Dear Diary Blog
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The Diary Healer offers a safe and supportive environment in which to share your story. Sharing your story can help you to develop a sense of belonging and connectedness with self and others. Stories that provide a message of hope in coping with life challenges are especially welcome. Share your story today.
Poetry writing as a self-help tool when recovering from an eating disorder
If you really want to know me, read my poems, because this is my soul. _ Anne Poetry is an art form that helps many people to express how they feel. It may involve jotting down a poem now and then..
Getting Better Bite by Bite – in English, German, Korean and now, a Polish translation
I’m excited today to hold a copy of a new translation of Getting Better Bite by Bite — this time, in Polish. Getting Better Bite by Bite is a survival kit/self-help book, written for people experiencing symptoms of binge eating and bulimia..
Climbing the mountain in my mind to see who I can be (without an eating disorder)
I stand at the kitchen bench and look at the dishes to wash. I see the shopping list out of the corner of my eye. I know that piles of washing are waiting to be folded. Instead of starting to..
My journey as a performing artist with anorexia nervosa
Using the stage to face fear head-on When most unwell with anorexia nervosa (AN) I’ve been so intensely gripped by fear that I’ve wanted only to hide. To hide in my home, under layers of warm clothes, by running so..
When grief, dissociation, keeping busy, addiction and a farewell collide
Dissociation serves a logical purpose, in that it allows me to separate myself and disconnect from the world, escape, and float away. However, I don’t really understand why this happens, apart from the need to detach from reality or situation in..
New book describes how narrative family therapy helps parents and children struggling with complex psychiatric problems
A note from The Diary Healer editor, June Alexander: I wish Narrative Psychiatry and Family Collaborations had been around when I was a child, struggling with anorexia nervosa. A premise for this treatment approach is that when a child struggles with a..
Eating disorder recovery fight inspires researcher to develop parent education course
Eating disorder. Those words were not foreign. After a year researching this mental health issue, I could explain female athlete triad syndrome, binge eating disorder, atypical anorexia, hypothalamic amenorrhea, and anorexia nervosa. As a college junior in Family and Human..
Rebuilding an identity is part of eating disorder recovery
Eating disorder recovery involves more than establishing a healthy relationship with food. I found I also needed to break old habits and learn new skills to cope with the ups and downs of adult life. Facing such challenges takes courage,..
June Alexander in podcast with Karin Lewis on eating disorder recovery and the diary
A podcast with eating disorder therapist Karin Lewis tells of how a love of writing and family helped me to forge a life of my own, beyond a 44-year battle with anorexia nervosa. As background to the podcast interview, Karin invited me to..
In the waiting room, there was a horse
At the age of 14, in my first attempt to reclaim my life from the grips of undiagnosed Anorexia Nervosa (AN), I was incredibly driven and intrinsically motivated. Today, at age 37, I am proud of that young woman who..