Everyone is familiar with 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous that help people come together in pursuit of a common goal of recovery from addiction. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is an organization called Eating Disorders Anonymous. Trellis Recovery Centers believes in exploring multiple options for helping people overcome serious and potentially deadly illnesses like binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia. We explore the ways in which Eating Disorders Anonymous functions and what people with eating disorders can expect if they use this organization as part of an overall recovery plan.
What is Eating Disorders Anonymous?
Eating Disorders Anonymous is a 12-step program founded in 2000 to help people who want support for overcoming an eating disorder. Membership requires that the person has or used to have an eating disorder and they want to begin or maintain recovery from it. The group is based on the same principles as Alcoholics Anonymous and membership is free. It does not align itself with any specific religious faith, political viewpoint, organization, or institution.
The purpose of joining Eating Disorders Anonymous is for each individual to share their experiences of having an eating disorder and learn to recover from them. Many people who have recovered from an eating disorder continue to attend meetings so they can carry a message of hope and offer advice to those still struggling. The focus of meetings relates to finding solutions that foster making responsible behavioral choices and developing healthy coping skills. The organization discourages the use of diets and weight management techniques because they tend to contribute to the rigidity of eating disorder-type thinking.
What Types of Eating Disorders Anonymous Meetings are There?
Eating Disorders Anonymous holds meetings both in person and virtually, such as on the Zoom platform.
Members who are new to recovery can look for a sponsor. Sponsors work with them and provide guidance as they move through recovery. There are two types of Eating Disorders Anonymous meetings. The first is an Open Meeting, which allows people who are not members to attend. Closed Meetings are limited to people who are already members.
How is Eating Disorders Anonymous Helpful?
Eating Disorders Anonymous helps people switch from feeling they are victims of having an eating disorder to realizing they have the power to change their lives. Meetings often focus on how people can develop the ability to be honest with themselves and others and express their emotions and needs, rather than burying them in eating disorder behaviors.
One main goal of the group is to achieve balance when it comes to food intake. The organization does not promote any type of food plan. Instead, it leaves a person’s specific nutritional needs between them and their physician, dietician, or therapist.
Other basic tenets of Eating Disorders Anonymous that prove helpful include encouraging people to:
- Eat when hungry and stop when moderately full.
- Recognize that recovery is about feelings, not food.
- Meet their basic needs, including eating, sleeping, expressing emotions, and seeking companionship to combat loneliness.
- Be open to input from others about making decisions but be responsible for making their own choices.
- Be honest at all times with themselves and others.
- Address and overcome the rigidity of thinking and actions that comes with having an eating disorder.
How to Find an Eating Disorders Anonymous Meeting Near Me?
Anyone interested in finding one of these Eating Disorders Anonymous meetings can search for one in their area. Searches can be done based on location, day of the week, time of day, and type of meeting.
Additional Eating Disorder Resources
Other resources for eating disorders recovery can help people find the help, information, and inspiration they need to recover. Resources include:
- National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
- National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD)
- Eating Disorders Coalition
- The Body Positive
- National Alliance for Eating Disorders
Contact Our Eating Disorder Treatment Facility in Los Angeles, California
Have you reached the point where you know you cannot heal from an eating disorder on your own? Trellis Recovery Centers created a vibrant and effective program that helps women face their eating disorders head-on and discover the power they can develop to recover from them. Our staff are eating disorder experts that understand how to help people examine and treat eating disorders. With the guidance provided in our comfortable live-in facility, you can turn your life around.
If you want to talk about how we can help you or someone you love recover from an eating disorder, contact us now. Our staff stands ready to answer any questions you have about how we can help you regain your good health.
