Tag: relationships

advocacy Love and shame: exploring my most difficult emotions

Love and shame: exploring my most difficult emotions

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In learning to recognise my needs and have them met, I’ve also learnt more about emotions and their role in my life. A decade ago, when I was about 40 years old, a four-year-old asked why I was so fat. It was one of those moments when something shifted. If...

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Anorexia An inside story about the hard slog of eating disorder recovery

An inside story about the hard slog of eating disorder recovery

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My eating disorder (ED) stipulated that isolating myself was essential for survival. I had no capacity left in my mind or body to function as me. Until I could master self-compassion and self-care, any progress would be skin deep. To trust myself and become part of my treatment team required connection with...

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Anorexia Rebuilding relationships is part of eating disorder recovery

Rebuilding relationships is part of eating disorder recovery

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There is no wrong time to begin recovery from an eating disorder but embarking on that journey during a global pandemic was not ideal. My appointments with a physician’s assistant had to occur in person, but therapist and dietician sessions were held remotely. Thankfully these video visits didn’t hamper recovery and I...

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Anorexia An eating disorder fuels a toxic relationship with self

An eating disorder fuels a toxic relationship with self

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As human beings and social creatures, relationships are an integral part of a healthy, happy life. For most of us, our first relationships are with our parents and siblings and gradually that circle expands to include friends, classmates, teachers, and so on. Some people have many relationships and others may...

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Books June Alexander in podcast with Karin Lewis on eating disorder recovery and the diary

June Alexander in podcast with Karin Lewis on eating disorder recovery and the diary

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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 address the following questions: Recovery questions Do you believe recovery...

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Life Writing Here’s why: a story to remember, connect and inspire

Here’s why: a story to remember, connect and inspire

By Regina Meyer When I decided to pitch my first memoir to potential agents or publishing houses in Australia, one of the most persistent questions that came up was: WHY? Why precisely was I compelled to write my story and why did I wish to share it with an audience? Why is...

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Eating disorder recovery: Finding happiness in relationships

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By Dannielle “Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder” – Henry David Thoreau I feel this quote encapsulates my eating disorder as I...

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When trust is shattered in childhood: A message about the healing power of friendship

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  The following story by Karyn Rose Braveheart is the third in a series of Dear Diary posts focusing on relationships and partnerships to commemorate World Eating Disorder Day, June 2, 2017 #WeDoActTogether. Relationships can either tear you apart or turn you into something awesome. They are all based around trust. Healthy relationship...

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When an eating disorder makes three in a relationship: the impact

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  “ED had swept me into a meaningless void. I lost touch with ‘me’ completely, and also with my husband George…. In my mid-30s, ED convinced me that my husband was the cause of my inability to feel at peace. Once this thought took hold, our marriage was destroyed in...

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Eating Disorders An Enduring Relationship: the Patient and the Therapist Who Does Not Give Up

An Enduring Relationship: the Patient and the Therapist Who Does Not Give Up

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 I was thirty-two, suicidal, and trapped in a self-destruction spiral when I met the psychiatrist who would save my life. I had developed anorexia nervosa at age eleven and the illness was embedded in my brain. ‘Prof’, as I called him, won my trust, saved my life. My therapy had...

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