Amazon.com bestseller offers stories, meditations and exercises for the adult woman to heal from her eating disorder.

Powerful, honest, simple and profound, Healing Your Hungry Heart finds you where you are and guides you through your adult experiences into freedom.

No matter your age or how long you have suffered, you can begin your recovery now.

Written by Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist, author, lecturer. Joanna writes from her personal experience with bulimia in her life and from her professional experience of 25 years as a psychotherapist and lecturer specializing in eating disorder recovery.

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and where books are sold.

Learn more at Eating Disorder Recovery for Women.

—Marya Hornbacher, author of Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia

“If you struggle with food or body image, Joanna Poppink’s Healing Your Hungry Heart is sure to help! Through her story and those of others, Joanna assures us that true recovery is both real and attainable. This is an important addition to the recovery bookshelf.” 

—Jenni Schaefer, author of Goodbye Ed, Hello Me and Life Without Ed

“Joanna Poppink’s Healing Your Hungry Heart answers two questions I frequently hear from troubled eaters: ‘How do I begin my recovery?’ and ‘What can I do to sustain it?’ Her chapter on the warning signs of an eating disorder is especially helpful to those who aren’t sure if their relationship with food is unhealthy or not. Other chapters gently guide the reader in an exploration of what is needed to recover from deregulated eating—mindfulness, self-reflection and honesty, bona fide emotional nourishment, and daily practices for skill acquisition and moving toward true fulfillment. I would certainly recommend this book to my clients and students.”

—Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed., author of The Food and Feelings Workbook and Nice Girls Finish Fat

“For three decades as a therapist, and now as an author, Joanna Poppink has used her personal experience with bulimia, insights into healing, empathy, and knowledge to help women recover from eating disorders. In this book, she shares stories from many of her former patients and covers diverse topics ranging from mindful contemplations on eating to an intimate discussion of sexuality. Practical, personal, and powerful!”

—Leigh Cohn, coauthor of Bulimia: A Guide to Recovery, editor-in-chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention

“This book offers a variety of valuable tools and practical ways for those with eating disorders to nourish both their bodies and their spirits. It also offers real solutions and hope for its readers.”

—Christine Hartline, M.A., founder and director, Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center, EDReferral.com

“Eating disorders are a hidden personal ravishment in our Western culture. Those seeking a cure will find the pathway outlined in Joanna Poppink’s book a strong companion on the road to recovery.”

—-Jonathan Flier, MA, MFT; President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Calif. Assoc of Marriage and Family Therapists

“Joanna Poppink writes not only of the heart, but from the heart.  She has been there, and shares generously of her personal struggles with bulimia.  Her authenticity cannot be mistaken and gives her readers reason to be confident that she knows whereof she writes, and will not offer mere theory, nor platitudes, nor judgment.  This confidence does not prove mistaken.

She has also been there as a psychotherapist–a gifted and experienced therapist, a genuine healer.  This, too, comes through clearly in her book.  Through many examples, exercises, and distillations of her well-earned wisdom, the author gives hope and help to women who are struggling with the pain and shame of eating disorders.

Make no mistake:  this book offers no easy “fix.”  The author invites her readers to undertake an admittedly difficult and often intimidating exploration of self, of the hidden meanings of symptoms and actions.   She knows that one must “stay present and bear your feelings” to walk this path, and also knows how to extend help.  She knows and teaches that “everything counts.”  I imagine that most readers will find that they cannot work through this substantial book all at once, but will need to return to it again and again, sometimes with frustration but often, too, with joy.”

Joan A. Lang, M.D.

Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst

Professor Emeritus & Former Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University

“I’m delighted to recommend Joanna Poppink’s book, Healing Your Hungry Heart: Recovering from Your Eating Disorder. I was in close communication with Joanna while she was writing this book, and I know the heart and wisdom she poured into the pages.

When I read early versions of the manuscript, I knew we had a fresh new voice bringing inspiration and practical tools for eating disorder recovery.

Joanna wrote this book for mature women. I believe you will find it of great value in your own recovery and in understanding the struggles of those you love.”

—-Jeanne Rust, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of Mirasol, Eating Disorder Residential Treatment Center

Healing Your Hungry Heart: recovering from your eating disorder, Joanna Poppink, 2011, Conari Press

“Dear Joanna, 

Thank you for geting eight hours of sleep four night in a row this week.

I appreciate your caring for me.  It’s so nice to have real rest. I enjoy the energy I experience when you care for me

Thank you.

love,

Joanna”

A Henry Clay quote brought my mind to the connection between courtesy and recovery. Perhaps you’ve thought of it too.

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”

---

When you suffer from an eating disorder, even if you have substantial recovery of many years, you can hit an emotional low where you feel depression tugging at your toes and pulling you down.  Most people will feel low at times and need to use their personal resources to understand their experience and pull up to solid ground again.

If you’ve had an eating disorder, or if you are living with an eating disorder right now, you may feel urges to eat or binge or restrict to escape your dark feelings. If you do, you can recognize those urges and call on your support system to help you move through your challenge. You call your therapist. You journal. You call a hot-line. You move into a mindful spiritual practice. You know something needs your attention.

But a low feeling can take an insidious turn that is not as easily identified as actual eating or not eating behaviors.  You feel badly about something someone said or didn’t say.  Perhaps you feel slighted or have actually been insulted or deeply disappointed.

If you are not aware, you first feel offended or hurt by what happened.  Then you ruminate about how terrible the other person is.  That phase can be brief.  It takes you to the edge of the real psychological danger, and that’s where you stop criticizing the other person and start criticizing yourself.

