Eating Disorders News by Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto

What is new in eating disorders?

2012-02-12T20:32:02-08:00

I was asked recently to review and summarize the latest prevalence data on eating disorders. I share my research with you. First the gender gap is closing. Boys and girls have equal susceptibility to anorexia and bulimia, but girls are more likely to develop binge-eating disorder. Binge-eating disorder is increasing in middle aged and older women. The median age for onset of an eating disorder has dropped to 12- to 13-years-old. Eating disorders have become an equal oppportunity problem. No longer do whites have an edge when it comes to eating disorders. Lifetime prevalence of anorexia and binge eating disorder is now similar for all major ethnicities (American African, Asian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic whites). Bulimia, however, has higher prevalence rates among Latinos and African Americans. Bisexual and gay men are at a higher risk than heterosexual men. Recent research indicates that 15% of gay or bisexual men have at some time suffered from an eating disorder compared to less than five percent of heterosexual men. No differences in have been found between lesbian/bisexual women and heterosexual women. Sadly, only a minority of those with an eating disorder appear to be receiving treatment. Eating disorder are difficult to recognize even by those who need help and asking for help is even more difficult.

Marcia

Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders. Copyrighted by Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto

What's Behind the Dramatic Rise in Childhood Eating Disorders Hospitalizations?

2012-02-07T09:59:44-08:00

One shocking recent statistic, released by the American Academy of Pediatrics in fall 2010, is that from 1999 to 2006, hospitalizations for eating disorders increased sharply – 119% – for children younger than 12 years old. The academy also noted significant increases in prevalence of eating disorders among minorities and males.

I spoke to Ovidio Bermudez, MD, medical director of child and adolescent services at Denver’s Eating Recovery Center and a board member of The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). The 119 percent rise in hospitalizations for such young children, Dr. Bermudez said, is “likely to be a good proxy for a rise in incidence,” meaning that as incredible as it sounds, it probably accurately reflects the increase in the number of kids under 12 who are suffering from eating disorders, especially, as Dr. Bermudez points out, when you consider how carefully third-party reimbursing organizations scrutinize hospital stays, and how reluctant they are to okay them.

The reasons for this scary rise in children’s hospitalizations, says Dr. Bermudez, are complex, the result of a variety of forces that have created a “perfect storm very likely related to changes in the environment and changes in people’s experience.”

Here’s how Dr. Bermudez believes this “perfect storm” has taken shape: Imagine that we can divide children our society into two groups, one that is genetically protected from eating disorders (meaning they have no family history of them), and another that is “genetically vulnerable” (meaning there is a family history of such disorders). Suppose a child in the latter group grows up in a “protective environment,” let’s say where there is no dieting peer group, no obsession with fashion and popular culture, or perhaps no obsessively dieting parents. Such a child is not likely to develop an eating disorder. “If that environment is altered and becomes a ‘promotive environment,’” explains Dr. Bermudez, “even someone who is more genetically protected” might be affected. The child who is really going to be adversely affected, though, and who is most likely to develop an eating disorder is the genetically vulnerable child exposed to the promotive environment.

Dr. Bermudez speculates that what we’re seeing now is a cultural shift from a “protected” environment to a “promotive” environment and notes, “in a lot of ways we’re seeing the same thing in other areas: childhood obesity, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses. My sense is that we are changing, the earth is supporting seven billion of us and that brings all kinds of added challenges, not only from a physical, and environment standpoint, but from an emotional and socio-cultural point of view.”

Dr. Bermudez cited 2010 findings from the American Psychological Association’s annual Stress in America, survey, which found that the number one stressor on families is their financial situations, and that nearly half of all children reported feeling saddened or worried about family problems. He calls it “stress by proxy,” meaning that kids “are not living the financial difficulties to the extent that their parents are, “but they were picking up the stress because we don’t live in isolation.” He adds, “the world in general, is becoming a more stressful place to grow up, in. Everyone has access to mass media and there are things being promoted that aren’t healthy, about body image, fitness, about the tolerance of violence…..and we know that exposure matters.”

