When to Share Your Recovery Story

I hope you are doing well. I just returned from the NEDA Conference in San Diego. What a wonderful event! I met many courageous people whose lives have been touched by eating disorders. I was very inspired.

At the conference, I had the opportunity to present with Shannon Albert, who is the NEDA Volunteer Coordinator. We spoke about sharing your personal story responsibly in outreach efforts. For those of you who are interested in outreach and education, I included some information from our presentation below.

Best, Jenni

When to Share Your Recovery Story
by Thom Rutledge and Jenni Schaefer

Sharing your own personal story of recovery is a very important decision, deserving of careful consideration and thought. As a recovering person, you can offer insight and hope to others struggling with an eating disorder in ways that no other therapist, dietitian or physician can. Of course, the decision to share your story is a personal one, and no one can make the decision for you, but here are a few guidelines you might want to consider.

1. Time in recovery. While you certainly don’t have to be fully recovered to share your story, you should have significant time in recovery from eating disorder behaviors. One year of working a solid program of recovery is a good idea, but that is not definite rule. Ask others you trust (e.g. support system or treatment team) to help you determine what is best for you.

2. Clarity of what has worked for you. Be sure that you have a good idea of specifically what tools have aided you in your recovery. Focusing on the recovery solutions is very important in telling your story.

3. Success in difficult times. Be sure that you have faced some serious temptations to relapse and been able to use your support system to avoid the slip. This does not mean you have to have been successful in avoiding relapse every time, but that you do have some history of triumph over temptation.

4. Solid support system. You definitely need to be well beyond the “I should be able to do this all by myself” mentality, and beyond experiencing feelings of shame for having an eating disorder. One of the most important parts of sharing your story is teaching others about the necessity of building and maintaining a good support system, so be sure you are practicing what you are getting ready to teach.

5. Some progress in dealing with underlying perfectionism. One thing that is very important to impart in sharing your story is the role of self-compassion. If you are still buying into your own self-critical messages of perfection, it will be difficult to convey the value of self-compassion with credibility.

6. Belief that you have something to share. We will all be dealing with self-esteem issues for the long haul, so no perfect self-esteem is required to share your story. But be sure that you believe in yourself (and your recovery) enough to know that you do have a story and a purpose that is worth sharing. Your support team can help build your confidence in this area, so be sure to ask for their help.

7. Basic understanding of the do’s and don’ts of telling your story. Talk to others in recovery who have shared their stories publicly. Be sure you know specific things to avoid that will almost surely be triggering, and that you have a sort of outline in mind to help guide you in sharing. The standard in AA is very effective: tell how it was in your eating disorder, tell what happened to get you into recovery, and tell how it is for you now, in recovery. Refer also to NEDA’s “Guidelines for Sharing Stories of Recovery” available on their website at www.NationalEatingDisorders.org.

Remember to focus on recovery, inspire hope and share solutions.

Thom Rutledge, LCSW is a psychotherapist and author of Embracing Fear: How to Turn What Scares Us Into Our Greatest Gift. In addition to his private therapy practice, he serves as program development consultant for The Ranch Extended Care Treatment Program, just outside Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, visit www.thomrutledge.com.

Jenni Schaefer is a singer/songwriter, speaker, and the author of Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too (McGraw-Hill). She is a consultant and spokesperson with Center for Change in Orem, Utah. For more information, visit www.jennischaefer.com or email jenni@jennischaefer.com.

Comments

[Health Watch Center]

Absolutely because its going to be inspiration for others...