The moment has finally come for the Eating Disorders Resource Center to announce the winners of the annual Be-You-tiful Be Free writing contest! Every spring, our organization is astounded by the depth and quality of each student’s submission. We have read countless poems and essays that express a depth of emotion, thought, and vulnerability—something that…
As soon as it became clear that the only way to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus was to isolate and stay indoors, talk of the “quarantine 15,” a horrifyingly timely update to the “freshman 15,” was inevitable. Stuck inside our homes with only Netflix and snacks as comfort in the middle of what…
As the presidential race heats up, candidates are weighing in on how they would reform the nation’s broken mental health system. Pundits have linked its flaws to a range of headline issues. Behavioral health care shortages purportedly exacerbate the increased frequency of mass gun violence, the negative effects of social media, and even the anxieties produced by the economic, environmental,…
By Carolyn Costin, MA, Med, LMFT, CEDS, FAED “The challenging behaviors of eating disorders are entrenched in daily life, specifically around meal times, and cannot be avoided. Assistance during everyday living can make the difference between recovery or not.” (NEDC, 2017) Eating disorder coaches are emerging as an adjunct to standard treatment, filling a much-needed gap…
By Kathryn Cortese, LCSW, ACSW, CEDS Ever wonder what trust really means while working on your eating disorder recovery? What does trusting another person feel like? And does it matter that much? Trust, trust, trust – a concept thrown about when getting a foothold on recovery – so what’s the magic? Typically, upon entering treatment…
The first step to regulating your emotions is to recognize, and become aware of, your own nervous system. Learning to differentiate what is you, and what is a dis-regulated nervous system, is a huge step toward feeling better. One way to increase your awareness is to develop a sense of how the nervous system is…
If you’ve ever spent a winter holiday away from the people you love most, you understand how heartbreaking it can be. We know that this is what many of our Alsana clients and their family members are experiencing around this time of year. Desperate to be with the people they love, many clients getting close…
State Sen. Jim Beall is angry. Four times now, he has introduced legislation to better enforce state and federal “parity” laws, which require equal treatment of mental and physical health problems. Four times, that legislation has failed. As he enters his final year in the Legislature, the San Jose Democrat plans what he calls a…
One of the most daunting aspects of anorexia nervosa arises when a patient refuses treatment despite being seriously ill. Due to the egosyntonic nature of AN, a patient may feel the “disorder” is a part of her, and doesn’t want it to go away. Involuntary admission and treatment are particularly controversial for eating disorder patients,…
At 17, Mary Cain was already a record-breaking phenom: the fastest girl in a generation, and the youngest American track and field athlete to make a World Championships team. In 2013, she was signed by the best track team in the world, Nike’s Oregon Project, run by its star coach Alberto Salazar. Then everything collapsed. Her fall was just…