Eating Disorders in Schools by Robyn Hussa

20+ Ideas for Re-Shaping Eating Disorder Programming in Schools and Universities

With the new school year off to a start, its the perfect time to convey strategies for teaching about eating disorders, body image and self-esteem in all levels of schools.

Whether you are constructing ideas for new course material, leading workshops, after school programs, fundraising events or arranging your NEDAwareness 2012 programming, the below ideas are sure to offer a boost to every learning community.

Naturally, the best place to start is the library of information and resources at Gurze Books.  Each book or DVD is screened by the founders of Gurze Publications (who are also Certified Eating Disorders Specialists).  I assume that anyone who finds this blog post already knows about Gurze, but ... if not.  That's the place to start -- and I won't even count it in the 20+ Ideas....

1.  The NORMAL nonprofit offers a free 30 minute film called ED 101 which features commentary from Carolyn Costin, Dr. Kim Dennis, Dr. Laura Lees and hopeful stories of recovery along with performances from American Idol and Broadway stars.  With a discussion panel of medical professionals this is a terrific program for high schools and universities.  Find out how to get your FREE copy of the film and create a terrific seminar at http://www.normal-life.org/ED_101.php.

2.  A great new documentary film called SOMEDAY MELISSA is available for purchase or for seminar screenings.  This true story of Melissa Avrin's struggle with an eating disorder and is an effective way to educate about the complex issues that interrelate; including family biology that pre-disposes one to contract the illness, underlying depression (co-occurring illnesses) and a healthy outline of the warning signs.

3.  In addition, NORMAL offers more than 9 ideas for NEDAwareness Programming (or regular educational programming) on this handy, interactive sheet.  Just click on the various squares to find ideas for activities, workshops or for hosting large-scale events or seminars.  Best of all, most of the ideas are arts based and appropriate for a wide range of students from grade school to grad school.  On this you'll learn about:

4.  Host a Mindfulness Workshop for Eating Disorder Recovery.  This guidebook offers an array of practices, ideas and lessons.

5.  Consider community events that engage and educate at the same time.  Host a Poetry Concert of writing that offers refreshing perspectives on body image and acceptance.  Create a Self Esteem Stomp to engage the entire community in learning about healthy coping through music, arts and yoga learning booths

6.  An array of films, including Speaking Out About Ed -- available in DVD and perfect for College and University communities.

learn more at SpeakingOutAboutEd.com

7.  Accredited Online Colleges has released a fabulous article: 11 Important Ways Colleges are Fighting Eating Disorders.  In this piece, creative and mindful activities are shared to help bridge the gap in learning.

8.  For online resources, take a look at Beyond Blackboards "Student Bodies" program -- a computer-delivered, undergraduate level course exploring body image, eating problems, and social concepts of beauty in our culture. Developed through Stanford University, this seems to be a fabulous learning initiative.

9.  Research has shown that kids need help learning to identify and express their feelings.  Get a copy of this Rainbow of Feelings to display in your office or classroom and get students thinking about naming feelings other than "FAT" -- which is not a feeling.

10.  Binge Eating Disorder Association's vast and fabulous Weight Bias Awareness educational information, inter-active tools and resources here.  Fat Talk leads to body dissatisfaction, a known risk-factor for eating disorders.  Learn more at BEDA website.

11.  A presentation from Andrea's Voice Foundation will help audiences learn through poetry and heartfelt family journeys about the realities of eating disorders.

12.  Inspire students in recovery to become a mentor at MentorConnect.

13. The Eating for Life Alliance has an incredible website with resources for speakers that are appropriate for college and university settings.  Learn more at www.eatingforlife.org.

14.  The Girls Leadership Institute offers programs in San Francisco, New York and Colorado for ages K-8.  Learn more at http://www.girlsleadershipinstitute.org/

15.  The National Association for Males with Eating Disorders offer helpful resources and qualified speakers to present in your school or university.  Learn more at http://www.namedinc.org/resources.asp

16.  Active Minds is a nonprofit organization on most university and college campuses that offers an array of engaging programs about all kinds of mental health topics.  Learn how to start your own chapter or get involved at www.activeminds.org.

