Why She Feels Fat by Johanna Marie McShane

why when the check-out person at the store sneezes you see it as proof you are bad

Or... "the self-perpetuation problem"

what do you do when your premise is wrong?

Since I often work with people who have had quite a bit of time on the planet before they've arrived in my office, they've had lots of time to come up with all kinds of ways to make sense of the world and of themselves in it.

random answer

PTC,  I can't speak for all us therapist types, because, as others pointed out, there are a wide variety of us types :)

I can, though, say a couple of things in response to your question.

socially constructed relationships

I totally understand what you say Laura about how it's hard to figure out how the client/therapist relationship fits into how we conceptualize relationships. But here's how I think of it...

mutuality

You guys so often forget that relationships are a two-sided phenomena. Good relationships are for sure a two-sided phenomena.

sheeeeesh......

OMG!!!! Only a perfectionist could take a simple award, one that congratulates her on a really good job, and make it seem as though she's failed!!!!!

Geez, Courtney, what a perfect response to our inaugural Perfection Deflection Award! I'd expect nothing else from one of you perfectionist types :)

And that's one of the reasons we're initiating this award- to get you guys used to loving not having to be perfect!

So, onward we go- and, in addition to Courtney, we've had some good recipients already- Ann for writing a "non-perfect" letter to her therapist, SuperEgg's 4 year old daughter for trying new art, and Wendi was nominated by her dietitian! 4 awards in one day... I'd say we're off to a great start :)

introducing... a new award

Yes, that's right... we're inventing a new award today... just because, well, just because we can. I had thought of calling it the "Anti-perfectionist Award" but that sounded too somehow perfectionistic! So..

it's not the person that's boring and annoying

But first- nice try, blaming the deleting comment thing on me :) You guys are so funny! 

For the record, I'm for sure not deleting or blocking any of your comments. Why on earth would I do that? I love your comments! And now that I realize the labor you're having to put out to get those comments all the way posted, I'm extra grateful for them- and impressed by your efforts! Sorry it can be difficult. For full disclosure, I have to say that a couple of times I've deleted my own post... clearly, you're not alone in this deleting extravaganza :)

Now, on to the idea that people who have eating disorders are, what did you call them, PTC? Annoying? Boring? I've heard those terms and a variety of others.

Let's have a bit of a closer look...

like-mindedness

Life's a lot more fun when we get to hang out with like-minded people. That's a no-brainer, isn't it...

labels

I'm not surprised, Laura, that you find it both a relief and a constraint when you hear the eating disorder label.