What do you think?
Rate this book
Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder: Understanding, Supporting, and Connecting with Your Partner
"[Author Dana] Harron’s emotional and practical advice for this growing global predicament comes highly recommended."
— Library Journal
In this compassionate guide, eating disorder expert Dana Harron offers hope to partners of people with eating disorders. You’ll discover ways to communicate with empathy and understanding, strategies for dealing with mealtime challenges, and tips to help you both find your way back to trust, love, and intimacy. If your loved one is one of millions of Americans who suffers from an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, you may feel alone, without guidance or understanding. As a romantic partner, you need to know how to navigate issues such as parenting, sex and intimacy, and running a household. This book provides that help by addressing your uniquely complex and difficult situation, and provides much-needed support for growth and healing. In Loving Someone With an Eating Disorder , you’ll find valuable information about eating disorders, diagnostic categories, and common misconceptions. You’ll also learn about the importance of self-care and boundaries for yourself, and find writing and perspective-taking exercises to help you gain a greater understanding of your partner’s struggle. You’ll also learn skills to help you address specific problems, such as managing groceries and meals together, sex and intimacy issues, and concerns about parenting. Finally, you’ll find a practical discussion about treatment and recovery from disordered eating—making it clear that both you and your partner need healing—as well as information about seeking further support.
— Library Journal
In this compassionate guide, eating disorder expert Dana Harron offers hope to partners of people with eating disorders. You’ll discover ways to communicate with empathy and understanding, strategies for dealing with mealtime challenges, and tips to help you both find your way back to trust, love, and intimacy. If your loved one is one of millions of Americans who suffers from an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, you may feel alone, without guidance or understanding. As a romantic partner, you need to know how to navigate issues such as parenting, sex and intimacy, and running a household. This book provides that help by addressing your uniquely complex and difficult situation, and provides much-needed support for growth and healing. In Loving Someone With an Eating Disorder , you’ll find valuable information about eating disorders, diagnostic categories, and common misconceptions. You’ll also learn about the importance of self-care and boundaries for yourself, and find writing and perspective-taking exercises to help you gain a greater understanding of your partner’s struggle. You’ll also learn skills to help you address specific problems, such as managing groceries and meals together, sex and intimacy issues, and concerns about parenting. Finally, you’ll find a practical discussion about treatment and recovery from disordered eating—making it clear that both you and your partner need healing—as well as information about seeking further support.
176 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2019
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Dana Harron
2 books1 followerDr. Dana Harron is a practicing psychologist in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington DC. She is the founder and director of Monarch Wellness & Psychotherapy, a boutique practice that specializes in mind/body problems such as eating disorders, anxiety, trauma, fertility issues and depression.
Dr. Harron enjoys working with couples and helping partners individually to understand eating disorders, find healthy boundaries and clarify communications (among other things).
Dr. Harron completed her doctorate at Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, where she was also the honored recipient of the Neubauer community service scholarship and the Empathy and Caring Award.
She completed internships at the Renfrew Center and the Belmont Center, both in Philadelphia.
Since then she has engaged in a wide variety of professional activities ranging from co-leadership of a unit at the state hospital of Delaware to college counseling and eventually to private practice.
She is currently dividing her time between writing, speaking, clinical supervision and direct client work. Dr. Harron has lectured at facilities such as Temple and George Washington University (where she is also serving as associate clinical faculty). She lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter where she is an an avid knitter and hiker, but never at the same time.
Dr. Harron enjoys working with couples and helping partners individually to understand eating disorders, find healthy boundaries and clarify communications (among other things).
Dr. Harron completed her doctorate at Widener University’s Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology, where she was also the honored recipient of the Neubauer community service scholarship and the Empathy and Caring Award.
She completed internships at the Renfrew Center and the Belmont Center, both in Philadelphia.
Since then she has engaged in a wide variety of professional activities ranging from co-leadership of a unit at the state hospital of Delaware to college counseling and eventually to private practice.
