A Parent's Guide to Defeating Eating Disorders: Spotting the Stealth Bomber and Other Symbolic Approaches

Building a supportive and open relationship with young people suffering from eating disorders is key to assisting the recovery process. This book is packed with analogies and metaphors that will allow parents and caregivers to ally themselves with treatment rather than the eating disorder, and take positive steps with their child towards a full and lasting recovery. Written by experienced eating disorder specialists, the book will help caregivers to reach out to young people having difficulty cooperating with treatment. Its effective use of analogies and metaphors helps to crystallize a practical understanding of eating disorders and the crucial aspects of the treatment process. Integrating medical, psychological, and narrative aspects, as well as the visual (with illustrations), it encourages the reader, and by extension the sufferer, to conceptualize each step towards health. This book will be an invaluable tool for families, friends, and those working with young people suffering from eating disorders. The fresh perspective will also appeal to mental health professionals and anybody else working in the field.

Ahmed Boachie is Program Director of the Eating Disorder Program at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, and Staff Psychiatrist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. He is also Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Toronto, and Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences of McMaster University. He resides in Aurora, Ontario.

Karin Jasper is Clinical Mental Health Specialist and Research Co-ordinator of the Eating Disorder Program at Southlake Regional Health Centre. She is also Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Toronto. She resides in Toronto, Ontario.