Tag: writing for healing

Writing my story and sharing it with anyone feels a bit risky and involves a certain amount of bravery. I imagine others feel the same about sharing a narrative hitherto private. Life Stories Diary seems like the perfect place to take this risk. The private Self-Paced Life Stories Course within...

Six months after developing anorexia nervosa, at age 11, I received a diary as a Christmas gift. The diary and I  became inseparable. Nobody told me to write or gave guidance in what to write. I just did. More than 60 years later, my diaries fill a bookcase. These books...

Feeling misunderstood is one of the most difficult and emotionally painful aspects when experiencing an eating disorder. My parents and sister, after decades of witnessing behaviours driven by my illness, gave up trying to understand me. Do I blame them? No. I accept that they did not understand my illness....

The fairy tale Luna features an interplay of autobiography and fiction. The use of a narrator is paramount in the tale’s ability to act therapeutically for the author and the reader. The main message embedded in this tale is that grief can be dispelled and life can become more readily accepted...

Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies. I am honest, trustworthy, loyal and fair. However, a part of me lurks in the shadows. A part of me that I try not to release and remain terrified that if seen will expose the ugliness within. This part of...

I hope you have a new diary ready for 2021. I have three. I chose one, and two are gifts. 2021 is shaping up to be my most prolific diary-writing year yet! I look forward to becoming acquainted with these diaries. I know they will each develop into a loyal,...

I became a champion mistake-maker when healing from my eating disorder (ED). This trial and error period occurred during a complete, internal makeover. I was exploring a new frontier, a whole new set of challenges that would lead me to me. Forty-four years as ED’s prisoner had left me devoid...

June was thrilled to be invited to contribute to the Routledge Experts on Mental Health hub. You can access the hub via this link – look for June’s video at the top of the list: How can diary writing help as a survival tool in eating disorders?

Choosing when to write your eating disorder story with a view to sharing it with the world, requires careful consideration. Writing about your experience, with or without a diary, requires threads and themes to be picked up and woven into an account that will appeal to and connect with readers....

In 2015, I almost lost my life to anorexia, and now I want to be an eating disorder and mental health campaigner. I want to help prevent others from having to go through the same struggle. The day I decided to commit to recovery, I made a promise to myself...