty around us. Reach out at the link in our bio.