Archive for the ‘The Diary Healer News’ Category
Lived experience inspires Korea’s first Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Lived experience will feature in Korea’s first Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW), for which I’m responsible. I’ve often been told not to scale up things so hastily, not to put too many irons in the fire, but such cautions seem..
If only … a letter to younger self about dieting and an eating disorder
Dear Friend, I’ve been wanting to write this letter for a long time, to explain how an eating disorder (ED) managed to weave itself through all my life stages, without me realizing it. That’s one of the most disturbing things..
Using writing to assist healing from an eating disorder
Imagine writing a self-healing, feel-good book to document your goals and progress this year. What will your chapters comprise? Lotta, who has anorexia nervosa, writes: It is the time of the year when there is space to look on the..
The benefits of exploring identity through diary writing practice
I am like a dinosaur when it comes to diary writing. I have kept a diary since childhood. I’m now 72. The diary is part of me. Why? Early this week I was conversing with daughter Amanda, 46, about my..
An epiphany at 72 – it is never too late to be fully you
My birthdays have often been a non-event. However, an epiphany has marked my latest milestone. Yesterday, surrounded by five grandchildren and their parents lustily singing Happy Birthday, I felt overwhelmed by a sudden, deeper freedom to experience the moment. I..
Eating Disorders as Metaphors – it’s time for change
It’s time to change our perspectives so we can think about eating disorders more clearly. That is, it’s time to move away from current interpretations of eating disorders that are largely contaminated with “metaphors”. I am not referring to the..
Parenting with an eating disorder
I am a mom with an eating disorder. Those were once difficult words for me to say out loud. There is a myth that anorexia nervosa (AN) is only an adolescent disorder. The truth is, 13 per cent of American..
Sometimes a metaphor can aid recovery
There’s nothing easy about recovery. Challenges come up every day. Skills develop over time. Insights are often slow and murky. As a therapist who specialized in the treatment of individuals diagnosed with eating disorders, I learned that people find their..
An inside story about eating disorders in South Korea
I was a fixture at all students’ writing contests and didn’t expect to be congratulated with just mundane prizes, but from second grade in high school, I was unable to write. I could write only self-pitying, crappy things, bleak, fragmented..
Researchers call on people with eating disorder experience for answers
A team of Australian researchers believe that listening to stories from people who have eating disorder experience is the best way forward in finding new ways to treat the illness. The Western Sydney University research team, led by Dr Janet..