Mujidat Shotonwa

Considering Culture in Eating Disorder Recovery: An Interview with Mujidat Shotonwa, MHC-LP

For Mujidat, helping to facilitate a client’s recovery from the position of Intake Coordinator generates “a really good feeling for me, because it feels like I am part of pieces that are coming together.”
Markin

Eating Disorders Among College-Aged Males: What Helps? (Part 2)

Despite the pervasive masculinity ideal and inadequate resources on campuses for males who struggle with body and food issues (link to previous piece), there are effective ways to counteract the compulsive exercise and disordered eating habits which so many male students adopt.
Czamfir

Writing Your Way To Wellness: Narrative Practice for Eating Disorder Recovery

Research shows that writing not only improves one’s emotional health, but it has physiologically benefits. Since the 1980s, numerous studies conducted by psychologist James W. Pennebaker, PhD, have proven the that writing about stressful emotions has significant positive effects on individuals coping with diseases, disorders, and trauma.
Maridav

Eating Disorders: The Challenges Among College-Aged Males (Part 1)

Males face unique challenges when seeking support for eating disorder recovery. They often are up against greater stigma than women, have fewer treatment options available, and struggle to find male peers going through similar experiences.
Maiken Wiese, Eating Disorder Specialist

Facing the Food in Eating Disorder Recovery: An Interview with Maiken Wiese, RD

What does it take to recover from an eating disorder? Nutritional, physical, psychological, and emotional needs must be addressed, so it helps to have a variety of professionals comprise a “treatment team.” One essential player on this team is a Registered Dietitian (RD): a health professional with an accredited university degree in nutrition and dietetics who has completed supervised hours of clinical practice and passed a credentialing exam. But not all RD’s specialize in eating disorders.
Female College Student on campus

How to Overcome an Eating Disorder at College

A multitude of factors contribute to the rising rates of eating disorders diagnosed at this stage of life. As exciting as college may be, it also involves new levels and types of stress: greater academic expectations, pressure to determine your identity, increased athletic competitiveness, new social networks, more independent living, unfamiliar food sources and settings, loss of childhood, and the challenges of transition…to name a few!
girl in high grass on a sunny day. self-compassion

Cultivating Self-Compassion in Eating Disorder Recovery

I recently asked a friend who is in recovery from anorexia how she feels towards her now inactive but once powerful eating disorder. Squinting past my shoulder into the distance—perhaps into her distant past—she paused in silent reflection. Several moments later, she returned to the here and now, and responded:
Mother side by side smiling with daughter

Parents: Supporting Your Child With an Eating Disorder

When a healthy child gets sick, parents can usually find a fairly simple answer: Tylenol, amoxicillin, cough medicine. But when your child is diagnosed with an eating disorder, parents face a problem for which there is no immediate fix. Caring for and supporting your child with an eating disorder can be confusing and scary.
Ice Cream Cone

Like Food, Like Finance: How Eating Disordered Behaviors Manifest in Money

But on that particular afternoon, I was paralyzed by my restrictive habits. The fear wasn’t about the food this time, though—it was about the money. A cone costs twice as much as a cup, which holds an equivalent amount of gelato…
Skinny Crazy Small

SkinnyCrazySmall: Bringing Anorexia Center Stage

Sylvie based the piece on her personal experience with anorexia, and cleverly integrates her story with the stories of famous women throughout history who have also struggled with the disorder like singer Karen Carpenter and psychoanalyst Anna Freud.