How to Deal With Eating Disorder Triggers During The Holidays

The holiday season, often portrayed as a time of joy and celebration, can be very challenging for people recovering from or living with eating disorders. Family gatherings, abundant food, heightened emotional stress, and societal pressures around eating and body image can create a complex landscape of potential triggers. Navigating these dynamics requires compassion, strategic planning, and a commitment to personal well-being. This guide is designed to offer supportive, practical strategies to help you protect your mental and physical health during what can be an emotionally intense time of year, ensuring that you can approach holiday celebrations with resilience, self-care, and hope.

What is a trigger? 

An emotional trigger is a specific stimulus—whether a memory, sensory experience, situation, or interaction—that provokes an intense and often immediate emotional reaction that can feel disproportionate to the current circumstance. These triggers typically originate from past traumatic or deeply distressing experiences and can cause a person to suddenly feel overwhelmed, anxious, angry, or emotionally dysregulated. 

Triggers can manifest through various responses, including physiological reactions like increased heart rate, sweating, or panic; psychological responses such as intrusive thoughts or emotional flooding; or behavioral reactions like withdrawal, aggression, or dissociation. While triggers are most commonly associated with trauma and conditions like PTSD, they can also emerge in contexts related to mental health challenges like eating disorders, where certain words, environments, or interactions can rapidly activate complex emotional memories and learned coping mechanisms.

Here are some examples of triggers: 

1. Wearing different clothes 

2. Pictures

3. Seeing people you haven’t seen in a while if your body has changed

4. When people talk about their diets

5. When people talk about your or their body

6. Comments about food 

7. Grief

8. A Life change

9. New or “special” foods

10. Boredom, loneliness or stress

How do you deal with eating disorder triggers? 

Dealing with eating disorder triggers requires a multifaceted approach that combines self-awareness, professional support, and compassionate self-care strategies. The first crucial step is developing keen self-awareness about your personal triggers, which can vary widely between each person. Start noticing the things that set off your eating disorder brain. This might include things like specific social situations, comments about body weight or appearance, stress, certain foods, or emotional states like anxiety or loneliness.

Next, establishing a wide network of social support is fundamental. This means cultivating relationships with people who understand your journey and can provide emotional support without judgment. Professional support from therapists, nutritionists, or counselors specializing in eating disorders can provide tailored strategies for trigger management. They can help you develop personalized coping mechanisms and work through underlying emotional challenges.

Practical strategies for managing triggers include creating clear boundaries, developing mindfulness techniques, and having a predetermined action plan when triggers emerge. This might involve having a trusted friend to call, practicing grounding exercises, or using cognitive behavioral techniques to challenge negative thought patterns. Meditation, deep breathing, and journaling can also be powerful tools for emotional regulation.

Self-compassion is perhaps the most critical element in trigger management.

Recognize that experiencing a trigger is not a failure, but a normal part of recovery. Each trigger presents an opportunity for growth and healing. Developing a kind, non-judgmental internal dialogue can significantly reduce the emotional impact of triggering experiences.

Nutrition and physical health play essential roles in emotional stability. Working with a professional to develop a balanced, nourishing meal plan can help reduce anxiety around food. Regular sleep, exercise, and stress management techniques contribute to overall emotional resilience. It’s a lot easier to manage triggers when your body is well-fed, rested, and safe. 

For many, building a toolkit of coping strategies is an ongoing process. This might include alternative coping mechanisms like art therapy, a movement that feels joyful and intentional, or creative expression. The goal is not perfection, but progress—learning to navigate triggers with increasing skill, confidence, and self-love.

What are specific strategies I should use to deal with triggers during the holidays? 

Here are specific strategies to cope with emotional triggers in eating disorder recovery:

Practice Mindful Awareness

• Get away from the holiday crowd and take a moment for yourself

• Develop a daily mindfulness meditation practice to increase emotional regulation

• Learn to recognize trigger warning signs early, such as increased anxiety, negative self-talk, or physical tension

• Use body scanning techniques to understand how triggers manifest physically

• Keep a trigger journal to identify patterns and understand your unique emotional landscape

Create a Comprehensive Safety Plan

• Develop a written document outlining specific coping strategies to use when triggers emerge. It’s hard to remember strategies when you’re flooded with big feelings and having a hard time staying grounded in a recovery mindset. 

• Include contact information for support persons like therapists, trusted friends, or family members

• List grounding techniques that work for you, such as deep breathing or sensory engagement

• Outline alternative coping mechanisms that don't involve disordered eating behaviors

Build Strong Support Networks

• Cultivate relationships with people who understand and support your recovery

• Join support groups specific to eating disorder recovery

• Start individual therapy with a specialist in eating disorder treatment

• Communicate openly with trusted loved ones about your triggers and recovery needs

Develop Emotional Regulation Skills

• Learn techniques to challenge negative thought patterns

• Practice radical acceptance of uncomfortable emotions

• Use dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills like distress tolerance

• Engage in regular emotional check-ins with yourself by writing feelings or just listing them in your mind

Create Healthy Environment Boundaries

• Set clear personal boundaries with people who may inadvertently trigger you. It’s ok to say “Please stop commenting about food or bodies. I will leave if you continue to make negative comments.”

• Develop strategies for navigating challenging social situations involving food

• Curate social media and digital spaces to minimize exposure to triggering content

• Design personal spaces that feel safe and supportive of your recovery

• Limit time at events to 2-3 hours

• Give yourself an exit strategy so you don’t feel trapped at holiday functions

Implement Physical and Nutritional Self-Care

• Work with a nutritionist to develop a balanced, nourishing meal plan so you’re fueled adequately and consistently

• Engage in gentle, joyful movement that feels healing 

• Prioritize consistent sleep and stress management

• Get enough rest each night and/or take naps if you need

Utilize Creative Coping Mechanisms

• Explore art therapy or journaling as emotional expression tools

• Develop alternative stress-relief activities like painting, music, or crafting

• Practice positive visualization and affirmation techniques

• Make a personal self-care coping kit with comforting resources or craft supplies so it’s within arms reach if you need it

Maintain Long-Term Perspective

• Recognize recovery as a non-linear journey

• Celebrate small victories and moments of progress

• Be patient and compassionate with yourself during challenging times

• Continuously reassess and adapt your coping strategies

How can I find more support for eating disorder recovery?

Finding the right eating disorder therapy can be a transformative and crucial step in recovery. The journey begins with the understanding that specialized, compassionate care is essential, as eating disorders are complex mental health conditions requiring targeted professional support.

Start by researching therapists who specialize specifically in eating disorders. Also consider multiple treatment modalities. Effective eating disorder treatment often involves a multidisciplinary approach, including individual therapy, group counseling, nutritional counseling, and potentially medical monitoring. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Family-Based Treatment (FBT) are evidence-based approaches with proven success in eating disorder recovery.

Practical search strategies include:

• Consulting your primary care physician for referrals

• Checking professional directories like Psychology Today

• Contacting local mental health clinics specializing in eating disorders

• Reaching out to eating disorder recovery organizations for recommendations

• Exploring telehealth options for increased accessibility

When selecting a therapist, prioritize personal comfort and connection. Most professionals offer initial consultation sessions where you can assess compatibility. Key questions to ask include their specific experience with eating disorders, treatment approach, and recovery philosophy.

Be prepared for potential challenges in the search process. Finding the right therapist might take time, and it's okay to try multiple professionals before finding the best fit. Recovery is a personal journey, and the therapeutic relationship is a critical component of healing.

Start Working with An Eating Disorder Therapist in Raleigh, NC

If you’re looking for a therapist, reach out to me and I’m happy to help. My private practice, Counselor Kate, is located in Raleigh, North Carolina for in-person therapy. I can also provide therapy virtually across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Finding support for eating disorder triggers is super important for managing stressful times and getting you to a life beyond the eating disorder. Start your therapy journey by following the steps:

1. Contact me by email via my contact form

2. Meet for a free 20-minute discovery call to see if we’re a good fit

3. We’ll begin working together to help you become an intuitive eater and find food freedom!

Other Services Offered with Counselor Kate, LLC

At Counselor Kate, I'm here to offer a variety of services in addition to eating disorder therapy services. I’m also happy to offer support with releasing trauma stored in the body through trauma and somatic therapy. Together, we can also work on rebuilding a positive relationship with food and your body through intuitive eating and other services.