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Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders
Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating When Words Fail and Bodies Speak offers a compilation of some of the most innovative thinking on psychoanalytic approaches to the treatment of eating disorders available today. In its recognition of the multiple meanings of food, weight, and body shape, psychoanalytic thinking is uniquely positioned to illuminate the complexities of these often life-threatening conditions. And while clinicians regularly draw on psychoanalytic ideas in the treatment of eating disorders, many of the unique insights psychoanalysis provides have been neglected in the contemporary literature. This volume brings together some of the most respected clinicians in the field and speaks to the psychoanalytic conceptualization and treatment of eating disorders as well as contemporary issues, including social media, pro-anorexia forums, and larger cultural issues such as advertising, fashion, and even agribusiness. Drawing on new theoretical developments, several chapters propose novel models of treatment, whereas others delve into the complex convergence of culture and psychology in this patient population.
Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders will be of interest to allpsychoanalysts and psychotherapists working with this complex and multi-faceted phenomenon.
Psychoanalytic Treatment of Eating Disorders will be of interest to allpsychoanalysts and psychotherapists working with this complex and multi-faceted phenomenon.
- GenresPsychology
304 pages, Paperback
Published January 2, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 20, 2024
Psychoanalytic content 5/5
Chapters and insights 5/5
Chapter 14 2/5 (progressive ideology)
The book is directed to psychiatrists. If you are not one, its ok if you read it, but won’t be really, really influential. I’m not a psychologist, I’m just an avid reader. Eating disorders are complex. I mean, there are some that can be seen, for instance, Anorexia Nervosa, can be identified really quickly, I mean, all we have to do is look at the patient and see a person with a dramatically low BMI. On the other hand, Bulimia Nervosa moonlights as a healthy person; in this disorder, BMI is average; they remain the same, and the purging is also a secret ritual. Amazing book. There were many aspects that I did not know about eating disorders. There were concepts that were great, such as the “third party pain, or “narcissistic anorexia”.
The book is separated in three parts, and fifteen chapters, written by different authors. There was one chapter that I personally felt really, really slow, that kept boring me, I think it was chapter 9, focused to therapists. The editor wrote a chapter on the influence of social media and eating disorders, that was great because all we ever do today, is grabbing a cellphone and start surfing our pages. There are groups that are both called Pro-Ana forums (anorexia) and Pro-Mia forums (bulimia). In this places, sometimes patients seek comfort, or a warm company to share their experiences. Sometimes they do, or sometimes they get worse. Another chapter that I thought was amazing, was applying Jung and -mythos- to the collective unconscious, related to eating disorders.
The one critic that I may emit for this book, is directly linked to Chapter 14 “Towards Social Justice”, written by Susan Gutwill. Most of the time, I really, really try to read books based on facts, not a political side. The chapter is oriented towards what Helen Pluckrose calls “the pillars of social justice scholarship”. Please remember, it is ok to fight for a good cause, however, not being able to -channeling the discourse in a good way- will make you sound deeply biased, if not stupid.
Just look at this one example:
“I have asked myself how women buy the lie, how patriarchal social oppression and capitalist greed both work to sell false hopes that assault our embodied psychological, social development and drive how we spend our money. Marx and Engles wrote that in every age, the ideology of the economic and power elites becomes the ideology of the working class."
This paragraph is followed by mentioning Gramsci, Althusier and Foucault, ALL OF THEM are used to push a woke agenda. This kind of philosophy is known as Marxism, post-marxism, wokism, progressive ideology, and other names. Every one of them are linked, and they always find a victim to please. A deeper analysis is beyond the scope of this review.
Another gem, attacking former president Donald Trump, in a childish way:
“In Trumpland, neo-liberalism is moving towards authoritarianism, if not fascism, in front of our eyes. Social services such as education, welfare, medical services, senior services, and other similar social supports are being further slashed as injustice reigns in the judicial world. Deadly environmental destruction is intensified, and racism, xenophobia sexism, and war-making are all on the rise.”
Is the world at the brink of WWIII under the administration of Joe Biden? I mean, you cannot talk about war. Remember that during Trump's period, NO WARS WERE FOUGHT, and Russia became a partner. Note the sarcasm on “trumpland”. When I read this, I knew that I could not take this paragraph seriously. I won't write more about this on this review. See my review on "The War on the West", "The parasitic mind", "The new puritans", or "Cynical theories" for this subject.
And the last gem:
“Perhaps it is, as I have said, that the general denigration of women’s embodied pain is central to patriarchy and profitable to capitalism."
