Here are some tips about how to help and support your child, teen, or anyone else you love with an eating disorder.
recovery
Sometimes Wrong is Good
If there’s one thing that all my eating disorder clients have had in common, it’s this: at some point or another, they believe they can’t really recover. This is the best I can be. I’ll never get better. I’ll always be stuck like this. Recovery isn’t possible for me. But you know what? Every person …
I Want to Be Happier… Now What?
Last post, I talked about how becoming happier starts with a decision to choose happiness. Maybe it sounds lame and you’re thinking, who wouldn’t choose to be happy? But there are a lot of reasons we choose to be miserable instead… denying responsibility, side-stepping the discomfort of change, avoiding the anxiety of the unknown, being unwilling …
Try This Technique to Avoid Body Comparing
It is so hard to look at people in the media and not compare ourselves. Sometimes without even noticing it, we start taking note of how “perfect” someone else looks as well as of all the ways we don’t measure up to that. “I’m so out of shape…I wish my stomach was that flat…I want …
What Are You Losing?
Often, after having an eating disorder for a while, it becomes part of your identity. The problem is that eating disorders are jealous things—they don’t like to share you with anyone or anything else. Your disorder doesn’t want to just be a part of your identity, it wants to be your whole identity. Before you …
Recovery Takes Time
When I’m reading a really good book, I can’t wait to get to the ending. Sometimes I have to stop myself from peeking. I enjoy the whole book, but the end of the story is the satisfying part because whatever struggle and suffering the characters endured, things are finally resolved and they are going to …
4 Tips for Dealing with Overwhelming Anxiety
If you struggle with anxiety, you’re certainly not alone. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health issue in our country, affecting an estimated 40 million adults in the U.S. (source: National Institute of Mental Health). Given that the NIMH also says that average onset is age 11, you might have struggled with anxiety for a long time. …
3 Reasons Not to Deal With Your Issues
Like me, I’m sure you’ve known people who have blatant issues, yet are completely unwilling to work on them. Sometimes, it’s just annoying to be forced to put up with someone’s “stuff” when they won’t deal with it. A few co-workers I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of knowing come to mind! In more serious circumstances, it might be someone we’re …
7 Strategies for Surviving the Holidays
The holidays can be a wonderful time for many people, but for some, it can be a time of immense stress, anxiety, and even depression. Since Christmas is just a couple of days away, I wanted to offer some strategies for dealing with these emotional challenges, and also specific ideas for those struggling with an …
Maybe It’s Time to Break Up
Last week we talked about the importance of paying attention to and guarding against things that work against eating disorder recovery (or recovery from anything for that matter!). Today I want to talk specifically about our time in front of the mirror. Ah, the mirror. So many have a love-hate relationship with it. We often …
