Full Recovery is Possible, Costin Writes

Carolyn Costin, founder of The Monte Nido Treatment Center in Malibu, CA, believes full and total recovery from an eating disorder is possible,having recovered from one herself. This is how Costin (who treated Portia de Rossi and Jenni Schaefer, who have authored memoirs of their own recovery process) describes recovery: "Being recovered is when a person can accept his or her natural body size and shape and no longer has a self-destructive relationship with food or exercise. When you are recovered, food and weight take a proper perspective in your life, and what you weigh is not more important than who you are; in fact, actual numbers are of little or no importance at all. When recovered, you will not compromise your health or betray your soul to look a certain way, wear a certain size, or reach a certain number on a scale. When you are recovered you do not use eating disorder behaviors to deal with, distract from, or cope with other problems." In her new book, 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder

She lists the keys as: 1) Motivation, patience and hope; 2) Nurturing the healthy self to heal the eating disorder self; 3) Feel your feelings; 4) Change your thoughts; 5) Change your behaviors; 6) Reach out to people rather than an eating disorder; 7) Find meaning and purpose; and last but not least, 8) It is not about the food, but it is about the food (nutritional restoration is critical to support recovery but is not the source of the eating disorder nor the sole focus of treatment).