In addition to be bombarded by potentially triggering mass media messages, kids face other challenges: “social competition, pressure to perform, to be multitalented, and engaged in so many things,” adds Dr. Bermudez. The pace of change and the level of tension in our society, he believes, are creating a culture that’s very difficult for our kids to get a stake in.” The message: “If you’re not a super go-getter, you may not make it,” and not everybody takes that message well.

So what can parents do? “First of all,” says Dr. Bermudez, “alleviate stress for yourself, and for your family. Maybe you do with less: work two jobs instead of three, and take care of yourself in appropriate ways.” (The American Psychological Association Stress in America report notes that managing stress levels, eating right, and getting enough sleep and exercise are key.)

Another thing: “Without kind of pushing your kid outside of the space within the bell curve, you want your kid to skew toward the side of less intensity, and fewer expectations of immediate performance.” When he speaks, Dr. Bermudez tells audiences, “I’m so grateful that a good chunk of my childhood was in Cuba, playing in the streets and flying kites…I didn’t take any lessons…now kids take everything, and if they’re not doing that, they’re out of the mix.”Instead of trying to cram in sports, arts, academic and enrichment programs all at once, Dr. Bermudez suggests rotating them “rather than all of them all the time at all costs.”

Another way you can help counteract an increasingly “promotive” environment is to, as Marcia and I advise in our book, model healthy attitudes and behaviors when it comes to food, eating, shape and size, and make exercise an enjoyable and regular part of your lives.

Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

Register Now for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

2012-02-05T16:53:38-08:00

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week will take place from February 26 through March 3 this year, and Eating Disorders News won’t miss the opportunity to raise awareness about this insidious disorder.

The theme of this year’s event is “Everybody Knows Somebody,” because the incidence of these disorders has been rising steadily since the first half of the last century, to the point that it's likely that everyone knows someone who has been affected by anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder or Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS).

Consider:

• As many as ten million females and one million males in our country are fighting an eating disorder.

• Eating disorders are more prevalent than Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, yet receive a fraction of the research dollars that those better-known diseases receive.

• For females between the ages of 15 and 24 who suffer from anorexia, the mortality rate for their illness is 12 times that of all other causes of death.

• Despite significant advances in our understanding of the genetic, biological and environmental underpinnings of eating disorders, sufferers are still stigmatized, mistakenly blamed for indulging in a problem of the weak-willed, the idle class, or the spoiled.

Please register for NEDAW to find out how you can get involved, look for events and speakers in your region, and learn more about eating disorders and how to prevent and fight them.

Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with childhood eating disorders expert Dr. Ovideo Bermudez on the dramatic rise in hospitalizations for children under 12 suffering from eating disorders, and what you can do to counteract this trend.

Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

Fathers, Daughters and the "Touch Taboo"

2012-01-29T14:12:58-08:00

In our book, among the risk factors for body image issues and disordered eating that Marcia and I discuss is the physically or emotionally absent father, or one who is highly critical. “Father hunger” is what psychologist Margo Maine calls the emptiness the daughter of such a father feels. Often this longing for a close daughter-father relationship involves the worry that dad might love her more if she looked a different way.

Although we know now that eating disorders are the result of the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors, and that parents should never be blamed for a child’s eating disorders, there are positive, protective behaviors and attitudes you can strive for. We encourage positive father-child relationships for many reasons. In one study, fathers of girls with eating disorders were found to be unavailable, critical, perfectionistic and angry. Girls with eating disorders were likely to perceive their fathers as unloving, hostile, and aggressive. Researchers also found that girls who felt close to their fathers were less likely to have food and weight problems. Another study showed that the most influential factors in the development of eating problems among children relate to peer and parents, especially support from fathers.

Some fathers are not quite sure how to react to their quickly developing daughters, and may withdraw as a result. The danger is that the daughter may internalize this retreat and assume that her changing body is unacceptable. Joe Kelly, author and fathering educator for the eating disorders treatment center The Emily Program, writes provocatively on the “touch taboo” that many such fathers feel as their daughter begins to develop, in which our culture’s objectification of women and its high incidence of sexual abuse makes fathers of developing daughters suddenly stop all expressions of physical affection toward their child. He’s the author of Dads and Daughters: How to Inspire, Understand, and Support Your Daughter When She’s Growing Up So Fast.

Recently, we spoke to Kelly for this Q&A:

Q: Why does it seem that a father’s estimation of a young girl’s appearance carries more importance in her mind than her mother’s?