17.  LETS Educational Foundation offers grants to start "erasing the stigma" in an array of school environments (they have programs for middle school through to university).  Learn how to create your own stigma-erasing program today!

18.  Jenni Schaefer is a speaker, singer, songwriter, advocate and author (have I missed anything??) -- her acclaimed book, "Life Without ED" offers unique insights into the world of eating disorders.  Learn more about her CDs, books and presentations at http://www.jennischaefer.com/

19.  Rachel Simmons is a sought-after speaker and presenter.  The author of "Odd Girl Out" and other books, blogs and workshops, she offers great tips for girls on empowerment, body image and self-acceptance.

20.  Dr. Laura Pinto offers grade schoolers a terrific book called "Beauty Fades, Smart is Forever" -- sure to inspire a discussion in your community.

21.  Shannon Cutts is a well-known speaker and presenter.  Learn more about her work at http://www.key-to-life.com/ktlweblinks/

22.  Darryl Roberts has created two fabulous documentary films that outline eating disorders, the beauty industry and obesity and dieting epidemics.  Learn more about hosting AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL in your community or booking Darryl as a speaker at http://americathebeautifuldoc.com/2/atb/the-thin-commandments/

Collaboration -- The Key to Increasing Support in Schools

Working in educational communities, means finding new and innovative ways to stretch limited resources in order to teach limitless audiences.  A while back, I had the privilege of learning about the new and fabulous organization: Eating For Life Alliance (ELA) -- diving into the trenches of collaboration in order to effect serious change.

Led by Whitney Post and Dawn Hynes (two rockstar clinicians -- see their bios below), ELA provides educational resources on the prevention and treatment of eating disorders to colleges nationwide.

Whitney Post, ELA co-Founder

Dawn Hynes, ELA co-Founder

Whitney’s history of an eating disorder that started in college in the absence of proper recognition and treatment, combined with Dawn's work as a volunteer for a suicide hotline, who saw that a high percentage of those calling in were local college students dealing with an eating disorder, led them to create ELA.

These dynamic-duo co-Founders have already ushered hundreds of individuals and families to resources and treatment referrals and have created and distributed comprehensive eating disorder manuals to organizations throughout the country.  Imagine what they'll do when their organization is up and running!!  Speaking of which ...

In one week, ELA will launch a website containing over 60 pages, hundreds of resources, and contributions from over 30 experts -- including a database of proficient University speakers in the eating disorders community.  ELA's aim is to provide universities, their students and families with important information on the eating disorder recovery process as well as prevention approaches.

When I called to interview their references, I was inspired to hear the passion met on the other end of the phone, followed by the generous detail of the ELA co-Founders' professionalism and integrity. 

Dawn initially became involved with this issue while in graduate school for social work, where she witnessed first-hand the extensive long-term psychological and medical consequences that resulted from those struggling with an eating disorder.  This experience led her to Children’s Hospital, Boston and to residential programs, where she provided support to families and clients in individual and group settings. Eventually, she was drawn back to the college student population, where she began to work one-on-one with students, assisting them in the transition to college as a freshman, or after a stay in a residential or in-patient facility. 

Whitney (a blogger on Gurze publications and person in recovery) started out working in IOP programs at various Boston eating disorder programs, but her years as an athlete informed her need to reach the college student athletes more directly.  She started a consulting practice -- “Teaming with Power” to provide wellness and teambuilding trainings for colleges - with a primary focus on preventing and addressing eating disorders.  She took a job with Women’s Sports Foundation, a non-profit she ran which utilized sports to help inner city girls combat obesity.  All the while, she was leading groups on body image with a dear colleague. 

