Welcome
There’s Help. There’s Hope! The Emily Program is a warm and welcoming place where individuals and their families can find comprehensive treatment for eating disorders and related issues. This blog is a place for us to share the latest happenings at The Emily Program, as well as helpful tidbits from the broader eating disorder community. Subscribe via RSS to receive automatic updates. We want to hear your story. Email us (blog@emilyprogram.com) and ask how you can become a contributor!
Purging Disorder: The Basics
The following post was written by K. Jean Forney, M.S., a Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology at Florida State University. Her interest lies in research for purging disorders. You can read more about her and her research here.
Within the realm of eating disorders, there are so many varying factors and potential risks for those who struggle. Research-based treatment can help people get better and live full, healthy lives. In addition, it’s important for us, as a general population, to understand that eating disorders, no matter the exact diagnosis, are incredibly dangerous. They are not a choice and they affect over 14 million people in the United States.
8 Ideas to Help Improve Body Image
By Katie Teresi
It may surprise people to know that body image is much more than what you see in the mirror. In fact, it spans how you picture yourself in your mind, what you believe about your own appearance, and what you think about your weight, height, and shape. It even covers how you feel in your own body.
How Do I Tolerate How Terrible it is to Have an Eating Disorder?
Re-posted from the Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders (CCED) blog archives. CCED and The Emily Program partnered in 2014. Contributions by Sarah Emerman, Therapist at The Emily Program – Cleveland.
In our conversations about eating disorders, we sometimes forget to state the obvious, which is that it’s horrible to have an eating disorder. It is always horrible for the person that has it and the pain of the disorder often extends far past the individual to their family, friends, and community. Eating disorders affect everything about us. They affect the way we think, the way we feel, our self-image, our experience in our bodies, our minds, and who we are in the world.
Accepting Myself and My Truths
By Wendy Blackshaw, a woman in recovery
A couple of months ago I read an email that made me weepy. It was from a Minneapolis yoga instructor who saw one of our Emily Program billboards that says “Ever Beaten Yourself Up with a Donut”? She was writing to thank us because it captured where she had once been – struggling with an eating disorder – but it also captured where she is now – healthy, whole, and in a recovery where donuts are eaten. I love these stories. Because it is my story.
A Very Important List
By Cami Applequist, a former client in recovery
I struggled with both an eating disorder and depression for several years of my life. Over the past few years I have been living a life free from both. I am very grateful for every person who stepped in to give me a hand along the way and for every single thing I picked up that helped me realize that this life of happiness is possible.
Emily Program Client Recovers From Eating Disorder and Vows to Give Back
A recent article on Cleveland.com reports on varsity volleyball player Veronica Gehring who was diagnosed with anorexia during her junior season. It began with an obsession to “become faster on the court and a stronger volleyball player,” she said.