A: Even when a child gets strong, positive messages about her body at home, she gets a completely different message in the schoolyard, in the media and in the cultural air we breathe: that how you look is more important than who you are. The underlying presumption is that that’s what men care about. It’s a quite disturbing sexist influence dynamic where women and girls believe that if a man doesn’t give you attention, then you are less valuable.

Q: What is the reaction you generally get from fathers when you speak on the touch taboo between fathers and daughters?

A: Nervous relief, if there’s such a thing. It’s getting better but men still have a hard time talking about this. Most men I talk to absolutely love the experience when a daughter is younger of being her hero. It’s not uncommon for little girls to be completely enraptured with their dads, and that’s an unconditional love that’s pretty rare to experience. When they lose that they lose the coziness. It’s a grieving time even in the healthiest of circumstances. And it’s not talked about, the terror men have about continuing to touch their daughters [as they reach puberty.]

Q: What can dads do to counter this situation?

A: Have other men with whom you can talk about it, ideally veteran dads who have been down this road before. With your daughter, start with things that are small and non-threatening, like gardening together, riding bikes. Start spending intentional time in one another’s presence. That’s something men are relatively comfortable with—one of the most profound ways men communicate with each other is by being with each other in the same space; that engenders closeness in men. With a child, too, just being together and doing fun activities can be quite profound. There’s value in girls experiencing men’s way of living in the presence of their fathers. If a daughter puts up plywood flooring on top of the garage with her dad, they may spend two hours and he may say virtually nothing, but that camaraderie and bonding is a valuable thing for girls to learn.

There are an infinite number of ways to connect with another human being. Then you can build toward a quick hug, holding hands, things like that. It’s not going to be easy, and the rules will change on a regular basis, especially if she’s an adolescent. I was very affectionate with my children all their lives and they still like to snuggle with me on the couch at 31 years old. During adolescence there were times when they really wanted that, and times when they didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

Q: That difficult moment for a father when a growing daughter pulls away from a hug or a kiss for the first time happens with boys, too. What can parents do to show that they understand, but are available when their child needs affection, comfort or reassurance?

A: That’s really hard, and your feelings will be hurt. But you gotta be the grown up. My wife Nancy helped me learn that my job was to remain loyal to them, no matter what. I needed to know that the door was going to slam on my face on numerous occasions, and that it wasn’t my fault, it had to do with their growing up. The payoff with my [twin] daughters is that they’re 31 and they call me every week, and actually like me to come visit.

Q: Do you notice a difference in how younger fathers approach this issue compared to people of your generation?

A: I definitely see hopeful trends among younger fathers in terms of talking about being fathers, and about feeling more freedom to openly and actively engage in fatherhood. I do a lot of training for Early Childhood Head Start. They’ve been including fathers for 15 years now, and tell me that it’s now very common for half of the adults who show up to be men. That’s a hopeful sign. It’s still hard, though. From every father I interviewed for the book there was this really profound fear and worry about their daughters emerging as sexual beings because they are some level afraid of the vulnerable position that women in our culture are put. In groups of men, when we start to talk about this, the anxiety level in the room goes up, then as we get more into it, there’s a kind of relief.

Getting Your Eating Back on Track with a Food Plan

2012-01-09T18:57:47-08:00

The heart of our book, The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders, is Marcia’s Food Plan, which offers those struggling with an eating disorder a template for returning to normal eating. The plan itself is simple: three meals and two-to-three snacks per day, with meals consisting of a serving each of complex carbohydrates, fruit or vegetable, calcium, protein, fat and (in the case of lunch and dinner) a “fun food,” something eaten not for its nutritional value, but because it tastes good and marks an end to the meal.

It is infinitely variable and flexible, and can be adapted for individuals battling anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, as well as disordered eaters who want to get back to a regular and healthy pattern of eating.

We devote a whole chapter to the Food Plan, breaking it down by component parts, and explaining why these elements are crucial to anyone interested in healthy eating, and we offer sample foods for each category (this is an area that the overwhelmed family or individual can often get stuck on).

