November 2009 Archive
The many meanings of food.
11.02.09
“When I walk into my kitchen today, I am not alone. Whether we know it or not, none of us is.
We bring fathers and mohers and kitchen tables, every meal we have ever eaten.
Food is never just food.
It’s also a way of getting at something else, who we are, who we have been, and who we want to be.”
Molly Wizenberg, From a Homemade Life
I came across this quite indavertantly but was struck but it’s meaning and power all the same. The idea that food is never just food is a powerful one for those struggling with eating disorders and body image concerns. I spend a large part of my clinical work helping people get to the place where food is no longer emotionally laden- using food for energy and pleasure versus an unspoken communication or a way of soothing oneself. I think this quote reasonates with what many who struggle with disordered eating already know- the binge eating or restriction is NOT about food but connected with so many emotions, relationships and complicated aspects of our lives that food somehow can come to represent. The key is learning how to communciate those in new ways, ways that do not involve food or the body. Then food can be a PART of pleasurable activity, soical situations and enjoyment, no longer a metaphor for what feels unspeakable.
Bodywise Intensive Center for Eating Disorders Ann Arbor, Michigan
08.22.09
| November 13, 2009 7:00 PM | to | November 15, 2009 7:00 PM |
“Ready to really let go of binge eating? Please join us for the Fall 2009 Bodywise Intensive, a 2 1/2 day program November 13-15, that offers a powerful jumpstart for recovery from Binge Eating Disorder! The Intensive provides a supportive environment for binge eaters to understand the causes and uses of binge eating in their lives, how to recognize and manage binge triggers, and learn skills for intuitive eating and movement. Please join us for a life-changing experience! The BW Intensive will be facilitated by Amy Pershing LMSW, Director of the Bodywise Program and Clinical Director of The Center for Eating Disorders in Ann Arbor, and Robin Okun, ACSW, Founder of Mindful Movement and Movement Specialist at The Center. The Intensive will be held in Ann Arbor and lodging is available on site; please call (734) 668–8585 or visit our websites for more information (www.stopcompulsiveeating.com and center4ed.org).”