bulimia

  • From ‘disorder’ to political action: conversations that invite collective considerations to individual experiences of women who express concerns about eating and their bodies — Kristina Lainson Quick View

    This article describes an interweaving of narrative practices which has proved helpful for a number of women experiencing concerns about eating and its effects on their bodies. Through the stories of two young women, this paper illustrates how, by inviting collective ideas to individual experiences, and by recognising and naming their own commitments and agentive responses to societal expectations, the women became able to move away from ideas of ‘stuckness’ towards a sense of themselves as influential both in their own lives and possibly in the lives of others similarly concerned.

  • Uncovering Bulimia’s demanding voice: Challenges from a narrative therapist’s perspective— Kassandra Pedersen Quick View

    This paper presents responses to a series of challenges faced during work with a 17-year-old girl who sought to reclaim her life from bulimia’s demanding voice. Kiki was at first unwilling to participate in therapeutic conversations, and initial contact occurred through her boyfriend, who became part of an anti-bulimia team. Encouraged by her boyfriend, Kiki, who was determined to ‘stop throwing up at last’, decided to attend sessions. Through externalising conversations, bulimia was personified as ‘The Guy’, who ruled her daily life with judgements. Kiki described The Guy’s effect on her life and developed a stance resisting his influence. The process of working with Kiki raised a number of challenges: assisting a person who initially declined to participate, overcoming pathologising discourses, resisting the tactics of the problem and its allies, supporting a preferred identity in an unsupportive environment, and keeping Kiki’s preferences and beliefs at the centre of our work. This paper explores the use of narrative practices, including externalising conversations, double listening, identifying unique outcomes, and the failure conversations map, to address these issues and support resistance to bulimia.

  • Every Conversation Is an Opportunity: Negotiating Identity in Group Settings— Ali Borden Quick View

    Therapy within the context of a treatment centre can spread and confirm stories of deficit, or it can be an opportunity in which preferences and skills reverberate within a community and enable preferred reputations to be born. In a group setting, every conversation is an opportunity to negotiate meaning, and every group provides a stage for the performance of identity. This paper describes some ways that we at the Eating Disorder Center of California day treatment program guide some of that performance, including how we seek to take apart assumptions about eating problems and recovery, what is relevant to share, and what people have in common. Our intention is to open space for women to share their experiences as rich and complicated; their preferences as diverse, varied, and dynamic; and at the same time encourage points of connection, camaraderie, and community.

  • The Interplay of Substance Misuse and Disordered Eating Practices in the Lives of Young Women— Christine Dennstedt Quick View

    Many young women struggle with problems of substance misuse and disordered eating practices. However, programs and ways of working when both issues are present are not common. This article explores the similarities and interplays of substance misuse and disordered eating, drawing on interviews with young women, and discusses some implications for therapy and residential programs.

  • Narrative Therapy, ‘Eating Disorders’, and Assessment: Exploring Constraints, Dilemmas, and Opportunities— Mim Weber Quick View

    This paper is a work in progress. It is an exploration of the usefulness of an eating disorders assessment and referral service to the people who consult it; and whether such a service can avoid practices which could be experienced as reinforcing of the eating disorder, pathologising, or blaming. It also looks at the possibility of working with narrative therapy ideas in an environment which does not necessarily subscribe to those ideas.

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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Kaurna people who are the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which Dulwich Centre stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders of the Kaurna Nation, both past and present, and extend that respect to other Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.

 

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