When I first opened an adolescent intensive outpatient program for eating disorders in Maryland, I expected to have a room full of struggling kids. Mostly girls, they all came with distorted body image, eating disorder behaviors, and underlying mental health concerns trying desperately to manage the demands of life, school, friendships, and family. I also […]
You have to risk a lot to recover from an eating disorder
When clients first come in for treatment at our program, they are palpably nervous. It happens without fail. Many will hypothesize the nerves comes from social anxiety, being surrounded by all these new people in treatment with them. But it’s much more. The anxiety stems from six essential risks associated with treatment of an eating […]
Recovery looks like this
Want to know what the biggest fear of being recovered from an eating disorder is? The shape of one’s body when they are recovered. They desperately want to know, “What does recovery look like?” The reality is we don’t know for each person. But what we can absolutely talk about is what recovery looks like […]
Sitting with it
I’m on a plane right now heading to the National Eating Disorders Association conference in San Diego. I’m in the middle seat. It’s been a turbulent ride. Traffic was so bad getting to the airport I had no time to stop to eat, so I’m starving. Peanuts and OJ just don’t cut it. It’s a […]
Beautiful Wings | The Body Image Center
I came across this quote while cruising Pinterest. Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well. – http://sharifahnorhamidah.blogspot.com/ It resonated with me because so often in my work I come across people who have yet to find and see the […]
Take control, parents
Here’s the truth. I went undiagnosed and untreated for my depression, anxiety and eating disorder until I was a 20 year old college drop-out. My parents didn’t know what to do with me as a depressed teenager, and my despondency only led to their arguing over who was a worse parent. We all felt bad, […]
Joy and adventure, the last piece of the recovery puzzle
I’m about to go on vacation to my old stomping ground of Nashville, Tennessee. It will be a time to share with my wife and son, visit with old friends, make music with my old band, eat good food, peruse old haunts, and stroll down amnesia lane. It will be a time of joy and […]
Taking Part in Your Child’s Recovery Process
Historically, the focus of eating disorders treatment has been on the client. My goal as a therapist is to get them to examine their thoughts and behaviors and how that affects their mood. Although this is an important part of treatment, it is only one part. The other part is involving the family members in […]
You have enemies? Good. | The Body Image Center
I love this quote from Winston Churchill. “You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Powerful. I’ve taken the easy road of avoiding confrontation most of my life. That’s part of what set me down the path of an eating disorder for 20 years. Avoid pain. Avoid anxiety. […]
What’s your passion? | The Body Image Center
I recovered from my eating disorder by retraining my focus away from body image and self-esteem to the relationships that mattered most to me: my wife, my son, friends, and family. But what sustains my recovery? How do I keep from falling back into old patterns that are so ingrained in me? Simple. I follow […]