Advice for Parents by Doris Smeltzer

In response to a plea for help

The following comment was posted to one of my earlier blogs a few days ago:

Hi, I need help - Christmas eve - a year ago I found out my daughter of 29 was a bulmic for 5 yrs. She was getting married March 08 and she agreed to go into out patient therapy and get some medication - she was rail thin - and in denial - she had kicked a drug habit after college. She got married and seemed to be doing well and put on weight. She stopped her outpatient treatment because she got a new job and it did not cover that treatment. Now she has relapsed. I am beside myself and do not know what to do or what to suggest - she hides it and is ashamed ... give me some sense of what to do next -

Out of the mouths of babes

I love working with high school students.  Their compassion and desire to help others is always a joy to witness.  A few days ago I received an email from one of our Body Positive Peer Leaders.  She's a sophomore in High School whom I'll call Jane.

Jane wrote to thank me for the "amazing year" she had working as a Peer Leader in our Body Image Groups.  She continued,

Using both hemispheres of our brain

A few days ago I met with an amazing local artist and author, Lynn Tuft.  We sat in her charming cottage at the top of a hill that overlooked other rolling mounds of majestic greens.  The sky was a clear, piercing blue.  We talked about her work with youth in Napa...how she has found ways to tap into their creativity through multiple approaches.