All of this is pretty straightforward and simple. The hard part, of course, is mustering the motivation and determination needed to abandon eating disordered behaviors, to take a leap of faith and start using the Food Plan. Here, I’ve summarized a few of the many tips we give on how to make the Food Plan work:

• Add what’s missing: You can either sit down and, using our template as your guide, design a Food Plan for you, your child or loved one. Or, you can start with what you are currently eating, and slowly add what’s missing. The latter is the method used by professional nutritionists, and can be easily adapted at home by parents and individuals. It’s a less anxiety-producing way to gradually work your way up to full adherence to the Plan.

• Remember the Rule of Threes: Remind yourself or your loved one that the non-negotiables are three meals a day, and for patients who need to gain weight, three snacks a day. The final three is that there should be no more than three hours between a meal and snack.

• The One-Cup Rule: Often kids or adults are unsure about what a “serving size” is. Use a cup measure as a rough guide. It works for most foods, the exception being very rich foods, for example shelled nuts, butter, or peanut butter.

• Normal Serving Sizes Are Normally Served: So what does a normal serving size look like? Here are some visual approximations: a single scoop of ice cream, a standard school lunch tray’s individual portions of protein, vegetables and carbs. An apple or a banana. For meat, fish, or poultry, a serving is the size of an outstretched palm or a balled fist.

• No food is forbidden. No food in and of itself, is fattening or forbidden. After the Food Plan is firmly in place, you can experiment by adding to your Plan “fear foods,” or foods that in the past have triggered binges. We recommend single-serving packages, especially in the early stages of using the Plan.

Once you’ve adopted the plan, it’s easy, even for kids, to memorize and internalize, and therefore easier to stick to than a more complicated plan. Remember, no matter how hard the going gets, normalizing eating is possible. If you feel the first steps are just too daunting, the help of a registered dietitian or nutritionist who specializes in working with eating disorder patients can help get you started.

Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

Looking Back on a Year of Eating Disorders News

2011-12-28T16:57:42-08:00

As we get ready to ring out 2011 and ring in 2012, here’s a look back at what we’ve done this past year, and a look forward to new adventures.

Early in 2011, I edited the over 60 informational handouts that The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) makes available to the public, streamlining them and bringing them up to date with latest research findings. NEDA does a great job in providing help and hope to those fighting the disease and their loved ones. I attended NEDA’s annual conference in Hollywood, Calif. in October, where I was struck by the growing profile and presence of relatives—many sisters and mothers, especially—of young people who had died from eating disorders.

Yet there was much new information and reasons for hope passed on at the conference, too: in the panel discussion with individuals and families who had triumphed over great adversity; in the words of Australian writer June Alexander, who recovered after a more than 30-year struggle with anorexia and bulimia; and a superb seminar on how families can more effectively do battle in the eternal struggle for medical insurance reimbursements. There was lots of medical talk too, about the need to balance advances in brain science (and the tendency to stress the neurobiological basis of eating disorders) with the influence of society and culture in triggering these deadly disorders. Finally, I was happy to see that more and more clinicians are starting to embrace Family Based Therapy (FBT) and involve the family and loved ones in the recovery process.

Marcia has been working ferociously, as usual, balancing her full-time nutritional counseling practice with a race against the clock to turn in her manuscript for the second edition of her much-lauded professional textbook, Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders. Due out from Routledge Press before the end of 2012, we can offer you this synopsis:

Unique to this second edition is the collaboration of two experienced nutritionists who specialize in the field of eating disorders, Marcia Herrin and Maria Larkin. They have completely reorganized the new edition with a revised section on nutrition counseling interventions derived from cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, family-based treatment and motivational interviewing techniques. In addition, the new book includes state-of-the-art nutrition assessment guidelines and food plans developed by the authors along with a careful review of research-based findings. New information regarding guidelines for appropriate levels of care in treatment of eating disordered patients is provided. The authors include practical clinical tools for nutrition-focused family-based treatment and for managing bingeing, purging, excessive exercise and weight restoration. Overall the new edition is a comprehensive overview of all food- and weight-related treatment approaches geared to help nutrition counselors, therapists, and medical providers effectively understand and address eating disorders.