She is currently dividing her time between writing, speaking, clinical supervision and direct client work. Dr. Harron has lectured at facilities such as Temple and George Washington University (where she is also serving as associate clinical faculty). She lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter where she is an an avid knitter and hiker, but never at the same time.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 14, 2019
*thank you to Netgalley and New Harbinger Publications, Inc for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
4 stars.
Wow. This book has alot of interesting information in it. It has definitely been thoroughly researched and is a very good read for those who are trying to find more information about Eating Disorders in general. It covers a whole range of topics such as how to talk with your loved one who is suffering about what they are going through with things such as meal times, sex and intimacy, myths and realities, empathy and understanding on how to help support someone with an ED. I could just go on and on with how much useful information there is in here. It also talks about therapy and recovery and how to go about both of those.
As someone who has had and Eating Disorder for over 18 years, this book comes highly recommended by me for people, mainly parents and partners, of someone who is suffering through this illness. Finding a wide range of information to educated yourself about Eating Disorders and to what your loved one is going through is very important and this book is definitely a step in the right direction to doing that.
4 stars.
Wow. This book has alot of interesting information in it. It has definitely been thoroughly researched and is a very good read for those who are trying to find more information about Eating Disorders in general. It covers a whole range of topics such as how to talk with your loved one who is suffering about what they are going through with things such as meal times, sex and intimacy, myths and realities, empathy and understanding on how to help support someone with an ED. I could just go on and on with how much useful information there is in here. It also talks about therapy and recovery and how to go about both of those.
As someone who has had and Eating Disorder for over 18 years, this book comes highly recommended by me for people, mainly parents and partners, of someone who is suffering through this illness. Finding a wide range of information to educated yourself about Eating Disorders and to what your loved one is going through is very important and this book is definitely a step in the right direction to doing that.
June 6, 2019
Dana Harron is opening the door and hoping people realize that eating disorders are not a teenage issue an in fact it can be the source of great misunderstanding in all types of relationships from young to someone in their 70's
This is a short self help book but covers the topic well from teenagers to married couples who struggle with their communication. This is a great start to finding and understanding those around you and how you talk to, behave around someone with a Eating Disorder. Whether it is over eating or Under eating.
The author spend a little too much time covering topics that really didn't needed to be covered or she should have made the book longer.
This book will help start a dialogue with the people who are struggling with a eating disorder and for the readers to best understand how to support them not assume what a eating disorder is or is not.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Sana Harron Loving someone with an eating disorder
(I have been struggling with a Eating Disorder sine I was 12 years old.)
This is a short self help book but covers the topic well from teenagers to married couples who struggle with their communication. This is a great start to finding and understanding those around you and how you talk to, behave around someone with a Eating Disorder. Whether it is over eating or Under eating.
The author spend a little too much time covering topics that really didn't needed to be covered or she should have made the book longer.
This book will help start a dialogue with the people who are struggling with a eating disorder and for the readers to best understand how to support them not assume what a eating disorder is or is not.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Sana Harron Loving someone with an eating disorder
(I have been struggling with a Eating Disorder sine I was 12 years old.)
September 21, 2023
This book was ok. I’m glad it exists because partners desperately need guidance and support. It is a very basic, highly accessible easy read which is both its strength and limitation. It gives people a very basic primer. In particular, the guidance on what to say/not say, how to express support, and establish boundaries was particularly strong. Unfortunately there are some pretty glaring omissions, oversimplification, and inaccuracies related to the medical and nutritional aspects of EDs and treatment. This book may be a useful starting point for an overwhelmed partner brand new to the world of EDs.
September 19, 2019
PROFESSIONAL READING: Harron has written a thoughtful guide to navigating the ups and downs of eating disorder recovery within a relationship. It compassionately points out the sorts of comments and communication styles that have the opposite effect as intended by the concerned party, while encouraging more effective tools and self-reflection. Perfect for anyone needing a primer on how an eating disorder might be affecting their loved one.
July 1, 2019
As a psychology major, I was intrigued by this book, as there is not a lot of information on how to truly support someone you love as they battle an eating disorder. This book was honest and gave practical advice.
May 29, 2019
I received an arc of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Helpful but not what I was looking for exactly.
Helpful but not what I was looking for exactly.
December 11, 2024
Good, informative
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews