Featured Clinician Interview: Lisa Schlosberg, LMSW, HHC, CPT, RYT

OC Shrinks is a mental health digital space and networking group that believes the best way to uplift professionals in the field is to provide space for connection, collaboration, and community!

We had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Schlosberg, LMSW, HHC, CPT, RYT.

As a hybrid Mental Health Professional (MSW), Holistic Health Coach, and Personal Trainer, Lisa offers an Integrative Trauma-Informed Online Coaching program to help men and women stop the struggle against themselves and integrate body, mind, and soul for holistic weight loss and lifelong health.

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Interview Transcript

Tell us a little bit about you and your practice, how you got started. 

A lot of the work that I do today is really informed by my personal experience, which I'm sure is true for many of us. So for me, I was very overweight as a kid, and so, by the time I had graduated high school, I was around 300 pounds, at 17. And so I had learned after my weight loss, which was eventually in college, that I started kinda putting the pieces together, that it wasn't a food issue, it was really more psychological than it was physical, and for me, emotional eating, was really emotional, and my obesity was really protective. And so, I kind of after I graduated college, I had lost 150 pounds. I became a personal trainer at first. I knew that I loved helping people, and I knew that I loved working out. So I just kind of combined those things, started working in a gym, ultimately, then became a health coach, and then got my Master's in Social Work from NYU, and then became a yoga instructor.

But for me, it was all; it's always been about kind of getting to the deeper truth behind emotional eating, behind weight gain, behind weight loss. It was clear to me to a certain extent, especially after all my weight came off, that there's a deeper story there. That really informs the work that I do today, how I work with people, and that is totally how I got started. It was kind of moving through the trajectory of, "This is not a physical thing." Starting in the gym and realizing it was deeper and deeper than that. And so now, it's about really combining all of those disciplines and offering a holistic approach to the people I work with.

How is your approach different or unique from others? 

Especially when it comes to food and eating, I think it's really imperative to look at the relationship with food and maybe any kind of weight issue as the solution rather than the problem. And so that's kind of the way that I will start working with anyone is, we first have to understand the brain science of emotional eating, the mind-body connection, the physiology behind all of this, and because really, anyone who's struggling with emotional eating or weight gain or weight loss, any of it, there's a deeper story there. And so I think, in a brief way, to say, "How is this different, and how do I approach it?" Is, "What if food and eating is the solution, not the problem?" And we can just start there, and kind of unravel what comes from that, but I think it's so important that some addiction treatment is informed by that approach, and I think the world of emotional eaters really deserves the same kind of grace and compassion there.

What kind of clients do you work with? Is there a certain age or gender? What does that look like? 

I primarily work with adults of all ages. I have worked with kids; I'm happy to also work with kids and families, but primarily adults, one-on-one, who are struggling with emotional eating. So emotional eating, stress eating, overeating, undereating, mindless eating, any kind of relationship with food that doesn't feel peaceful and safe and stable. So that's really who I work with. I don't focus so much on weight and weight loss. I really frame weight if there is a weight issue. For me, it's the symptom, not the problem. So I'm happy to work with anyone at any weight, if that is an issue for someone, but primarily, anyone struggling with their relationship with food.

Talk to us about the patient journey. What can they expect from you when they choose to work with you? 

Now I offer one-on-one, and I offer a group. My group is a 12-week program online, with a lot of homework, support, online assistance and stuff like that, discussions, all of that. The group has been a really powerful experience for anyone who's interested and also just being part of a community because that's the one thing that one-on-one really can't offer. So just to throw that out there, that it's a group and a one-on-one at this point. And really, it's about... For me, it's coming in and understanding, I think first psychoeducation. I think it's really important that everyone is informed and educated about how this works. Why are we operating around food in a way that we don't understand, in a way that we feel we can't control? What's actually going on there? And so, for me, it starts with just some brain science and just really some teaching. So I kind of... I'm in this dual role of coach and teacher a lot of the time.

It starts there, with just kind of, "Let's get on the same page about what's going on here." Getting into some of the deeper, "What comes up when we start to move things around, the habits around food? How do we change the way we're thinking? How do we cope with the feelings that are gonna come up?" Because there are feelings that are going to come up. And so, we have to just take that holistic approach to, "Yes, we need to incorporate the food and the eating habits, but also begin a conversation around what's going on in your head and what's going on in your heart? And really, what's the human story behind all of that?" And ultimately, when I work with people, my goal is for them to feel self-sufficient in themselves. And that's why it's designed as a group, as a 12-week program. One-on-one is either a six or 12-month package because the idea is, come in, kind of put the dots together, and then leave as the authority in your life. I don't... I am not the expert on you; you are the expert on yourself. That's the way that I work with people and the way that... Yeah, so I'm all about directing people inward into their own inner wisdom around all of this. That's what anyone can expect.