Both women were in the right place at the right time when the opportunity for ELA came along.  They were able to combine all of their previous experiences to create this impactful organization.  After meeting them, I knew that their shared vision and collaborative spirits would fit beautifully with the mission of the NORMAL nonprofit.  We will partner as a fiscal sponsor / umbrella for their organization, divide-and-conquer, and get more fabulous tools out to more schools.  Collaboration is the key to effecting change and increasing the eating disorder resources in schools.

Aside from their passion and un-ending talent, ELA co-Founders are impressively organized.  Their upcoming events, include:

• Essentia event (fundraising event by Wellesley, MA boutique: October, 2011).
• Launch event in Boston: February, 2012
• Participate in several ED Awareness Events: February, 2012
• Meetings with college administrators in MA and other NE area universities to assist with the development of campus-based eating disorder programs
• Developing Body Image Treatment Video Training Series
• Planning a 2013 Awareness Walk for New England colleges

The Eating Disorder Alliance is a group of people who support ELA's work and believe college is a crucial time for intervention.  The Alliance is free, easy to join and a fantastic way to get involved with their mission.  Find all of these goodies up and running next week at www.eatingforlife.org.

Dawn Hynes, MSW, is CEO and Co-Founder for Eating for Life Alliance, and a member of the Junior Board of the Eating Disorders Coalition.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis.  For the past decade, Dawn has been active in eating disorder recovery work as an advocate, clinician, and volunteer.  She has trained staff, developed clinical manuals, and worked with groups and individuals at Boston Children’s Hospital and Laurel Hill Inn’s Residential Treatment Program.  As a volunteer, she has helped over 75 families in her community find resources and treatment referrals, created and distributed comprehensive eating disorder manuals to hundreds of organizations and individuals, and worked with a team of clinicians helping celebrities from NY and LA connect to treatment. Dawn also has an extensive background in domestic violence: her most recent position was that of Director of the Health Center Domestic Violence Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  In this field, she developed best practices and standards, created and delivered trainings for providers, and helped raise over one million dollars.

Whitney Ladd Post, MA, is President and Co-Founder for Eating for Life Alliance.  She is a graduate from Brown University and holds a masters degree in counseling psychology from Leslie University.  Over the past ten years, Whitney has run hundreds of groups helping women develop healthier relationships with their bodies.  As a clinician, she has designed or implemented eating disorder treatment programs at the Cambridge Eating Disorder Center, Walden Behavioral Care, and Arbour Health Systems. As a consultant, she has provided wellness trainings, workshops, and individual coaching to National team athletes, as well as to area colleges, including Harvard University, Williams College, Boston University, and Wellesley College.  She served for four years as the Director of the Women’s Sports Foundation’s GoGirlGo! Boston, an organization focused on improving the physical and emotional health of girls through sports.  During her tenure in this position, GoGirlGo! Boston raised over a million dollars in foundation and government funding, distributed over $500,000 in grants, helped over 8,000 girls become physically active, and provided educational materials to over 20,000 Boston girls. Based on her own experience as a four-time National team rower, World Champion, and alternate for the Sydney Olympics, she specializes in athletes and eating disorder recovery, and contributes to national publications on the topic.  Whitney is a fellow Gurze blogger (link http://www.eatingdisordersblogs.com/invisible_victories_/)

Links to articles about ELA:

"The Eating for Life Alliance: New Wellesley-based program helps college students with eating disorders" by Betsy Lawson

Link: http://www.wellesleywestonmagazine.com/spring11/dept_fitness.htm

"Love the Body You're In: Tips for staying positive, avoiding self criticism" by Laura Davidson

http://www.bu.edu/today/node/12361 

"Olympic Hope" by Whitney Post
 

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150182620928409

 

The NORMAL nonprofit organization will proudly serve as fiscal sponsor / umbrella for the Eating For Life Alliance, allowing more schools and universities access to critical information and cutting-edge tools.  For more information, visit www.normal-life.org.

