Eating
Disorders
How Do I Recover
From An Eating Disorder?
by Joanna
Poppink, M.F.C.C.
(January 18, 2004) -- The most professional and accurate answer to "How
do I begin?" in my opinion is, "It depends."
It depends on what form the eating disorder takes, how entrenched it is,
what kind of social supports are available, how accessible the person is to
deep psychological learning, how much commitment there is, how willing and
genuinely informed the person's intimates are, the quality of therapy
available, the quality of programs available and what touches an individual's
heart.
The main theme, the guiding principle is, "Get well no matter
what." That's the kind of commitment and focus it takes to really
recover from an
eating disorder. Usually a lot of exploring occurs in the process of
finding the methods and people who are best for you (not based on control
issues but on healing issues).
Sometimes you luck out and find a psychotherapist who can go the distance
with you. Such a person has knowledge of eating disorders and unconscious
processes. He or she is more than willing for the patient to participate in
various ethical, responsible and respectable groups where the patient explores
body, mind, spiritual and creative issues and opportunities while maintaining
ongoing psychotherapy. Sometimes such a person is just not available, and a
program can offer these things better than anyone else in your healing
environment. Sometimes a combination of program first and then one on one is
best. Sometimes it's one on one, then a program and then back to one on one.
If the patient is really lucky, her family goes into therapy and works out
many of their troublesome individual and group boundary issues as well.
Eating disorder residential or out-patient treatment
programs often offer family sessions. Sometimes these are conducted with
the eating disorder person present. Sometimes not. Sometimes they are conducted
with other eating disorder families. Sometimes not. Or a combination of all is
offered in a structured setting.
Many ways to recover from an eating disorder
The challenge is to find what is best for you. In Buddhism they say there
are 84,000 doors to enlightenment.
I like this philosophy. There are many and varied ways of achieving
recovery. Even the search for your best way is part of the healing process as
long as you are not playing tricks with your mind and are sincerely open to
healing.
The best way for you may not be the most comfortable way. Healing from an
eating disorder is not comfortable. It's eye opening, mind opening, soul
opening and body healing with joyous times, but it's definitely not
comfortable. In healing you begin where you are. You check out the reputation
and credentials of people you associate with because people with eating
disorders have difficulties with trust. They can trust too quickly when it's
not a good idea, and they can withhold their trust when it is a good place and
in so doing lose a potentially helpful relationship. So credentials and
recommendations are important as you explore what is available for you.
How to Begin - Contact:
- eating disorder specialists
- hospitals
- school counseling programs
- 12 step organizations
- residential treatment centers
- churches, temples and synagogues
- eating disorder web sites
Ask for people you can talk with who have experience in either
treating eating
disorders, achieving recovery from eating disorders or have received good
feedback from referring people to helpful situations. Learn about the different
ways people have found real help and choose what seems like a tolerable
beginning place for you.
Guides come in all kinds of forms. You might discover a simple, direct path
when someone or several people highly recommend a particular psychotherapist.
But information might take a different shape entirely. Someone might recommend
a creative writing group that has a lot of people in recovery as participants.
By visiting or joining that group you might get a creative boost in your life
plus meet people who can give you solid recommendations for treatment.
Local hospitals may have programs (residential or out-patient) or know
where programs exist. School counselors, priests, pastors, rabbis and monks may
know what local resources have helped students and parishioners (and which have
not). Twelve step programs are always a grab bag of unpredictable surprises,
but they are also consistent in that people who actively participate in their
personal recovery show up and tell "how it was and how it is."
Hearing these stories and meeting the people can be enormously helpful, even if
it's just one meeting and just one story that opens your mind to a path for
you.
Residential treatment centers often have a list of recommended
psychotherapists in the local area. Such centers may offer you visits to their
site and/or may invite you to talks, seminars, meetings with their staff and
perhaps people who have "graduated" from their programs.
Eating disorder web sites often
have a list of people you can contact for information. Many eating disorder
psychotherapists, dieticians and medical doctors are part of a world-wide
information-sharing network. It may be possible for this network to find you
referrals to resources in your area that are worth exploring.
There are 84,000 ways to begin. I have learned that if you trust and commit
to your own desire to get well, you will recognize the door that is right for
you.
More information
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