Welcome

This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

by Katie Monsewicz, an avid writer and practicing journalist who has been through The Emily Program’s residential treatment program. She wants to help others who have struggled with eating disorders – and those who are still struggling – through her writing and as an advocate for eating disorder recovery.

I’m an adult now. (Insert image of me shouting from the top of a cliff like in “The Lion King” movie.) Wow. That was tough to get out.

I just turned 21 last month, marking nine years of the harrowing illness that has taken over much of my life, much of my memory, many of my relationships. An eating disorder is like moss on a rock. Some people think it’s beautiful (which is pretty strange) and most see it as a nuisance, an invasion. But it takes you over and you can’t shake it without any help from an outside force.

This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

Lisa Whalen, a former Emily Program client, has a Ph.D. in postsecondary and adult education, and an M.A. in creative and critical writing. She teaches writing and literature at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Her essays have been featured in An Introvert in an Extrovert World, WorkingUSA: The Journal of Labor and Society, and MotherShould? Whalen is working on publishing her memoir, Taking the Reins. In the meantime, she is a regular contributor to The Feisty Writer and maintains a website.

On April 6, 2018, I stood in a college auditorium and scanned rows filled by my faculty colleagues, students, family, and friends—the people I most admire and want to respect me. Then I said something I never thought I’d utter aloud: “For more than a decade, I battled an eating disorder and depression.” That sentence began my faculty lecture series presentation, where I discussed a memoir I’d written about recovering from the eating disorder with the help of an Emily Program therapist and 12 special horses.

A new chapter in a landmark study

Researchers recently conducted a 57-year follow-up investigation of the Biology of Human Starvation study, commonly known as the ‘Minnesota Starvation Experiment’ or the ‘Keys Study.’ The original study, which took place following World War II, proved a remarkable model for the effects of semi-starvation and has therefore been useful in better understanding restrictive types of eating disorders. To learn more about the original study and the follow-up investigation, we caught up with Dr. Susan Swigart, a co-author of the follow-up investigation, and Emily Program psychiatrist.

We are excited to announce that we have expanded Partial Plus Lodging in Minnesota today with the opening of a new apartment in St. Louis Park.

Check out our list of the top 5 online news items and stories that have found interesting or inspiring recently.

Cameron joined The Emily Program in December of 2016 as a therapist and was later named Program Coordinator at St. Louis Park, MN. He had dreamed of working in eating disorders since studying them in undergrad so TEP was a natural fit.

As I mentioned in the post called Why does nutrition advice always seem to change?, there always seems to be some nutrition craze that tempts us to change what we eat or how we eat it. It is important to understand the science behind these trends so we know whether they’re worth our attention, or if they are more likely to result in an unnecessary, or even unhealthy, preoccupation with food.

This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences on their own path to recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, or symptom use. Please use your own discretion. And speak with your therapist when needed.

by Caroline Morris

I remember reading the following in Fasting Girls by Joan Brumberg two years ago, while I was researching for my master’s thesis: “Published case reports repeatedly said that girls with anorexia nervosa were ‘sullen,’ ‘sly,’ and ‘peevish,’ implying that they were as parsimonious with their words as with their food.”¹