Stillness

I recently returned from a visit to Tuscany where I stayed on an agriturismo (farm) for a week with my family. The lifestyle in this part of the world is so much about slowing down, savoring time and about appreciating each aspect of food from the growing and cultivating of it, to enjoying a long, mindful meal.  Powerful mottos pepper the countryside canvased with Renaissance architecture:

"food is the color of life and wine its light"

Pienza, Tuscany 2011.

As a registered yoga instructor and teacher of meditation and mindfulness for more than 20 years in an array of settings ranging from professional theatres to treatment centers, I believe in the importance of slowing down and savoring time.  Schools, families and communities everywhere can share in the benefits of teaching kids the power of mindfulness... and perhaps -- in so doing -- remedy the epidemic of eating disorders and other illnesses in the process?

In 2010, I interviewed a dozen experts in the field of mental health[1] for a film project for the NORMAL nonprofit.  I asked many of the doctors if they had a wish for kids of today and -- shockingly -- most expressed concern that kids need to be spending more time each day without electronic devices.  Hinshaw and Kranz (2009) share the risks of growing up in an over-electronic culture – where teens are taking so many pictures of themselves and their experiences that they are now objects to display rather than actual moments to be lived.  Growing up in an all-electronic culture means kids are constantly stimulated and forced into a culture of busy-ness.  Their brains simply never get to incubate, create or simply "sit" which can lead to serious complications. “Unlike the girls who grew up in the 80’s or 90’s, today’s girls live in a 24/7 electronic culture which creates the overwhelming sense that ‘everybody’ is wearing this or thinking that, the sense that no matter what else a girl aspires to, she must always also be pretty, thin, and hot … (and then consider herself a loser if she doesn’t succeed).”[2]

In contemplating "why" kids don't stop and look inward, I looked at John Bradshaw's (1998) Healing the Shame that Binds You: “we are human DOings because we have no inner life.  Our toxic shame won't let us go inward.  It is too painful.  It is too hopeless.”[3]  Many of the professionals I interviewed in the past several years, shared their concern that kids feel a sense of hopelessness in today's American society... a hopelessness that leads to depression and other serious illnesses.

To be in Tuscany -- to harvest vegetables slowly from a home-grown garden, to take time to enjoy the sunrise, to breathe deeply, disconnect electronic devices and to inhale -- reminds me of the importance of re-connecting to our inner selves and to listen to the wisdom that exists within.  By listening to that voice, we can better instruct and guide our life's course.  When we are crazed in busy-ness and chaos, we can't hear that true voice and we often feel disconnected, anxious, ungrounded or distracted.

One aspect of mindfulness involves delaying gratification (scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with [4]), sitting in the stillness in a state of non-judgment and loving-kindness in order to feel the feelings, think the thoughts and experience the present moment -- as uncomfortable, blissful or painful as it may be.

 

The concept of mindfulness is foreign to kids of 2011 American culture, while in Tuscany, kids share long walks, cook "slow" food, garden, farm, take time to listen to the stories of elderly and learn the historical significance behind a drop of certified olive oil, wine or balsalmic vinegar.

Sitting still -- to quote Pema Chodron -- offers us the opportunity to see things clearly because "there is nowhere to escape.[5]”  In Moving Into Stillness, yogi Eric Schiffmann teaches that "stillness allows us to experience the truth of who we are ... the tremendous relief of clarify ... followed by a profoundly soothing inner peace." [6]

Wouldn't it be amazing if kids in schools knew this truth?  That they don't have to "friend" or "tweet" or "link" or text external things to summon their sense of self or inner peace -- it's right there inside of them.

My question is ... why don't they know it?  How can we help them to find it?

From my perspective, one solution could be meditation and mindfulness combined with the arts.  For free exercises visit www.healthyselfitude.com, www.eatingrecoveryyoga.com or e-mail me at rhussa@normalinschools.org.

---

[1] The list of medical professionals who participated in this project can be found at www.speakingoutabouted.com.

[2] Hinshaw with S., Kranz, R, 2009. The Triple Bind: Saving Our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures. (p.20) New York, New York: Ballantine Books.