In 2011, Marcia worked with clients ranging in age from 13 to 60 who struggle with every type of eating disorder. She says, “Eating disorders are not going away.” In fact, the opposite is true. “I am struck by how pernicious eating disorders are,” Marcia told me. “I’m having patients return to treatment after 10 years of struggle. These are patients that left treatment for a variety of reasons (usually going off to college), and then return asking for help.” Marcia adds, “It’s not just teenagers, but women in their 40s and 50s and 60s who are asking for help.”

Yes, eating disorders are not going away, but the good news is that there have been great advancements in our understanding of eating disorders, and the complex interplay of genetics and environment that lead to their expression. Patients also benefit from better diagnosis now than there was 10 years ago, as well as from the many online resources, books and experts that to turn to for information. We recommend the Gürze website, NEDA and Something Fishy for starters.

Sending you our best wishes for a happy and healthy 20012,

Marcia and Nancy

New Educational Documentary Film and Curriculum on Eating Disorders

2011-12-19T08:49:35-08:00

One reason eating disorders are so insidious is that many early warning signals associated with them seem so innocent. Who hasn’t worried about one’s appearance, tried to conform to our culture’s unrealistic standards of beauty, or dieted at one time or another? Even behaviors that once may have seemed strange and out there, such as purging and cutting, are unsurprising among certain circles. Psychologist Carolyn Costin has noted the “normalization of these behaviors,” and it’s absolutely true. Why would anyong seek treatment when what they're doing seems completely ordinary?

Yet the sobering truth is that eating disorders can kill. An estimated 10 million Americans struggle with eating disorders. More people die from anorexia and bulimia than from any other mental disorder, and the most vulnerable population is teenage girls. Forty percent of newly identified cases are among girls ages 15 to 19.

It was this aspect of deadliness hiding in plain sight that prompted actress Robyn Hussa to take an off-Broadway show called Nor.mal: A Family Musical of Hope and Survival and develop a 90-page companion curriculum to help educate students, parents and others about eating disorders. The non-profit organization that grew out of this project, NORMAL, has produced two DVDs, “ED 101” and “Speaking Out About ED.”

“ED 101” is a free, 30-minute program suitable for high school and college audiences, and the longer “Speaking Out About ED” is available for purchase ($29) from Gürze Books. All the related curricular materials to "ED 101" are available for free from the web site. The DVDs do not pull any punches. Interspersed with snapshots of young women who have died from eating disorders, a roster of psychologists, researchers and former eating disorder sufferers give viewers a full picture of how devastating these mental disorders can be.

There are statistics galore and some sobering facts about how often treatment is delayed, with each week or month without treatment making recovery harder and harder to achieve. Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, chair of psychology department at UC Berkeley, tells us that the average length of time between someone becoming aware of the eating disorder and getting help for it is ten years. We learn that the co-morbid (or co-occurring) conditions often seen with eating disorders make them even harder to solve. Depression is a rampant among eating disorders sufferers. Dr. Ken Weiner, who heads Denver’s Eating Recovery Center, tells us that the average woman has a 28% chance of suffering from major depression in her lifetime. If she has an eating disorder, that risk rises to over 70%.

Renowned expert Dr. Craig Johnson talks about the role of genes in eating disorders, noting that some people are born into this world “hardwired not to feel good about themselves.” Eating disorders become a way to dull the pain of existing for such people. But they are not only genetically determined. Human genetic makeup has not changed drastically in the last several decades, says Hinshaw, yet we are seeing earlier expression of the genetic predisposition to eating disorders, says Hinshaw. Why? In part because of our culture’s unrealistic beauty ideals, the pressure girls, women, boys and men to look like the actors/singer/models/celebrities they idolize. “It’s not just nature versus nurture,” explains Hinshaw, “they work together.”

I hope these DVDs open the way to a more open dialogue about eating disorders among families, friends and at schools and institutions.

Solutions to Binge Eating

2011-12-11T19:45:17-08:00

Most people with eating disorders will engage in binge eating at some time over the course of their disorder whether they suffer from anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating disorder itself. Binge eating is a distinctive behavioral pattern in which attempts to restrict eating (which may or may not result in actual dietary restriction) are interrupted by repeated episodes of binge eating. This pattern is set in motion when a person’s self-esteem is based almost exclusively maintaining a thin body. Binge eating is maintained by difficulty dealing with moods such as sadness, frustration, and anxiety coupled with perfectionism, and major interpersonal difficulties.

