Living With Food: The Science Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment

This poem was written by one of our clients. We share it with her permission in hopes that it will inspire others to seek treatment and support. Should you have any questions or comments about this post, please email blog@eatingdisorderscleveland.org.

There's a war in my head that keeps raging within

I'm sure to most people my thoughts would be sins.

My heart wants to thrive and love without a net,

My head tells my heart...everything is a threat.

My heart wants to live and laugh and play,

My head tells my heart...no one will ever stay.

My heart wants to be cherished and give all it's got,

My head tells my heart...you'll never get that shot.

My heart wants to feel like I'm a pretty girl,

My head tells my heart...you'll never get that deal.

My heart wants to flourish, live, and bloom,

My head tells my heart...there'll always be doom.

My heart wants to grow and experience romance,

My head tells my heart...you will never get that chance.

All I ask is a chance in this life to be free,

Free to be loved and free to be me.

I love this post by Dr. Sarah Ravin on tips for parents who are sending or considering sending their college aged child to school. Check it out below:

Leaving the Nest

If you're looking for inspiration please take some time to learn more about Jenni Schaefer. Check out her website for details about her books, Life Without Ed and Goodbye Ed, Hello Me, as well as song lyrics, blog posts, future speaking engagements, and helpful links on eating disorders and recovery. 

Please share the blogs, people, and links that you find inspirational with blog@eatingdisorderscleveland.org so that we may pass them along to our clients and colleagues. 

We are excited to tell you about a current publication by CCED’s Drs Anita Federici and Lucene Wisniewski in A Collaborative Approach to Eating Disorders edited by June Alexander and Janet Treasure. The article, titled "Integrating dialectical behavioral therapy and family-based treatment for multidiagnostic adolescent patients", gives a brief overview of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Family Based Therapy, along with a rational on why an integration of these two treatment modalities may be beneficial for multi-diagnostic adolescents. The article suggests that a collaboration between FBT and DBT therapies will help historically difficult to treat adolescents manage self-injurious behaviors (eating disorder and otherwise) by focusing largely on emotion regulation in the midst of participating in an FBT model. Furthermore, a focus on radical acceptance of the current treatment plan and a balance between change and validation serve to help the adolescent and their family decrease blame and increase a non-judgmental stance throughout the recovery process. Research is currently being conducted at CCED on the effectiveness of the integration of these two models.

For more information please read Federici, A. & Wisniewski, L. (2012). Integrating dialectical behavioral therapy and family-based treatment for multidiagnostic adolescent patients. In Alexander, J. & Treasure, J. (Eds.), A collaborative approach to eating disorders (177-188). New York: Routledge.

Should you have any questions or comments regarding this post please email blog@eatingdisoderscleveland.org.