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Lauren Grunebaum L.C.S.W.

About

Lauren Grunebaum, L.C.S.W., is a psychotherapist with a private practice in Manhattan. She treats children, adults, couples, and families with a range of emotional difficulties. These include: depression, anxiety, marital issues, parent-child conflicts, career difficulties, and coping with chronic illness. Her passion and expertise is in treating individuals and families with eating disorders.

Lauren earned her undergraduate degree from Smith College and her Master's degree in clinical social work from Columbia University. She went on to earn a two-year post-Master's certificate in child, adolescent, and family therapy from the Smith School of Social Work.

Lauren was part of a National Institute of Health grant in maternal and child health. She was also on the faculty of the Mount Sinai Medical School where she taught a tutorial on the impact of chronic illness on the family.

It is as a result of her own battle with anorexia nervosa and her struggle to find appropriate treatment that she created the program "Starving at the Banquet" in the fall of 2009 and a short-term adolescent group program, "Starving at the Banquet, Finding the Voice Within," in the fall of 2010.

"Starving at the Banquet" is an interactive psychoeducational program that looks at eating disorders from "both sides of the couch." It is designed to educate and begin a dialogue about eating disorders with parents, adolescents, educators, medical students, and mental health professionals. It combines Lauren's experience as a sufferer of anorexia nervosa and now as a clinician who treats individuals and families struggling with anorexia and bulimia. Lauren has led this workshop in middle and high schools, medical schools, parent groups, University counseling centers, and hospitals throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Recent Posts
The Right Way to Feel
Life is full of transitions. No matter how old we are, it is vital that we allow ourselves to connect with and express our full range of emotions. There is no one "right" way to feel.
Home For the Holidays
Having a plan of action helped my client to see that she was no longer a helpless child, but
a young woman with the ability to make choices. She did not have to fall back on self-destructive coping mechanisms of binging and purging. She could choose a more effective
way to deal with uncomfortable feelings.
Change of Heart
From a clinician's point of view, is it better to get the weight gain over as quickly as possible, like ripping a band-aid off a wound or preferable to gain at a slower pace? I now believe that there is no one answer. Just as I learned to relinquish the rigidity of the anorexia, I am now more flexible in my thinking about treatment. There is no one right path to recovery.
Instant Gratification
Almost no recovery from an eating disorder occurs without periods of regression. As much as the sufferer wants to be free of her obsessions about eating and starving, she does not remember how to navigate life without her illness.
Searching for the Magic Wand

Ambivalence about recovery from anorexia comes in many forms and has many voices. One way the ambivalence gets expressed is through what I call searching for the magic wand.

Ambivalence about recovery from anorexia comes in many forms and has many voices. One way the ambivalence gets expressed is through what I call searching for the magic wand.

The Best Anorexic

An anorexic who loses weight by restricting her food feels superior to and has a higher status than one who loses weight by purging. Anorexia sufferers often feel they are higher in status than bulimics. Starving oneself and restricting ones food implies more self-control; and a sense of control is characteristic of those with anorexia and bulimia.

An anorexic who loses weight by restricting her food feels superior to and has a higher status than one who loses weight by purging. Anorexia sufferers often feel they are higher in status than bulimics. Starving oneself and restricting ones food implies more self-control; and a sense of control is characteristic of those with anorexia and bulimia.

What Do I Do If My Friend Has an Eating Disorder?

What can I say to a friend who I think has an eating disorder? How can I support my friend once she is in treatment?

What can I say to a friend who I think has an eating disorder? How can I support my friend once she is in treatment?

The Angst of Separation

When I was eleven, I expressed my separation anxiety by running away from camp. At
seventeen, I expressed it through my anorexia. The two were variations on the same theme.

When I was eleven, I expressed my separation anxiety by running away from camp. At
seventeen, I expressed it through my anorexia. The two were variations on the same theme.

Dreaming of Being Special

The more my life was ruled by anorexia, the more I clung to it for dear life—even while it was eating me alive.

The more my life was ruled by anorexia, the more I clung to it for dear life—even while it was eating me alive.