By Dana Harron, PsyD
Reviewed for IFEDD by Robyn Goldberg
Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder is a book written by Dana Harron, PsyD. Dana has written a fantastic book that is well referenced and includes hands on exercises to help a family member or loved one be able to understand what a person is challenged with who has an eating disorder.
Dana has her book broken down into various sections including: loving someone with an eating disorder, myths and realities, how your partner’s eating disorder impacts you, learning how to respond to real life food situations, learning how to respond in your sex life and fertility, pregnancy, and keeping your kids safe. She provides information on these topics and more, which tend to not be discussed in other eating disorder books. This is helpful, because all these scenarios can and do happen.
This book is a must read for all clinicians and individuals who are affected by a loved one with an eating disorder. I really appreciated the exercise on identifying your feelings and how these feelings are often caused by the individual who is struggling with an eating disorder. I also liked how Dana uses mindfulness, discusses mindful sex, and the exercise on a mindful body scan.
Dana reminds the reader to be able to acknowledge your feelings that arise and to avoid blaming the identified patient, especially when difficulty in conceiving can occur. She reminds the reader about triggers that our loved one may experience and provides many examples to help the reader put themselves in the shoes of the person struggling with an eating disorder.
I am glad to have had the chance to read this book and will certainly recommend it.