From one mom to another . . . recovery is possible!What happened to my beautiful girls? To our family? Where did I go wrong? What does this mean for our future? Those are the tormenting questions that invaded every moment of Caroline Blaire's journey through not one daughter's, but both daughters', anorexia and intensive treatment and recovery.Just as the adage says, "there are no two siblings alike," Blaire's experience navigating her two daughters' anorexia revealed to her just how multifaceted, complex, and varying eating disorders are. Through her double-duty discovery that no two eating disorders are alike, Blaire was receiving the gift of deep and vast understanding of the causes, symptoms, triggers, and side effects of this elusive disease.The result is this book-the book Blaire says she wished she and her husband had in order to begin to truly comprehend not only what would cause their daughters to starve themselves, but how to empathetically and effectively support them back to health.With compassion, grit, enthusiasm, and research, Blaire unfolds a hopeful path that caregivers can get started on right away to help them gain control of any kind of eating disorder afflicting their loved ones. Calling it a "simplified guide" for families, Blaire demystifies the things she learned over several years supporting her teenage daughters' partial hospitalization and family-centered therapy. Quick, to the point, and in clear and concise language, inside you will learn:
- Why eating disorders are called by doctors, "brain-based illnesses."
- How to know if your loved one may be suffering from an eating disorder.
- The several categories of eating disorders.
- How to look through a new lens to help you relate to your loved one's incomprehensible behavior.
- The way through shame and guilt.
- Strategies for building empathy and sustaining patience when living with an eating disordered individual.
- Treatment approaches, options, and criteria.
- Tactics to use to talk to your loved one about compliance in recovery.
- How to rationalize and navigate the personality changes of an eating disordered individual.
- Self-care tips to ensure you can maintain the best support for your loved one.Throughout the way, Blaire shares stories from the trenches, always with honesty and hope-hope that is based on the author's own truth-that, not once, but twice, she witnessed true and lasting recovery. Let this book be your first step to participating in what can be a transformative journey for the entire family.