Everything is caused by men, cis white men and capitalism.
Another thing that really emphasizes this “victimological homeostasis”, as Gad Saad said, is that this author prefers the term “eating problems” and not “eating disorders”. Why? Well, because the patients are victims of patriarchy and capitalism. I mean, she states that it is the fault of this oppressive system, period.
This critic is the only one I have, and directed to that author, Susan Gutwill. Please dear Susan, if you ever read this, don't mess up books by bringing politics into them. I was amazed not to read "institutional racism" or "white fragility" on this one, I think you missed it.
Chapters and insights 5/5
Chapter 14 2/5 (progressive ideology)
The book is directed to psychiatrists. If you are not one, its ok if you read it, but won’t be really, really influential. I’m not a psychologist, I’m just an avid reader. Eating disorders are complex. I mean, there are some that can be seen, for instance, Anorexia Nervosa, can be identified really quickly, I mean, all we have to do is look at the patient and see a person with a dramatically low BMI. On the other hand, Bulimia Nervosa moonlights as a healthy person; in this disorder, BMI is average; they remain the same, and the purging is also a secret ritual. Amazing book. There were many aspects that I did not know about eating disorders. There were concepts that were great, such as the “third party pain, or “narcissistic anorexia”.
The book is separated in three parts, and fifteen chapters, written by different authors. There was one chapter that I personally felt really, really slow, that kept boring me, I think it was chapter 9, focused to therapists. The editor wrote a chapter on the influence of social media and eating disorders, that was great because all we ever do today, is grabbing a cellphone and start surfing our pages. There are groups that are both called Pro-Ana forums (anorexia) and Pro-Mia forums (bulimia). In this places, sometimes patients seek comfort, or a warm company to share their experiences. Sometimes they do, or sometimes they get worse. Another chapter that I thought was amazing, was applying Jung and -mythos- to the collective unconscious, related to eating disorders.
The one critic that I may emit for this book, is directly linked to Chapter 14 “Towards Social Justice”, written by Susan Gutwill. Most of the time, I really, really try to read books based on facts, not a political side. The chapter is oriented towards what Helen Pluckrose calls “the pillars of social justice scholarship”. Please remember, it is ok to fight for a good cause, however, not being able to -channeling the discourse in a good way- will make you sound deeply biased, if not stupid.
Just look at this one example:
“I have asked myself how women buy the lie, how patriarchal social oppression and capitalist greed both work to sell false hopes that assault our embodied psychological, social development and drive how we spend our money. Marx and Engles wrote that in every age, the ideology of the economic and power elites becomes the ideology of the working class."
This paragraph is followed by mentioning Gramsci, Althusier and Foucault, ALL OF THEM are used to push a woke agenda. This kind of philosophy is known as Marxism, post-marxism, wokism, progressive ideology, and other names. Every one of them are linked, and they always find a victim to please. A deeper analysis is beyond the scope of this review.
Another gem, attacking former president Donald Trump, in a childish way:
“In Trumpland, neo-liberalism is moving towards authoritarianism, if not fascism, in front of our eyes. Social services such as education, welfare, medical services, senior services, and other similar social supports are being further slashed as injustice reigns in the judicial world. Deadly environmental destruction is intensified, and racism, xenophobia sexism, and war-making are all on the rise.”
Is the world at the brink of WWIII under the administration of Joe Biden? I mean, you cannot talk about war. Remember that during Trump's period, NO WARS WERE FOUGHT, and Russia became a partner. Note the sarcasm on “trumpland”. When I read this, I knew that I could not take this paragraph seriously. I won't write more about this on this review. See my review on "The War on the West", "The parasitic mind", "The new puritans", or "Cynical theories" for this subject.
And the last gem:
“Perhaps it is, as I have said, that the general denigration of women’s embodied pain is central to patriarchy and profitable to capitalism."
Everything is caused by men, cis white men and capitalism.
Another thing that really emphasizes this “victimological homeostasis”, as Gad Saad said, is that this author prefers the term “eating problems” and not “eating disorders”. Why? Well, because the patients are victims of patriarchy and capitalism. I mean, she states that it is the fault of this oppressive system, period.
This critic is the only one I have, and directed to that author, Susan Gutwill. Please dear Susan, if you ever read this, don't mess up books by bringing politics into them. I was amazed not to read "institutional racism" or "white fragility" on this one, I think you missed it.
