Reading clinically relevant books about eating disorders can be extremely important as we seek to understand our clients’ experiences with their relationships with food and body. Part of our role is to better understand how clients have been affected by this disease, so we can attempt to broaden our knowledge and learn more about not only eating disorders as a disease and their medical consequences, but also various cultural and societal impacts on people’s ability to recover. For example, weight stigma and fat phobia in society are huge roadblocks for many of our clients of all different body sizes.
In this blog, I will recommend several books that talk about eating disorders, eating disorder recovery, and weight stigma. This is by no means an exhaustive list of resources for you as you learn more about these diseases, but I hope it can be a starting point for you! These are also books that might be helpful to recommend for your clients.
1.The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
- Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S and Elyse Resch MS, RDN, CEDRD-S, FAND
- You Have the Right to Remain Fat by Virgie Tovar
- What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
- Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
- Sick Enough by Jennifer Gaudiani, MD, CEDS, FAED
- Binge Eating Disorder: The Journey to Recovery and Beyond by Amy Pershing with Chevese Turner
- Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings
- Fat Talk by Virginia Sole-Smith
Final Thoughts on 9 Books Eating Disorder Clinicians Should Read
While not an exhaustive list, these resources serve as a valuable starting point for learning about EDs and can also be recommended to clients seeking additional support. Many of these authors are new voices in the discussion of disordered eating and provide important nuanced perspectives. As professionals, it’s vital that we not only grasp the medical consequences of these diseases but also recognize the role of societal pressures and historic challenges that can hinder recovery.
Contact Us
Courage to Nourish is a group of eating disorder specialized dietitians. We have in person locations in Alexandria, Virginia, Columbia, Maryland and College Park, Maryland. We offer virtual services across the state of Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. We offer individual nutrition therapy. As well as support groups. We would love to guide you in building a better relationship with food.
Contact us for more information. And to schedule a discovery call. Also, sign up for our client or clinician newsletter!
Interested in a support group? Courage to Nourish offers a weekly virtual ED Recovery Support group. This group is free of charge! Email lauren.garcia@couragetonourish.com to find out more information!
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Alex is the founder and owner of Courage to Nourish. She opened Courage to Nourish to create a practice that aligns with her values in eating disorder recovery. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian and Approved Supervisor through iaedp. Alex loves working with children, high school and college students as well as athletes. Additionally, Alex is a proud anti-diet dietitian and works with her clients through a Health At Every Size © and intuitive eating framework. Read more about Alex here.