Feeding the Self: Identity and Recovery in Anorexia Nervosa

Feeding the Self brings together leading scholars, clinicians, and lived-experience authors to place self and identity at the heart of how we understand and promote recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN).

Spanning developmental, social, cultural, and clinical lenses, the volume maps how identities are formed, threatened, and reclaimed within families and peer groups, under stigma and loneliness, across gender roles and gender identities, and in diverse cultural settings. The chapters examine the anorexic voice; self-conscious emotions; gender-role norms; transgender and non-binary experiences and gender-affirmative care; global and cross-cultural perspectives on body ideals, acculturation, and meaning; autism and identity in relation to AN; and the lived experience of AN, highlighting the role of narrative identity and hope. Clinical sections translate these insights into practice, covering a range of therapeutic appraoches (including psychodynamic, cognitive behaviour therapy for anorexia nervosa [CBT-AN], Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults [MANTRA], and Specialist Supportive Clinical Management [SSCM] approaches; compassion-focused therapy; body-neutral and functionality-based methods; and innovative approaches such as chairwork and VR-supported exposure).

For clinicians, researchers, trainees, and policymakers, this book offers a rigorous yet compassionate reframing of AN: not merely as a set of symptoms, but as a lived experience shaped by stories, relationships, and identities - and, importantly, as a condition from which new and meaningful identities and lives can emerge.

John R.E. Fox is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Programme Director of the Sheffield DClinPsy programme. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice and has over 20 years’ clinical and academic experience in eating disorders.

Marc O. Williams, DClinPsy, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. His expertise spans eating disorders and climate change related mental health.