Eating Disorders

Thanks to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) for asking me to blog for them! You can check out my first post here, just in time for this week’s holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.You can find Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight on Amazon (as a paperback and Kindle) and at BarnesandNoble.com.

My article appeared originally on Recovery Brands’ Pro Corner site.Dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), as developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, is a type of therapy that helps patients reduce emotional reactivity and improve thought patterns and interpersonal interactions. The therapy, a hybrid of cognitive-behavioral therapy and tenets from eastern philosophies (primarily Buddhism), was created to help those who struggle with borderline personality disorder and chronic suicidality. However, DBT has also shown promise in the treatment of substance use disorders and eating disorders.DBT is a problem-solving, but accepting approach – one that helps patients change, while accepting them for who they are. This duality (or “dialectical” view) seems to sit well with many patients as they struggle on the road toward recovery. The avoidance of …

It’s hard to believe that my book has been out for six months. For almost eight years, I toiled away on this blog, and then, this past June, the book finally came to print.In celebration of this half-year publication mark, and in keeping with the holiday spirit, I am going to give away two signed copies of Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? to my loyal readers. It’s this community that inspired me to write the book and that continues to motivate me to post regular content on this blog.To enter the contest, either email me privately (drstaceyny at gmail dot com) or comment below with your DEWHAED New Year’s resolution. No diet talk, no rigid exercise plans, no weight-loss promises – only …

Thank you to all who submitted your eat-in-peace resolutions. Below is a sampling of some of the intentions that generously graced my inbox in the last couple of weeks. Take a peek – they’re inspiring! Contest winners (whom I notified by email) were chosen blindly by a third party, and the books are on their way! I wish everyone the happiest and most peaceful of new years. . . .”My resolution is to live my life and not wait to do things when I get thin!! I have put off so many ideas thinking I didn’t deserve that till I lose weight.””Ultimately, I want to work on not judging everything I eat. For example, I want to stop the inner voice that seems to have a comment …

Last week, the media seduced us with the headline, “Kirstie Alley Slim Again.”Is anyone still buying this?As msn.com writes, “Kirstie Alley is no stranger to a diet. The 63-year-old star has been thin, fat and thin again more times than we can count.” Apparently, Alley recently lost 50 pounds. Again.So, why are we still reading the headlines, listening to the news clips, and studying the before and after pictures?Diet work – until they don’t. Celebrity weight-loss roller coasters are perfect examples of what professionals have come to to call the “weight-cycling industry.” What if someone like Kristie Alley, Marie Osmond, or even Oprah, who recently told Barbara Walters she still needs to “make peace with the whole weight thing” …

Anyone see this gem of a Superbowl commercial?It’s titled, “All You Can Eat,” and yes, that’s the voice of Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad fame.Any thoughts?Here are mine. Food is not a drug. It’s something we need to survive. Can people develop unhealthy relationships to food, behaviors that mimic addiction? Yes. But, this commercial doesn’t focus on that process or how to heal it. What it does do is villainize food – condemning items that are glazed, fried, baked, iced, etc. The images are presented at a frenetic pace, with food portrayed as harmful and repugnant as the blue product Paul’s character helped produce.The ad ends, “No one’s telling you what to do. You can stop whenever you want. Well, sort of. . . You …

I was recently etroduced to the work of Dana Shavin. Her memoir, The Body Tourist, chronicles her experiences following her recovery from anorexia. I asked her for any insights she might have for my readers about illness and recovery. Here’s what she had to say:The Best Worst Question of AllIt’s a great question. And a terrible one.“What’s the most important thing you learned in your recovery from anorexia?”I was asked this not long after I left the hospital, by a friend of a friend who wasstruggling with depression. It was a great question, because it made me think hard aboutwhat things had really helped, and why and how they helped. And it was a terriblequestion, because it asked that I hang my recovery on …

Check out my latest NEDA blog about recovering around a backdrop of disorder – thanks NEDA for publishing my words!You can find Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation’s Fixation with Food and Weight on Amazon (as a paperback and Kindle) and at BarnesandNoble.com.

A woman, who reported she struggles with Binge Eating Disorder, contacted me recently online. She was scheduled to participate in a medical weight-loss program but wondered if she should address her BED first. Unfortunately, this woman is not the only person with BED who has fallen prey to the weight-loss industry.One of the most challenging things in my work with patients with BED is disavowing them of the diet and weight mentality. Most patients come in with a significant diet history and, despite many failed diet attempts, are intent on losing weight in treatment via the latest diet trends.I’ve found through the years that with some patients, getting them to commit to working on their binges, rather than focusing on weight, is a …