This book is a comprehensive guide to addressing, working with, and healing from emotional struggles related to fertility and eating disorders. Covering the emotional, psychological and physical impact of anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating disorder, this book explores the lived experience of numerous women and men who have lived with eating disorders, fertility, and parenthood. It delves into research on medical complications that can affect fertility, attachment, the experience of shame, adjustment to the postpartum period, and offers clinical tools for therapists to use to support clients from a weight and body neutral perspective. Those who read this book will come away with a renewed sense of hope for recovery and healing from serious mental illnesses, and the notion that the value of having a family may be stronger than the eating disorder itself. The only book of its kind, The Clinical Guide to Fertility, Motherhood and Eating Disorders will be useful to practitioners, therapists, and scholars alike.

The upheaval of pregnancy and new motherhood can often trigger a relapse for women recovering from eating disorders, or contribute to their development. This book supports pregnant women and new mothers struggling with changing body image, eating disorders, postpartum depression or perinatal anxiety. Many of the emotional challenges of recovering from an eating disorder - isolation, perfectionism and identity issues - are compounded during pregnancy or early motherhood, when women also have to tackle hormone fluctuations, food cravings and perceived pressures to lose baby weight. The author combines friendly, non-judgmental advice and professional expertise with candid personal experience. She offers recovery tools, support strategies and realistic advice on how to make time for self-care while navigating the chaos of sleep deprivation and feeding schedules. Most importantly, this book will help women let go of social and self-imposed pressures, and embrace being good enough during the massive learning curve of new motherhood.

"A guide for health care providers on how to diagnosis, treat, and care for those with eating disorders. Four new chapters have been added to the fourth edition"--

The first of its kind, this edited volume provides in-depth, culturally sensitive material intended for addressing the unique concerns of Black women with eating disorders in addition to comprehensive discussions and treatment guidelines for this population. The contributing authors—all of whom are Black professionals providing direct care to Black women—offer a range of perspectives to help readers understand the whole experience of their Black female clients. This includes not only discussion of their clients’ physical health but also of their emotional lives and the ways in which the stresses of racism, discrimination, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences can contribute to disordered eating. Through a wealth of diverse voices and stories, chapters boldly tackle issues such as stereotypes and acculturative stress. Clinicians of any race will gain new tools for assessing, diagnosing, and treating disordered eating in Black women and will be empowered to provide better care for their clients.

How to deal with your raging hormones.

This book provides guidance for clinicians working with families and carers. It demonstrates how active collaboration between professional and non-professional carers can maximise quality of life for both the sufferer and all other family members.