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Perhaps you CAN rise above the clouds.

I don’t know the Harvard psychologist Dr. Sheila Reindl, but I have recommended her book Sensing the Self, many, many times over the years. It’s filled with wisdom about recovery from bulimia, honed from Reindl’s extensive interviews with 13 recovered women. (Not bulimic? Please read on! There’s something here for you too!)  Maybe I was attracted to it having learned that several of the pseudonym-ed women were actually past patients of mine, shared with a therapist who contributed these cases to the book. 

Or maybe that it meshed research with patient stories, extracting the essence of the recovery process into meaningful chapter themes. Personally, I hate reading books about recovery (but I read this at the insistence of a patient). That likely has mostly to do with the fact that I discuss recovery almost 40 hours a week. Do I really want to engage with strangers’ stories on my down time? I don’t think so.

Yet I likely suggest it because I believe it may help readers with recovery. Just as I recommend Schaefer’s fabulous Life Without Edand Arnold’s blog ED-Bites—long before it became chock full of valuable research interpreted into a language we can all understand.

I don’t know if reading recovery stories truly makes a difference in the recovery process—for better or for worse. But I’d like to find out! Because I’d like to have another tool available to help support recovery.

Can recovery stories show us the way?

Enter Lisa Dawson, an Aussie PhD candidate who has the very same goal and is doing the research to find the answers—and I reallyhope you will help! You may remember her name from previous research I referenced. Here’s the description of her research:

Researchers at the University of Sydney are interested in whether reading stories of recovery are helpful for current sufferers of anorexia nervosa. People aged 18 years or over who have anorexia nervosa or an eating disorder similar to anorexia nervosa are invited to participate. This study is conducted entirely online so anyone in the world can participate. Participation involves completing questionnaires on two or three occasions and reading five short stories about recovery. We are very interested in receiving your feedback about the helpfulness of the stories.

The study has been approved by the University of Sydney Ethics Committee and all aspects of the study, including results, are strictly confidential. We are hoping to have as many people as possible take part in the study. If you are interested in participating then please contact Lisa at lisa.dawson@sydney.edu.au.

So if you have a few moments, please email Lisa to learn more. And say hello for me!

Thanks for helping. Oh, and PLEASE share this any way you can!

Smart. Easy-to-handle. Attractive.

And practical minded too. Will do it all but cook for you.

I'm talking about my new book, “Food to Eat, guided, hopeful, and trusted recipes for eating disorder recovery”.

Lori Lieberman, RD, CDE, MPH, LDN, and Cate Sangster may seem like unlikely coauthors. Lori, a 26-year veteran of eating disorder counseling and a blog author in the Boston, Massachusetts area and Cate, a soon-to-be-published coauthor (with eating disorder author June Alexander), and recovering adult anorexic in Melbourne, Australia created a novel recovery tool. Part cookbook, part CBT-styled guidance and support, this book gently and thoughtfully assists readers, allaying their fears and misconceptions they may be ruminating over when contemplating eating.

It addresses head on the barriers to change, including perception and fear of nutrient content, GI issues and the consequences of change. Nutrition myths are broken down and justification and support for renourishing is provided.  It builds on a transference of trust like that which propelled Cate forward in her own recovery—from connecting with Lori's writing and learning, for the first time, that recovery is possible, to moving to increasing her own range of foods consumed beginning with this project collaboration.

No, it's not out yet, but it's coming soon, and Cate and I are so excited to share it with you. “Food To Eat” will be available as an ebook and in print—details to follow.

We've gotten enthusiastic thumbs up from eating disorder professionals, and valuable input from those struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating to help us perfect it.

We'll keep you posted when it's ready for release!