January 21, 2024
We cannot know our patients with EDs fully unless we dwell in the experience of their symptoms; and yet with our good intentions, benevolent desires, and heroic efforts we aim to unearth all of the terror, yearning, and longing that will reveal a person who is prepared to face death in order to survive.
“What if the feeling of helplessness never goes away?” she asks. She and I both know it won’t ever really go away for good. It is part of her, that previously disowned experience, the part she has escaped by bingeing, throwing up, thinking about her body. I know the question is not “will it go away”, but instead, “what will she do about it? Now what?”
Our work in EDs presents inherent paradoxes as our patients’ pain is their relief, their balm, and their best attempt at a cure. Somehow in the quagmire of these illnesses we must remain invested in the idea of these symptoms as solutions to unbearable psychic pain; and we must also confront our own fears of approaching the chains, while recognizing that the weight of these shackles become a part of the self that can easily be forgotten, dismissed, or ignored because the alternative of living without their grip is more frightening. While we may want to champion hope and believe that our clients are among the 30 to 50 per cent who “fully recover,” our task is much harder – we must wait, without knowing whether we can help; we must bear the terrifying affects and losses our patients know in their marrow; and we must realize our efforts are sometimes the gradual unraveling of a spool of thread that has never been revealed and may break many times in the process.
September 23, 2025
Psychoanalytic content 5/5
Chapters and insights 5/5
Chapter 14 2/5 (progressive ideology)
The book is directed to psychiatrists. If you are not one, its ok if you read it, but won’t be really, really influential. I’m not a psychologist, I’m just an avid reader. Eating disorders are complex. I mean, there are some that can be seen, for instance, Anorexia Nervosa, can be identified really quickly, I mean, all we have to do is look at the patient and see a person with a dramatically low BMI. On the other hand, Bulimia Nervosa moonlights as a healthy person; in this disorder, BMI is average; they remain the same, and the purging is also a secret ritual. Amazing book. There were many aspects that I did not know about eating disorders. There were concepts that were great, such as the “third party pain, or “narcissistic anorexia”.
The book is separated in three parts, and fifteen chapters, written by different authors. There was one chapter that I personally felt really, really slow, that kept boring me, I think it was chapter 9, focused to therapists. The editor wrote a chapter on the influence of social media and eating disorders, that was great because all we ever do today, is grabbing a cellphone and start surfing our pages. There are groups that are both called Pro-Ana forums (anorexia) and Pro-Mia forums (bulimia). In this places, sometimes patients seek comfort, or a warm company to share their experiences. Sometimes they do, or sometimes they get worse. Another chapter that I thought was amazing, was applying Jung and -mythos- to the collective unconscious, related to eating disorders.
The one critic that I may emit for this book, is directly linked to Chapter 14 “Towards Social Justice”, written by Susan Gutwill. Most of the time, I really, really try to read books based on facts, not a political side. The chapter is oriented towards what Helen Pluckrose calls “the pillars of social justice scholarship”. Please remember, it is ok to fight for a good cause, however, not being able to -channeling the discourse in a good way- will make you sound deeply biased, if not stupid.
Just look at this one example:
“I have asked myself how women buy the lie, how patriarchal social oppression and capitalist greed both work to sell false hopes that assault our embodied psychological, social development and drive how we spend our money. Marx and Engles wrote that in every age, the ideology of the economic and power elites becomes the ideology of the working class."
This paragraph is followed by mentioning Gramsci, Althusier and Foucault, ALL OF THEM are used to push a woke agenda. This kind of philosophy is known as Marxism, post-marxism, wokism, progressive ideology, and other names. Every one of them are linked, and they always find a victim to please. A deeper analysis is beyond the scope of this review.
Another gem, attacking former president Donald Trump, in a childish way:
“In Trumpland, neo-liberalism is moving towards authoritarianism, if not fascism, in front of our eyes. Social services such as education, welfare, medical services, senior services, and other similar social supports are being further slashed as injustice reigns in the judicial world. Deadly environmental destruction is intensified, and racism, xenophobia sexism, and war-making are all on the rise.”
Is the world at the brink of WWIII under the administration of Joe Biden? I mean, you cannot talk about war. Remember that during Trump's period, NO WARS WERE FOUGHT, and Russia became a partner. Note the sarcasm on “trumpland”. When I read this, I knew that I could not take this paragraph seriously. I won't write more about this on this review. See my review on "The War on the West", "The parasitic mind", "The new puritans", or "Cynical theories" for this subject.