[3] Bradshaw, J. (1988) Healing the Shame That Binds You (p. 96) Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, Inc.

[4] Peck, M.S. (1978) The Road Less Traveled, p. 19. 

[5] Chodron, P. (1997) When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (p. 2) Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, inc.

[6] Retrieved from Eric Schiffmann's Moving Into Stillness http://www.movingintostillness.com/book/meditation_moving_into_stillness.html

Non-Suicidal Self Injury, The New 'Cool' in School?

Richard Lieberman, a school psychologist from the Los Angeles Unified School District reports for the National Association of School Psychologists that "for every 100,000 adolescents, it is estimated that between 750 and 1,800 will exhibit self-injurious behaviors (SIB) (Suyemoto & Kountz, 2000).  This translates to 150,000 to 360,000 students nationwide, more than 70% of whom are female."

He adds that "self-mutilation appears to have a "contagious" effect among peer groups."

In February of 2011 the NORMAL nonprofit organization presented two of our programs as part of the Wisconsin School Counselor Association's Annual Conference.  For the first 75 minutes of the presentation, we screened a DVD of the award winning NIS Program (a rock musical based on the true story of a family struggling with an eating disorder).  We then screened Speaking Out About Eating Disorders -- a documentary style film that contains clear, yet in-depth commentary from many of the leading experts in the field, including physicians, psychologists, directors of national organizations, and researchers.  We followed the film presentations with a panel discussion where a clinical psychologist and individual in recovery answered any questions from the audience of school guidance counselors.

The first question asked by one counselor, was whether she could use the Speaking Out About Ed film to teach other staff members in her schools.  As part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2011 programming, NIS offered any guidance counselor the opportunity to circulate the link to her entire staff at no cost.

In the film, Ovidio Bermudez, M.D., (Medical Director of Eating Recovery Center's Adolescent Services in Denver, Colorado) shared his concern for the number of eating disorder-related symptoms that have exploded in our culture.  "Young people who repeatedly diet, who engage in purging, who self-harm, who use exercise or over-exercise as a way of managing their weight are what we are seeing more and more of in schools and communities because these forms of coping have become normalized in our culture, and they are, therefore, the behaviors in which students are more likely to engage to cope with stress."

I knew we had a captive listener in this counselor, but it wasn't until she shared her story that I completely understood the depth of her captivity.  She gently asked for advice from the clinical psychologist on our panel and revealed that she was the only counselor serving students from four public schools in her district.  In particular, she reported that many of the students were self-harming, so she was desperate to find resources.  She told us that the kids tended to sit together during lunch and would publicly self-harm -- the new "cool" thing to do?  She asked for specific strategies in order to effectively intervene.  "Should we just grab the kids and separate them?"

How do we handle this?

In that moment I recalled a tour of the live NIS Program in a public, school in 2009, where psychologists and social workers revealed that self-harm was the key issue facing their 1000 students.  I remembered the student who jumped out of her seat during the talkback to ask the clinical psychologist how to stop cutting.  Self-harm seems to be everywhere.

A 2006 study on Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among adolescents, published in Psychiatry Research, reveals that "70% of adolescents engaging in NSSI reported a lifetime suicide attempt and 55% reported multiple attempts."

To help us understand what's underneath it all, Elizabeth Lloyd-Richardson, PhD, a psychologist at The Miriam Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, offers in a July, 2007 report in ScienceDaily, that "adolescents are engaging in [Non-Suicidal Self Injury] NSSI for several reasons, including both regulating their own internal emotional states and trying to manage situations in their environment." 

How do we tap in, share ideas, and help kids manage their emotions more effectively in schools.  There's gotta be a way ...

 

Suyemoto, K. & Kountz (2000). Self-mutilation. The Prevention Researcher 7(4).

Nock, M., Joiner Jr., T., Gordon, K., Lloyd-Richardson, E., Prinstein, M. (2006).  Non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents: Diagnostic correlates and relation to suicide attempts.  Psychiatry Research 144, 65–72.