Recovery Can Feel a Lot Like Sky Diving
I’m a big fan of analogies and metaphors. When I think about eating disorders and recovery, analogies and metaphors often form in my mind, and I use them to describe and explain the process of the development of and recovery from a disordered relationship with food and the body. I’ve developed quite a supply of them, but I’ve never written them down—until now.
Here are some of the analogies that I’ve created over the years. I hope you find them helpful.
Video Game
Recovery is like playing a video game. In a video game, you start out with little experience or skill, and you eventually... Read More
Clients who drop out of therapy can increase the strain on community mental health services. Dropping out is classified as terminating treatment prior to reaching outcome goals or the recommended number of sessions. When clients drop out, they often end up back in treatment repeatedly, creating a burden on overtaxed mental health resources and clinicians. 
Women have been stereotypically defined as being more emotional than men. In popular culture, women are depicted as being more emotionally volatile, often erupting into fits of sadness, anger, despair or jealousy much more frequently than their male counterparts. But is this portrayal scientifically accurate? Research has shown that there are differences in how men and women emotionally respond to situations. However, little research has addressed the core self-conscious emotions (SCE) of men and women and how they differ. Nicole M. Else-Quest of the Department of Psychology at the University of... 
When we think of addiction, we often automatically think of drugs. Due to the illicit nature of various street drugs, one must go and surreptitiously seek out the substance. However, binge eating is a type of addiction that we may not associate as one of the major addictions. For binge eaters, there are diets that could help them lose weight and help them learn to modify their food intake.
Some people feel that overeaters can control their behavior and “just stop eating.” What most individuals do not understand is that a person with food addiction has the same physical and mental response... 
Communities have worked tirelessly to provide different resources to schools, colleges, and other organizations that cater to young women in the hopes of educating them about the dangers of negative body image and unhealthy 
Depression has many origins, but trauma is one of the major categories. People suffer from all kinds of traumatic experiences, but here are a few examples of how trauma could have caused you to become depressed.
1. You got bullied in school and you concluded from the experience that you were a social misfit, weak, shameful. You carried that belief into adulthood, practicing it in your mind every day. You gave up on standing up for yourself or expecting to get what you want. You focus on trying to please other people to prove your worth, and very narcissistic people who need an adoring... 
Are you a doormat? You are reading this, which is a good indication that you think you may be!
Are you constantly giving to others while rarely receiving anything in return?
Do people consistently take advantage of you?
Do you say yes when you really want to say no?
Do you over commit to your own detriment? Do you take responsibility for other people’s problems?
Do the people in your life expect you to solve their problems?
If you have answered yes to these questions, you are in danger of being a doormat.
When we struggle with being assertive, food often becomes a powerful coping... 
Food and eating problems are a serious concern among young women. Existing research has shown a link between eating problems and perfectionism. Evidence has also demonstrated a direct relationship between perfectionism and exercise. It has also been suggested that anger is related to perfectionism. Suppressed anger and trait anger may somehow increase the vulnerability for eating problems. But until recently, this relationship between anger and eating problems has not been thoroughly explored. College-age women, who are under 
Childhood emotional maltreatment (CEM) can have lingering effects. Adults who suffered mistreatment as children often struggle emotionally and socially throughout their lives as a result of being neglected or emotionally abused. Although there is an abundance of literature and research that focuses on the negative impact of childhood maltreatment (CM) in general, there is little available clinical evidence documenting the devastating effects of CEM. It has been well established that CM, including sexual and physical abuse, can increase the risk for depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and a host... 
Binge eating is one type of eating issue that many adolescents and adults struggle with. It is believed that binge eating begins to develop in the early and preteen years. People who exhibit binge eating during their teen years are extremely vulnerable for the development of 
This past weekend, I attended the 2012 Binge Eating Disorders Association (BEDA) national conference. The theme of this year’s conference was, “ Revolution Ahead: Illuminating the Path to Freedom from BED, Emotional Overeating, & Weight Stigma.” I, along with my friend and colleague Clare Stadlen, LCSW, gave a presentation on “Moving From an Addictions Model to an Integrative Approach to Eating Disorders Recovery.” We were one of many workshops and panels on topics relevant to binge eating disorder (BED).
BED is a latecomer to the table of eating disorders officially recognized... 
Girls mature at different rates. Some adolescents develop at a young age, showing signs of physical maturity which can make them feel different from their peers. This perception could increase their desire to diet in order to regain their prepubescent shape. This mindset can set the stage for 
Images of unrealistic female ideals are rampant in the media. Magazine covers, television shows, and movies celebrate the tall, thin, and nearly flawless female figure. Most of these portrayals are fictitious, the result of airbrushing, digital enhancement, and skilled make-up artists. But these unrealistic ideals can cause the average woman to become dissatisfied with her own authentic and real body image. Body dissatisfaction has increased dramatically over the past several decades, conversely in proportion with the shrinking of the media’s representation of the perfect female body. Even though... 