That criticism can lead you to major negative self judgements.  And that leads you to fear, sorrow, a sense of worthlessness and futility.

When you reach that point you are nearing deeper depression that brings up powerful feelings of abandonment and despair.

An important aspect of recovery work is recognizing this trail of emotional events and catching yourself before you sink to terrible depths.  You don’t have the clues that something is amiss because you not acting out your eating disorder with behavior that you recognize.

When you move into the negative self talk that puts you in emotional decline you may not recognize what you are doing.  You don’t feel that you are criticizing yourself or judging yourself. You feel like you are stating the truth of who you are, and its pretty bad.

So I invite you to take Henry Clay’s words to heart.

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”

Make small and trivial courtesies to yourself be a normal part of your day. Let these many tiny kindnesses be your gifts to your own heart. A pattern little courtesies to yourself can build a solid base for your sense of self so you don’t slide easily into an emotional decline.  If you notice you are slacking off on being couteous to yourself you can recognize a signal that alerts you to pay attention and be aware.

Small and trivial  courtesies include:

• making your bed in the morning so it’s nice for you at night;
• eating off pretty plates and putting a napkin on your lap – even when you are eating alone;
• smiling at your reflection in the mirror;
• keeping what you need in order and easily accessible whether items are related to bathroom, kitchen, desk, car or garden.
• smile in gratitude or think to yourself, “thank you” when you give yourself a gift, like a hot cup of tea while you are writing a blog post.   That’s me.

Can you think of more small and trivial courtesies you can give yourself?

P.S. The concept of courtesy was described by the Sanskrit word, daksinya, which meant “kindness and consideration expressed in a sophisticated and elegant way

I agree that seeking a mental health profession­al for treatment when necessary or for an assessment periodical­ly to make sure all is well is an excellent plan. It’s difficult for someone to imagine freedom and relief when they are suffering, and that makes calling for help difficult. Articles like yours that help people see that they have a chance to improve their situation by tending to their mental health is invaluable­.

Joanna Poppink, MFT
Los Angeles psychother­apist
author: Healing Your Hungry Heart: eating disorder recovery for women, Conari Press 08/11
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Triumphant Journey: How To Stop Overeating and Recover From Eating Disorders

EatingDisorderRecovery.com

Here you will find Triumphant Journey, a self guided workbook to help you recover from an eating disorder. This is a step by step action plan that can guide you to your genuine healing path. You Read more at EatingDisorderRecovery.com

I am relieved to see in print the genuine experience of a binge eating person and a description of the in-depth psychological work necessary to heal beyond the need to mindlessly devour food.

I’ve been working as a psychotherapist specializing in eating disorder recovery for over 25 years. I am still sad, frustrated and amazed at the lack of public appreciation for the anguish people with these disorders experience. The eating or non-eating is not about vanity, greed, weak moral fiber, lack of willpower, desire for attention or any cause that the public and some professionals in the healing professions believe can be resolved with fast answers, diets and willpower.

As you rightly say in your article, “Overwhelming feelings of sadness, anger or stress trigger episodes of eating unusually large quantities of food, often when she’s not at all hungry.”

So diets, diet pills and food focus are not the issues. The issue is overwhelming feelings.

Binge eaters may not get the healing attention they need because they are more likely to hurt themselves than others. They are not using alcohol and crashing cars. They are not using drugs and killing, robbing or creating public mayhem.

I’m especially glad to see you give the binge-eating person a name and a story. You help the binge-eating person gather understanding and, I hope, evoke some compassion that will disperse the harsh judgments.

Yet your article about the problems binge eaters face in the holidays doesn’t address the real people trapped in binge behaviors. Although the article begins with a description of emotional triggers for binge eating, it goes on to focus on food control as the primary answer: “Most patients can learn to control binge eating with cognitive behavioral therapy” and “We know that a pattern of regular eating is important” for binge eaters. In other words, if the problem looks like it’s about a hand bringing food to a mouth, then the answer must be how to stop the hand.

I can’t argue with these statements. But binge eaters have a compelling need to binge. They can find real freedom from the binge eating behavior if they develop from within, so that they can function well in situations that would formerly send them to the food cupboards.

This development can come from in-depth psychotherapy, regular and committed mindfulness practices or a major life challenge that forces them to grow or die.

Accurate but limited information that focuses on eating habits and weight interventions neglect this important point.

Joanna Poppink, MFT Los Angeles

More Los Angeles Times article on this subject,

written by Melissa Healy

Is binge eating a psychiatric disorder?

Trying to define binge eating disorder

Binge eating: is it a form of addiction?

Holidays can feed binge eaters’ problems

This healing event, created out of a sister’s love, brought smiles, loving tears and inspiration to the people who attended.

If you would like any or all of the information in the handout packets sent to you via attachment, (no charge) please write to me at joanna@poppink.com. Please put “handout information” in the subject line.

Availble:

Self Care

Exercises to develop more calm and ease around food over the holidays (five pages)

Women’s healing and recovery workshop (A woman’s story circle) (one page)

Community Resources

10 best Los Angeles Parks with descriptive commentary by Joanna Poppink (six pages)

Mental Health Clinics in West Los Angeles  (six pages)

Los Angeles Branch Libraries  (seven pages)

Learning how to understand and care for yourself around food over the holidays includes expanding, deepening and strengthening your ability to nourish your mind, spirit and relationships.  Eating Disorders are not just for kids.