Compassionate questionning refers to questions that you can ask yourself to try to access a more compassionate view of yourself or a situation. Most people are able to be considerably more compassionate towards others than they are to themselves. It is this ability to be compassionate to others that you can try to access and…
Shame is a self-conscious emotion – in other words it is an emotion about the self. To experience shame we have to have an ability to think about ourselves through the minds of others; to think about how others might see us. Shame is not a single emotion – it is made up of various…
Compassion focused therapy (CFT) aims to help people to develop compassionate skills and to learn to apply these to themselves. By developing compassionate skills, you should find that you are able to enhance the soothing system, and to ensure that this is more in balance with the threat system and the drive system. The expectation…
Cognitive Analytic Therapy is an accredited structured psychological therapy that is usually offered an an individual therapy, but can be done as a couple or in a group. CAT is a time limited therapy and the number of sessions (16, 24 or 32) will usually be agreed at the start of treatment. Following regular therapy…
People often find that they frequently use certain ways of thinking and acting that do not achieve what they want, but yet are hard to change. Tony Ryle, who originally developed CAT as a psychological therapy, noticed three main patterns of unhelpful thinking and acting – he termed these Traps, Dilemmas and Snags. A key…
The psychotherapy file is a questionnaire used in cognitive analytic therapy to assist in identifying a person’s emotions, thinking and behaviours that are relevant to their identified aims in therapy. It provides a quick way of getting a lot of information about a person’s experiences in relationships with others, and with themselves. Traps, dilemmas and…
Before embarking on your recovery journey, it might be helpful to reflect on the following story from “Eating in the Light of the Moon” by Dr. Anita Johnston (Gurze Books, 1996). This story can be a helpful way of thinking about anorexia. Anorexia is known to be a ‘functional’ illness -that is, it serves some…
No two people are exactly the same. This is also true of people with anorexia. However, there are some common factors that we know tend to maintain anorexia. These are highlighted in the ‘vicious flower’ model of anorexia (Schmidt et al., 2011). This can be a useful way of understanding what is maintaining your eating…
The fact that you are reading this means that at least a small part of you is considering change. We know that any decision about change can be a daunting prospect. Although there are often many negative things about living with an eating disorder, it is likely also serving an important function in your life…
Supporting a loved one with an eating disorder can be challenging and distressing at times. If you are caring for someone with an eating disorder, it is very important that you also take care of yourself. This will help to prevent you from becoming “burnt out” by the eating disorder and ultimately help to preserve…
Many people with eating disorders report feeling isolated and cut off from their family and friends. Often people work very hard to keep the eating disorder (or aspects of it) a secret from those closest to them, either because they feel ashamed or worry that it will be too much for their loved ones to…
Below we have listed a few resources which we or the families we have worked with have found helpful in thinking about supporting a friend or family member with an eating disorder. Of course there are other resources, so do feel free to let us know if you have found any other helpful books or…
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