When Food Is Family: A Loving Approach to Heal Eating Disorders

This is the first book to illustrate how the eating disorder is used as a metaphoric voice sometimes the only voice available to a person with an eating disorder when relationships break down. It is a hands-on, working guide to eating disorder recovery that will help families understand causes of eating disorders and the impact they have on relationships. They will learn ways to work together to heal, repair, and rebuild positive interactions.

Exercises and examples throughout the book demonstrate what to do that will help the entire family change patterns of communication, establish trust and empathy for each other, and learn how to listen to and understand the person with the eating disorder.

Judy Scheel, Ph.D., LCSW, has been treating eating disorders for more than 25 years. In her years of providing treatment she has found that mutual respect, empathy, and trust provide the foundation for familial and relational repair and recovery from an eating disorder. Helping patients live authentically is the cornerstone of her approach.Dr. Scheel is the Founder and Executive Director of Cedar Associates, a private outpatient program specializing in treatment of eating disorders and other self-harm behaviors. She is a member of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), and the Eating Disorders Coalition, Inc.