Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder : Understanding, Supporting, and Connecting with Your Partner

"[Author Dana] Harron’s emotional and practical advice for this growing global predicament comes highly recommended."
—Library Journal

In this compassionate guide, eating disorder expert Dana Harron offers hope to partners of people with eating disorders. You’ll discover ways to communicate with empathy and understanding, strategies for dealing with mealtime challenges, and tips to help you both find your way back to trust, love, and intimacy.

If your loved one is one of millions of Americans who suffers from an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, you may feel alone, without guidance or understanding. As a romantic partner, you need to know how to navigate issues such as parenting, sex and intimacy, and running a household. This book provides that help by addressing your uniquely complex and difficult situation, and provides much-needed support for growth and healing.

In Loving Someone With an Eating Disorder, you’ll find valuable information about eating disorders, diagnostic categories, and common misconceptions. You’ll also learn about the importance of self-care and boundaries for yourself, and find writing and perspective-taking exercises to help you gain a greater understanding of your partner’s struggle. You’ll also learn skills to help you address specific problems, such as managing groceries and meals together, sex and intimacy issues, and concerns about parenting.

Finally, you’ll find a practical discussion about treatment and recovery from disordered eating—making it clear that both you and your partner need healing—as well as information about seeking further support.
 

Dana Harron, PsyD, is a practicing psychologist in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. She is founder and director of Monarch Wellness and Psychotherapy, a boutique practice that specializes in mind-body problems such as eating disorders, anxiety, trauma, fertility issues, and depression. Harron enjoys working with couples, and helping partners individually to understand eating disorders and learn how to give appropriate support. Harron completed her doctorate at Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, where she was also the honored recipient of the Neubauer community service scholarship and the Empathy and Caring Award. She completed internships at the Renfrew Center and the Belmont Center, both in Philadelphia, PA.

Since then, she has engaged in a variety of professional activities ranging from co-leadership of a unit at the state hospital of Delaware to college counseling, and eventually to private practice. She is currently dividing her time between writing, speaking, clinical supervision, and, most importantly, to her direct client work. Harron has lectured at facilities such as Temple and George Washington University (where she is also serving as associate clinical faculty). She lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter, where she is an avid knitter and hiker.