This evening I was reading Carrie’s post on overcoming core traits.  Personally, her post was very timely, having just finished reading the book, “When Perfect Isn’t Good Enough.”  That is NOT a book that I would normally pick up (I feel pretty well-versed in perfectionism), but my therapist handed it to me.  In hindsight, maybe I could have NOT read it and argued that I was challenging my perfectionism by not doing my therapy homework.  Oh well, next time…
Anyway, the book made a lot of good points, and I could …

I could not, would not, on a boat.
I will not, will not, with a goat.
I will not eat them in the rain.
I will not eat them on a train.
Not in the dark! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! You let me be!

I re-watched Girl, interrupted the other day.  When I first saw the movie, I was in high school had just gotten home from my first ED inpatient stay.  The film actually made me homesick for the treatment center and all the girls there.  I was amazed at how well the directors portrayed the relationships and lives that are formed in an inpatient setting.
Anyway, now that I’m a little older and detached from the inpatient thing… I can appreciate the pure GENIUS that is this movie.  Maybe I’m exaggerating little bit, …

I’ve been in all different levels of treatment with numerous professionals and various treatment centers, and overall I’d have to say that both group and individual therapy are important (and beneficial) in recovery.  With group, there are several people who you can bounce ideas off of, get advice from, relate to, and rely on for support.  I feel like most of the real therapy work happens in individual, though, where you can focus on your specific issues, goals, etc.  I really do think it helps to have both individual and …

While I do have several new posts on the way, I want to highlight a couple of older Grey Thinking posts (some are several years old!  I bet you were not reading GT two years ago) that talk specifically about treatment, your attitude toward treatment, recovery expectations, etc.  While there are a couple of people that I have in mind when it comes to the subject of these posts, I think that everyone can use the refresher.
You as your own case manager
Originally Posted: 01/01/2009
I wish that all these …

I’ve written several posts on the negative aspects of therapy as well as my disdain and frustration with positive self-talk, so I was pretty excited to see this headline: Study Shows The Negative Side To Positive Self-Statements In Self-Help Books
“…individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.”
“…paradoxically, low self-esteem participants’ moods fared better when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.”
Now, I don’t think I’ve ever claimed positive self-talk caused anyone to feel worse… …

“I’m not deflecting because I’m avoiding something deep. I’m deflecting because I’m avoiding something shallow.” – House, MD
One of my biggest treatment pet peeves is when professionals ask non-deep “deep” questions. For example:

What does it mean to feel?
How did it feel to be in that space?
How does it feel to be in this space now?
What does it mean for you to not be in that space anymore?
How do you experience that process?
What would it mean for there to be grey in your world?
How does it feel to have …

I am not  an auditory learner.  At all.  I’m definitely a visual learner — in college I took copious notes, but didn’t really grasp the class material until later going over and reading those notes.  There’s just something about reading/writing that I need to get it.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t serve me too well in therapy.  I can have a great session and later that night not even remember half of what we talked about.  And on the same level, when I’m in session I don’t remember half of what I planned …

There have been many blog posts written on facebook and pro-anorexia, however, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about facebook and recovery in general.
Facebook is really unique in that EVERYONE (okay, almost everyone) is on it.  If you’re an eating disorder patient, this means your professionals, the other girls/guys you’re in treatment with, past patients, your school / work friends who may not know about your eating disorder, your family members, etc.  In what other realm do all of these people connect?
For most people, “Facebook stalking” means checking out what …

I’ve been reading Dr. Drew’s book, “Cracked: Life on the Edge in a Rehab Clinic.” There are a million things that I could talk about concerning this book, so don’t be surprised if it’s referenced several times in future posts. Tonight, the following quote really caught my attention:
“Most believe [addicts] connect around a common experience of pain and powerlessness without the fear of exploitation. Their pain is so raw and tender that getting them to start the process requires them to be convinced that their pain will …