8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder Workbook

by Carolyn Costin, Gwen Schubert Grabb

Readers are walked through strategies by a therapist and her former patient. 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder  was lauded as a "brave and hopeful book" as well as "remarkably readable." Now, the authors have returned with a companion workbook―offering all new assignments, strategies, and personal reflections to help those who suffer from an eating disorder heal their relationship to food and their bodies. Clients of Costin and Grabb consistently tell them that knowing they are both recovered is one of the most helpful aspects of their treatment. With this experience as a foundation, the authors bring together years of clinical expertise and invaluable personal testimony, from themselves and others, to the strategies in this book. Readers will get a glimpse of what it's like to be in therapy with either Carolyn or Gwen. Filled with tried and true practical exercises, goal sheets, food journal forms, clinical anecdotes and stories, readers are guided in exploring their thoughts, feelings, and coping strategies while being encouraged to choose how they want to approach the material.  This book is an important resource to anyone living with destructive or self-defeating eating behaviors.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

288 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2017

About the author

Advocate/ Activist

Carolyn is renown for being an advocate and activist in her field receiving honors such as the National Eating Disorders Association's Award for Advocacy 2008 and in 2011 received the Spirit Recognition Award from Sierra Tucson. Carolyn lobbies congress, fights for insurance reform, organized the NEDA's Parent-Family Network, organizes campaigns against inappropriate advertising and continues to speak out on important social issues!

Therapist

After recovering from her own eating disorder Carolyn became a therapist in 1977 and has been treating people suffering from eating and body image problems since that time.

Founder

After serving as founder and clinical director of several hospital based eating disorder programs, Carolyn knew she wanted to create something different. "I wanted to create a center for healing in a home like environment, surrounded by nature."

Author

Carolyn is the author of five books with her most recent, "8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder: Effective Strategies from Therapeutic Practice and Personal Experience". She has also written extensively for magazines, newspapers, and journals and has been a contributing author to several books on eating disorders and body image.

Educator/ Lecturer

Carolyn's first love was teaching. She served as a high school teacher and counselor for 8 years prior to dedicating her career to the treatment of eating disorders. Carolyn still loves to teach and every month offers a free study group for professionals.

Reviews

[T Mas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic workbook. Can stand-alone without the book if needed. Prefer the workbook for working with clients.

[Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best eating disorder books I’ve read. It has lots of great ideas to ponder, exercises to do, thoughts and feelings to identify. It’s not going to solve anyone’s problems by reading it, however I thought the empathy and understanding that recovery is a struggle and it’s also achievable were great messages. I think the exercises can actually be helpful in giving concrete examples of things to try, thoughts to challenge, and tools to use to help keep one accountable to making an effort to move towards recovery.
I read some passages to my daughter who struggles with anorexia and tried to talk through some of the exercises. I think it would be most helpful to have a skilled therapist use this book with a client rather than me as a parent, but it does help me know how to have conversations around the thoughts and feelings that get in the way of her recovering.

[Noah A · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book as required reading in a residential Monte Nido facility (the treatment center-now massive corporate network founded by Carolyn Costin). I did every single exercise. The word “fat” is used exclusively as a pejorative. It is outdated, in need of a serious serious edit, and written exclusively for thin, wealthy, cis white women. The entire treatment philosophy of Monte Nido is based on this text (as Bible, carolyn as savior) and frankly it’s grotesque. I got some things out of the book but I spent more of my time editing and being extremely disgusted than learning anything.

[Taylor McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an eating disorder therapist, always looking to grow my knowledge and provide new resources for clients, I can say this book is very helpful. I am able to use the concepts and worksheets here and apply it to my work as well as get a new perspective. The reason I do not give this book 5 stars is because I found some areas to be repetitive or longer than necessary.

[Jodie Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Carolyn Costin Eating Disorder Coach (candidate) I love this resource for those suffering with an eating disorder. Step by step exercises to guide you through recovery.