With an eating disorder, we tend to overreact to even minor dietary blunders and use them as evidence about our lack of self-control. Because binge-eating behaviors are indefensible and antithetical to our core values, we internalize a sense of being unable to control eating or weight. It is self-fulfilling to binge and then, in an effort to regain control, return to restriction. But restricted eating is difficult to maintain in the face of life’s challenges and negative moods. Binge eating, on the other hand, may temporarily improve a negative mood or serve as a distraction from difficult circumstances.

What is the solution to this perfect storm? Normal regular eating, 3 meals and up to 3 snacks a day regardless of mood or how you feel about your body. This simple solution reliably and rapidly reduces binge eating and does not cause weight gain. The Marcia Herrin Food Plan available on our website lays it out. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. Christopher Fairburn’s Overcoming Binge Eating is a great companion to our food plan.

Marcia

Copyrighted by Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto.

June Alexander Recovered from a Long-term Eating Disorder and So Can You

2011-12-04T09:47:13-08:00

We have all heard that the more entrenched anorexia becomes, the harder it is to achieve recovery. That’s true, and yet far from a certainty. If you have been tempted to give up hope, take a moment to hear June Alexander’s story. It is an amazing saga of perseverance and courage, and its message, says Alexander, is “hold on to hope.”

Alexander grew up on a dairy farm in southeast Australia. The typical risk factors were not there for her. There was no peer pressure to look a certain way at her one-room schoolhouse. At home, there were no glossy fashion magazines lying around and no television. Yet at the age of 11, she developed anorexia, and in her teens, bulimia. She was not diagnosed until she was 31, suffering for another 16 years before breaking through her eating- disordered mindset. So little was known about eating disorders where she lived, and the access to treatment venues and health information that are a cyber-click away in this day and age didn’t yet exist. It was not until she was 47 that Alexander found a therapist who provided the magic key to unlocking the evil spell of her disorder: Alexander needed to separate her eating-disordered thoughts from her real thoughts.

During the years leading up to that epiphany, even amid the deepest turmoil of her serious eating disorder, Alexander managed to marry, have four children and build a successful career as a journalist. By the time she was 28, she says, “I feared I was going crazy.” Her marriage fell apart, and she cut off contact with her sister and her parents, who could not understand how she could succeed in the world of work but not her personal life. She moved more than 20 times in an attempt to escape her disorder. You can read her remarkable story in full in Alexander’s memoir, A Girl Called Tim: Escape from an Eating Disorder Hell.

After her breakthrough moment at age 47, says Alexander, “I began to recognize which was the real me and which was the illness.” She discovered that “love is the strongest medicine,” and that “when your family can’t provide support, hope remains….get it from someone you trust.” When she was at her low point, enmeshed in a series of destructive relationships, a group of friends staged an intervention and gave her no choice but to end the latest in the toxic series. “The more entrenched the eating disorder, the more work you have to do,” she counsels. “Get in touch with your feelings, and guard against letting anxiety build up—attend to those feelings immediately.”

Another piece of invaluable advice Alexander gives is when you know you are going to enter a highly stressful situation rife with triggers, you have to “prepare for it like a soldier going into battle.” She told me a remarkable story about how she did this herself: Her daughter announced her wedding and the date of the ceremony to the family. Shortly after that, Alexander’s estranged sister’s daughter announced that her wedding would take place within days of Alexander’s daughter’s. Alexander’s niece invited the entire family to the event except Alexander. Alexander and her daughter decided that they would take the high road and invite both Alexander’s sister and her daughter to her own wedding.

Alexander knew that her daughter’s wedding would be highly stressful because of this family drama, and worked hard with her therapist to visualize the moment when she would have to greet her sister and her niece at the wedding. She imagined being a bird, soaring over the scene, free from anger, anxiety or bitterness. At the event, Alexander did just that. She was gracious, composed, and the wedding went off beautifully. Afterward, George, her ex-husband and staunch supporter, told Alexander, “You deserve a gold medal for what you just went through.”

Now fully recovered, June is close with her four children and her grandchildren. Her priorities are family and work, so when she’s not traveling the world to promote her three books, or working on the three more that she has in the works, she’s writing or walking on the beach at her seaside home in Corio Bay on the Bellarine Peninsula of Australia, or her one-bedroom cottage in Melbourne.