And the last gem:
“Perhaps it is, as I have said, that the general denigration of women’s embodied pain is central to patriarchy and profitable to capitalism."
Everything is caused by men, cis white men and capitalism.
Another thing that really emphasizes this “victimological homeostasis”, as Gad Saad said, is that this author prefers the term “eating problems” and not “eating disorders”. Why? Well, because the patients are victims of patriarchy and capitalism. I mean, she states that it is the fault of this oppressive system, period.
This critic is the only one I have, and directed to that author, Susan Gutwill. Please dear Susan, if you ever read this, don't mess up books by bringing politics into them. I was amazed not to read "institutional racism" or "white fragility" on this one, I think you missed it.
Chapters and insights 5/5
Chapter 14 2/5 (progressive ideology)
The book is directed to psychiatrists. If you are not one, its ok if you read it, but won’t be really, really influential. I’m not a psychologist, I’m just an avid reader. Eating disorders are complex. I mean, there are some that can be seen, for instance, Anorexia Nervosa, can be identified really quickly, I mean, all we have to do is look at the patient and see a person with a dramatically low BMI. On the other hand, Bulimia Nervosa moonlights as a healthy person; in this disorder, BMI is average; they remain the same, and the purging is also a secret ritual. Amazing book. There were many aspects that I did not know about eating disorders. There were concepts that were great, such as the “third party pain, or “narcissistic anorexia”.
The book is separated in three parts, and fifteen chapters, written by different authors. There was one chapter that I personally felt really, really slow, that kept boring me, I think it was chapter 9, focused to therapists. The editor wrote a chapter on the influence of social media and eating disorders, that was great because all we ever do today, is grabbing a cellphone and start surfing our pages. There are groups that are both called Pro-Ana forums (anorexia) and Pro-Mia forums (bulimia). In this places, sometimes patients seek comfort, or a warm company to share their experiences. Sometimes they do, or sometimes they get worse. Another chapter that I thought was amazing, was applying Jung and -mythos- to the collective unconscious, related to eating disorders.
The one critic that I may emit for this book, is directly linked to Chapter 14 “Towards Social Justice”, written by Susan Gutwill. Most of the time, I really, really try to read books based on facts, not a political side. The chapter is oriented towards what Helen Pluckrose calls “the pillars of social justice scholarship”. Please remember, it is ok to fight for a good cause, however, not being able to -channeling the discourse in a good way- will make you sound deeply biased, if not stupid.
Just look at this one example:
“I have asked myself how women buy the lie, how patriarchal social oppression and capitalist greed both work to sell false hopes that assault our embodied psychological, social development and drive how we spend our money. Marx and Engles wrote that in every age, the ideology of the economic and power elites becomes the ideology of the working class."
This paragraph is followed by mentioning Gramsci, Althusier and Foucault, ALL OF THEM are used to push a woke agenda. This kind of philosophy is known as Marxism, post-marxism, wokism, progressive ideology, and other names. Every one of them are linked, and they always find a victim to please. A deeper analysis is beyond the scope of this review.
Another gem, attacking former president Donald Trump, in a childish way:
“In Trumpland, neo-liberalism is moving towards authoritarianism, if not fascism, in front of our eyes. Social services such as education, welfare, medical services, senior services, and other similar social supports are being further slashed as injustice reigns in the judicial world. Deadly environmental destruction is intensified, and racism, xenophobia sexism, and war-making are all on the rise.”
Is the world at the brink of WWIII under the administration of Joe Biden? I mean, you cannot talk about war. Remember that during Trump's period, NO WARS WERE FOUGHT, and Russia became a partner. Note the sarcasm on “trumpland”. When I read this, I knew that I could not take this paragraph seriously. I won't write more about this on this review. See my review on "The War on the West", "The parasitic mind", "The new puritans", or "Cynical theories" for this subject.
And the last gem:
“Perhaps it is, as I have said, that the general denigration of women’s embodied pain is central to patriarchy and profitable to capitalism."
Everything is caused by men, cis white men and capitalism.
Another thing that really emphasizes this “victimological homeostasis”, as Gad Saad said, is that this author prefers the term “eating problems” and not “eating disorders”. Why? Well, because the patients are victims of patriarchy and capitalism. I mean, she states that it is the fault of this oppressive system, period.
This critic is the only one I have, and directed to that author, Susan Gutwill. Please dear Susan, if you ever read this, don't mess up books by bringing politics into them. I was amazed not to read "institutional racism" or "white fragility" on this one, I think you missed it.
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