Do you think recovery is an endless journey? Or do you reach a point where for all practical purposes you’re recovered? Or is it always something that is just there, waiting to crop up?

I was also wondering: do you think someone who is in solid recovery from an eating disorder but later has a severe bout of depression, should that person find a therapist who has experience with people with eating disorders or does it not matter?

My last question… I read your description of recovery, and feel how much my recovery falls short of that inner healing. What to do if some of the underlying stuff never changed? Does it just take more time?

Thank you for writing in, and congratulations on your recovery progress.

The great thing about the journey you are on is that the journey continues long after you find your eating disorder recovery. You just keep on growing, learning and developing, hopefully, for the rest of your life.

I agree, it’s not easy, but it’s great!

warm regards,

Joanna

P.S.

I included IAEDP and AED in my last comment because their requirements for membership can sure as a base for getting solid competency work in the field of eating disorders.

Meeting those requirements will allow you membership in the organizations.

Meeting those requirements will help you establish a foundation of
experience, education and skill that will help you become competent in the field. And meeting those requirements will help you be aware of what more you need to learn in an ongoing basis in this most challenging field.

Good luck to you!

Joanna

As far as I know, legally a clinician doesn’t need special certification. However, most mental health licenses have a section in their rulings stating that a clinician must work only within their scope of competence.

Those words can seem vague or specific, depending on the eye of the beholder. To me, in terms of working with people with eating disorders, the phrasing means that a clinician needs to get specific training in whatever
population he or she works with so the work is conducted within the scope of competence. Does that make sense to you?

In order to be a member of the professional organizations, International Association of Eating Disorder Professional (IAEDP) and the Academy of Eating Disorders (AED), a clinician must meet certain specific requirements in terms of experience and training.

These organizations also sponsor conferences that provide a broad spectrum of education in the field.

Many organizations and licensed clinicians offer classes, workshops, seminars in the field or related fields that help equp a clinician to work with the eating disorder population.

And, yes, IMO, legally required not, in order to be competent and bring genuine help to people with eating disorders, special studies, experience, education and training is required.

We live in a stressful demanding world. Today, in my opinion, we need to be more healthy, strong, confident and resilient than ever before. And we need to relax. We need soothing from stress and strain. We need a “time out” so we can heal, repair, think, feel and learn from our experiences.

When we can’t find ways to take care of ourselves because of a vulnerability of some kind, we will look for what will “work” for us. Bingeing on broccoli doesn’t do it. Snacking on liver and onions won’t do it. But the carbs, the sugars, the products made with flour, will take us “out.”

Unfortunately when people get to that numbed state think they are relaxed because the pain or anixiety has stopped. That’s not being relaxed. That’s being anesthetized.

We need to develop ways to really take care of ourselves, whether we have an eating disorder or not,. Walks, baths, books, time with friends, writing, gardening, dancing, yoga, meditation, painting, sketching are all healthful and productive ways to care for ourselves and get us through stressful times. They work much better than junk food.

Thanks you for asking your question, Lisa.

warm regards,

Joanna

Thank you for asking this question! So many people want to know the answer.

Let me circle your question a little. The answer takes in more than what you ask. Suppose we take eating disorders out of your post. Then you are asking, “Does self doubt lurk beneath the surface in our psyches, ready to emerge when there is a negative trigger?”

Now we’ve really got something. Do we ever become so self confident that we never experience self doubt? Mmm. I would be wary of people who never questioned themselves, never explored their assumptions, they knew all they needed to know and had all the tools, skills and depth of awareness they would ever need for a lifetime of living in our ambiguous and changing world.

If this is a realistic perspective, that is, if having occasional bouts of self doubt is normal and healthy, even useful when we need to learn something, then self doubt will emerge periodically throughout our lives.

Your question refers to “self doubt lurking beneath the surface.” My question is, ‘why would self doubt lurk near the surface?’ If that is true
then the person is skating along in life with little self confidence and can be easily swayed by people or events.

Many people struggling with eating disorders wish for the day they will be completely free. Or they don’t try to recover because they think complete freedom doesn’t exist.

But being human means we have to continue to learn and grow. We are continually meeting challenges that could be thought of as triggers in life. We don’t get complete freedom from stress, anxiety, worry, rage, fear or any of the human emotions. The challenge has more to do with how we experience these feelings and whether we use them as information or whether we act out.

Sorry this is a long answer. I’m trying to make it short as possible, but there’s a lot to cover!

So, can a person with an eating disorder find real recovery? Yes. Can she be free of the compulsions? Yes. Will she ever find herself in a situation where something – maybe she knows what and maybe she doesn’t – triggers powerful feelings and the desire to act out in old eating disorder ways? Probably. Will she have the strength, self confidence, ability to explore her own self doubts to find her way through the experience without acting out her eating disorder? Yes.
That’s what real recovery looks like.

In recovery you don’t find a perfect world where no triggers exist. In recovery you don’t become a perfect person where nothing triggers you.

In recovery you become a healthy, self reliant person. You can meet your own self doubts and have the strength and resiliance to stand for what you believe if that’s what’s called for or beyond your limited beliefs if that’s what is necessary to live a full and healthy life.

Hope that gets to the heart of your question, Georgia!

Thank you for sharing part of your story with us. I am so very sorry for your loss. To watch your twin sister deteriorate has got to have been a tragedy for you and your family.

I marvel at your strength and wisdom and applaud your ability to be your own person. You are a force working against ignorance and shame by speaking the truth of your experience so plainly and clearly.

You enrich us with your post. I hope you will continue writing. You have much of value to share with the world.

warm regards,

Joanna

Thank you for your post. I’m thinking about what you and Caroline are saying. Here’s what I come up with.

If you have an eating disorder, you will get caught in the behavior regardless of any structural changes you make in your behavior. The underlying reasons that are the basis of your particular eating disorder will remain unaddressed.
So sooner or later, the behavior will return.

But… if you don’t have an eating disorder, making structural changes WILL have a positive effect on your behavior.

You know that portion control is something you need to be aware of.

I wonder about your using the word crave. It’s a powerful word. When it’s used by a person with an eating disorder it can relate to that person being on the verge of a binge and then either bingeing or going into starvation mode as a response.

If you don’t have an eating disorder, I suggest you find other words to use for what you mean. Having a yen for? Having a taste for? Something looking good or appealing? Then you have framed your experience differently in your own mind.

It’s okay to have a yen for something or have a taste of something that looks good to you right now and have it — just not amounts that lead to trouble.

It sounds to me like you are or are becoming an intuitive eater. And that’s great.

Intuitive eating is all about creating a healthy relationship with food.

http://www.intuitiveeating.com/

Thank you again for your post!

warm regards,

Joanna

Thanks for writing. Many people get caught in this yo yo weight experience yet feel they don’t meet the various criteria for an eating disorder.

A challenging but efficient way to approach your eating dilemma is to keep a journal. Every morning if possible, write for three or four pages. Write whatever comes to you mind. And if nothing comes to your mind describe your room or what you are wearing or what you did yesterday. Just write.

Keep all your writing in a notebook so it’s not scattered sheets, and date every page. Be sure to include your feelings.

Just do this for months. Eventually you will go through your weight gain and loss and regain because that’s your pattern. Then read your journal.

You will see how your thoughts and feelings change. You will get insight
into what “triggers” your patterns. Once you have this information you will be better able to make your decisions about what,if anything, you need to place in or remove from your life (or both) to keep yourself steady and free from that yo yo experience.

Please let me know how you are doing!

warm regards,

Joanna