A new face forward

This is going to sound cliche – but it’s 2024 already? How? What just happened?

I thought 2022 blew by, but 2023 just – poof.

For most of you visiting this blog post you’re well aware that Therapeutic Eating™ just went through a MASSIVE overhaul. Like, here today gone tomorrow byeee let’s have a do-over. I found it difficult to be who I was always meant to become while still hanging on to the past as if I needed it. I’m grateful, I even devoted a whole journal entry to thanking my many yesterdays but it’s also my biggest hangup and if I do say so myself, so is social media.

I started my first Instagram account the year my daughter was born. I used it for its funky filters and re-sharing photos I’d upload to Facebook. I had no idea what I was doing, what a hashtag was and that if I actually had a vision for my professional future, it should go there. Back then I was private cheffing, planting trees, having babies and grappling with whether or not to bolster that version of me online.

It took me until 2018 to realize that Instagram was actually a powerful platform and if I simply took the time to manipulate the camera just so and a write a caption to match it – my work could get some validation.

One iteration of the “algorithm” after another and I found myself getting a few followers here and there and some engagement. A few years into using Instagram, a post or video that would get thousands in reach started getting hundreds. Apparently the algorithm was to blame and knowing how little control I had over technology it began to feel like a losing battle. Plus, Instagram use went from millions to billions. How do I keep people engaged? I started paying attention to how businesses run on social platforms and chalked my short comings up to: I’m just terrible at marketing myself.

Once I became credentialed and coined Therapeutic Eating™ after many iterations of the name, I felt like for sure the universe would embrace my business and with very little effort to the finer details my account would flourish. I was happy when things were moving, even slowly, but when things regressed I had to question – why do I feel like a social failure? I love my work, I know the kind of transformation it makes, I witness the shift in my clients on the daily and I’m so incredibly fulfilled – yet why, I felt obligated to ask, are the insights & analytics showing that I’m losing base?

As a therapist, my responsibility is to put down the microscope and pull out the mirror and ask, is this a need to feel important? How so? What part of me is feeling unseen, unheard, in what ways and from where else in life can I find that fulfillment. Why seek validation ‘out there’ when ‘in here’ should be sufficient? And the therapeutic dialogue continues.

I get it, probably more than most that what matters is knowing that I’m a woman of value and whether or not others see me is a matter of alignment and opportunity. I’m talking business, not mindset though. Things weren’t lining up.

What I discovered,

is that if you use Instagram ads like IG & FB suggest you do, IG & FB will ultimately de-prioritize your organic reach because if you’ve paid them once the expectation is to continue feeding the beast. So the $60 or so that I spent on promoting an educational post or two ended up costing me my whole account.

I felt pretty disheartened.

Thankfully, I happen to love a swift change and I’m willing to learn from my mistakes. I’m definitely teachable and I suggest that as a trait worth adapting. Ultimately we all need to look at what,

1. is a need for validation and,

2. what is a legitimate hole in the system.

I can see all the iterations of myself as a valiant effort to show up to the task of putting myself out to the world – each of those days, weeks, months and years and all the relationships, moves and transitions enmeshed in them. A clean slate is very welcome right about now. I’d call it a silver lining.

Here’s what Therapeutic Eating will be sharing:

Hormone health & balance
What Therapeutic Eating really means – taking residence in our bodies
Therapeutic modalities, theories, tips, terms and applying those to every day life especially in caring for our bodies
Conscious parenting including the role of trauma, reflection, communication in all our relationships
The power of psychedelics and the role they play in healing
Unabashedly accepting that VANITY and BEAUTY are things worth honoring – doing this through skincare, skin treatments, helpful routines and products worth using
Relishing in the meaning of self love

So I’ll leave you with this –

Once you spend a chunk of your life redefining how you once did something and transform it into a new version of yourself, it’s ok to redefine your whole approach. It’s ok to shelve the albums. It’s okay to say less, pause, & be intentional. I’ve taken the pressure off of myself and I’ve found a peace I didn’t know was there all along.

Care to join me?