R124: Food Angst in the Consulting Room

We suffer from a collective food angst, a sometimes fatal, sometimes merely fatuous, condition that often turns food into a mortal enemy. This Reading Course explores the cultural climate that leads clients to develop eating disorders and addresses the clinical question of what to do about it. Mary Sykes Wylie describes the culture war between the sensuous bliss of self-indulgence and the celebration of the virtues of being lean. Barbara McFarland shows how to avoid stalemates and power struggles with eating disordered clients. Laura Fraser challenges the multi-billion diet industry and the "problem" of being fat. Steve Madigan describes an innovative narrative approach with anorexic clients.

Course Readings

Body Politics: The Anti-Anorexia League Turns Patients into Activists by Stephen Madigan

Our Trip to Bountiful:    Has Food Become Our Mortal Enemy? by Mary Sykes Wylie

Swords into Plowshares: How to Avoid Power Struggles with Eating-disorder Clients and Their Families by Barbara McFarland

The Diet Trap: Challenging Cultural Norms that Equate Thinness with Mental Health by Laura Fraser

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss changes in society's eating habits
2. List 4 strategies for using brief therapy with eating disordered clients
3. Explain the psychological harm done by dieting
4. Explain the narrative therapy foundations of the Anti-Anorexia League