The unique combination of recovery from a long-term eating disorder and polished writing skills has made Alexander a highly sought after author, co-author and lecturer. In addition to A Girl Called Tim, she has written A Collaborative Approach to Eating Disorders with the Maudsley Hospital’s Dr. Janet Treasure and My Kid is Back: Empowering Parents to Beat Anorexia Nervosa. In the works, she says, are collaborations with Drs. Daniel Le Grange and Andrea Goldshmidt on a textbook on binge eating disorder for clinicians; another with Dr. Treasure on an update of her book Anorexia Nervosa, A Survivial Guide for Families, Friends and Sufferers, and a collaboration with Dr. Ivan Eisler focusing on multi-family therapy.

After I spoke to Alexander via Skype from Australia, she emailed me with a final thought. “The bird imagery I described – it is really about living in the moment; at times of heightened exposure to anxiety, intensely so. The focus on the beautiful bird flapping its wings gently and soaring with the breeze is a tool to distract from the anxiety, which in my case, fed the illness. The mind is a wonderful thing. By learning coping skills, it can be our best friend, rather than our greatest tormentor.”

She’s at peace now, and wrote, “Today I love being with myself. I love my own company. I am at peace and feel content…. I want others to know that they can be free, too.”

Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

March 22-25, 2012 Eating Disorder Symposium in Charleston, South Carolina

2011-11-20T18:07:35-08:00

Announcing…the 26th Annual iaedp 2012 Symposium, Featuring Leading Eating Disorder Experts.

We are proud to post the announcement of The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Foundation (iaedp) 2012 Symposium to take place on March 22-25 at the Charleston Marriott in Charleston, South Carolina. Five keynote speakers will serve as the headliner events during the 26th anniversary of the upcoming action-packed conference. Established in 1985, iaedp provides educational programs and training standards for eating disorder specialists and other medical professionals caring for those suffering from the full spectrum of disordered eating. The group offers a highly respected certification process for specializing in eating disorder treatment. “Each year, for the iaedp Foundation Symposium, it is our mission to bring together the leading authorities in research and treatment of eating disorders and co-occuring addictions,” said Bonnie Harken, Managing Director at the iaedp Foundation. “We identify those truly outstanding in our field to help all of us in the treatment of eating disorders do the best job possible to fight for those who suffer from addictive diseases.”

The 2012 Symposium offers four days of training sessions and instructive presentations including five keynote speakers: Jean Kilbourne, EdD; Joyce Hawkes, PhD; Corinne F. Gerwe, PhD, LCAS, CAS; Joel C. Robertson, Pharm.D; and Mark Gold, MD. Dr. Kilbourne is internationally recognized for groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising, and recently published So Sexy so Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids. Dr. Hawkes, recognized for her demonstration on how science and spirituality can peacefully coexist in beneficial and refreshing ways, and has released Resonance: Nine Practices for Harmonious Health and Vitality. Dr. Gerwe is internationally recognized for the Gerwe Orchestration Method (G-OM) treatment approach, addressing the impact of early pivotal life-altering experiences in relation to the development of behavioral and addictive disorders, including eating disorders, and has published The Art of Investigative Psychodynamic Therapy. Dr. Robertson, internationally recognized for his work in brain chemistry and human behavior, has assessed over 14,000 individuals in 25 years, and his online brain chemistry programs have helped individuals overcome the personal inhibitors that compromise overall health and performance. Dr. Gold, the Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Florida, has contributed to new approaches in addiction treatment and has pioneered hedonic overeating as an addiction, developing imaging models to treat overeating and obesity.

About iaedp: Established in 1985, the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals or iaedp is recognized today for its excellence in providing first-quality education and training standards to an international and multidisciplinary group of various healthcare treatment providers and helping professions, who treat the full spectrum of eating disorder problems. The organization offers a highly respected certification process for those who wish to receive specialized credentials in their work with people with eating disorders. All iaedp training and educational programs are designed by treatment professionals for treatment professionals who work with patients in a therapeutic setting.

We urge our blog readers to pass the word about this important symposium and organization to professionals who treat eating disorders.

Marcia