Getting Better Bite by Bite

Ulrike Schmidt is Professor of Eating Disorders at King’s College London and a consultant psychiatrist in the Eating Disorders Unit at the Maudsley Hospital, London, UK. Her research covers all aspects of eating disorders, from causes to treatments. She has a particular interest in developing novel treatments, especially brief interventions that can be widely disseminated. She is the author of several popular self-help books and award-winning online therapy programmes. Janet Treasure, OBE, PhD, FRCP, FRCPsych, is a professor and a psychiatrist who works in research and teaching at King’s College London and as a clinician at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust,( www.the.newmaudsleyapproach.co.uk). Professor Treasure's research interests include conjoint working with patients and carers using translational research to develop new forms of treatment.June Alexander developed anorexia nervosa at age 11, an illness that challenged and shaped her life. A love of words became a survival tool. She kept a diary and developed a journalism career. Since 2006, June has applied lived experience and literary skills to write about eating disorders. A PhD candidate, June serves on Australian and international organisations, including AED, F.E.A.S.T. and NEDC. Her website: www.junealexander.com.

• Introduction. A Few Words of Caution. What this Book Can and Can’t Do. The Way Forward. Do I Suffer From Bulimia? How to Use This Book. First Steps. Back to The Future. Making Your Decision to Go. How to Stage Your Journey. Tools For the Journey. How to Facilitate Change by Keeping a Therapeutic Diary. New Skills to Cope with Old Difficulties. Dieting: A Health Warning. Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder. In the Healthy Weight Range. Health Hazards of Dieting. How Much do I Need to Eat? Achieving Optimal Weight and Shape. Regaining Eating Control.The Black Hole of the Insatiable Stomach. Why Can’t I Control My Eating? How to Stop Binges. Lapses. Having Your Cake and Eating It Too. Facing the Facts. Why You Are Right to Worry. What Type of Weight Controller Are You? How to Stop Vomiting. How to Stop Abusing Laxatives, Diuretics, Medications. Learning to Feel Good about Your Body. How Body Image Problems Are Caused and Maintained. Challenging Unhelpful Beauty Ideals and Fat Talk. Getting to Know Your Body. Looking After Your Body. Other Helpful Strategies. Living With Your Body. Note. Being Fatter May be Better. Health Risks in Being Overweight. Nothing Beautiful About Dieting. Avoiding the Lonely Trap. Shake, Shake, Shake Your Body. Relapse: Walking In Circles—Or Not. Preventing Slips. What to do if a Slip Occurs. Add Pleasure to Your Day. Childhood Wounds. Sexual Abuse. Trying to Make Sense of it. Grappling With Guilt and Self-Blame. After-Effects of Abuse. Get a Toehold on Trust. Coming to Terms. Food for Thought. Feeling Like You Don’t Fit in. The Gloom-and-Doom Scenario. When Life is Dreadful. Wracked By Guilt. Please, Please Them. Out of Control with Control. Defusing Self-Defeating Thoughts. Shoo Away Shame. Finding Your Voice. Learning to Stand Your Ground. Anything For a Quiet Life. Ground-Rules For Assertive Behavior. Putting Assertiveness Into Practice. The Seduction of Self-destruction. The Slippery Slope of Alcohol and Drugs. When to Worry About Alcohol Intake. Living Dangerously. Spending What You Don’t Have. Note. Web of Life: Parents, Partners Children, and Friends. At Home With the Family. Friends. Sexual Relationships. Children.Working to Live, Living to Work. Common Work Problems.The End of Your Journey—Or Not. If You Are Still Stuck. Time to Get Real About You. Recovery: An Adventure in Self-Discovery. Where to Get Help. Appendix.

"Countless subjects afflicted with bulimia have already benefited from using the original self-help manual, one of the first written after the description of these disorders. The new edition retains the appeal of the original through a friendly style, moving case-vignettes and ingenious illustrations. Some additions enable the inclusion of new research on the body image disturbance and on refined treatment techniques, while an extra chapter facilitates access to sources of help in different parts of the world. I recommend this book with full enthusiasm." - Gerald Russell, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London"Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure and June Alexander make an outstanding team in this second edition of one of the foremost self-help manuals for sufferers with bulimic disorders. Drs Schmidt and Treasure are at the cutting edge in their clinical and research work in this domain, and adding June Alexander to this team provides this edition an eloquent voice that represents sufferers and carers. This book is a great practical guide for those who are unwell, and also for those you are there to guide these individuals through their struggles toward recovery - professionals, families and friends alike."- Daniel Le Grange, PhD, Benioff UCSF Professor in Children’s Health, University of California, San Francisco, USA "Getting Better Bite by Bite is a beautiful illustrated step-by-step guide for eating disorders recovery. Through rich storytelling and concrete practical exercises reflecting decades of collective clinical experience, this book accompanies the reader across the stepping stones to recovery. Warmth, compassion, and deep understanding flow from every page integrating perspectives of two of the most respected eating disorder clinicians in the world and a survivor/advocate. This guide avoids jargon and provides solid advice for anyone with an eating disorder. A rich resource for every library and a comforting companion for anyone contemplating recovery." - Cynthia Bulik, PhD, FAED, Professor, Karolinska Institutet and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Author of Midlife Eating Disorders and Binge Control