Falk Institute for Mental Health & Behavioral Studies, Jerusalem The Hadassah Foundation, New York

Subject of Research An enriched understanding of women’s recovery from disordered eating (DE) and food addictions (FA) is an essential first step toward designing women-centered recommendations for policy and therapeutic initiatives.

Goals Our research embraces a feminist approach by taking women’s personal experiences as the starting point. Listening to women’s stories of their struggles and recovery, the analyses go far beyond the narrative and address key policy questions: * What do policymakers and professionals need to know about disordered eating and food addictions? * What do policymakers and professionals need to know about recovery? * What resources and treatments are needed for recovery? * What helps recovery? What hurts recovery?

Methodology This is a qualitative study based on narrative interviews with 25 women in recovery. Four trained researchers conducted in-depth, face-to-face interviews that focused on the struggles with and recovery from DE and FA. Each tape recorded interview lasted 1½ –2½ hours. All interviews were transcribed, translated to English, and analyzed in a collaborative process.

Findings Central narrative insights speak both to the struggle and recovery process:  Disordered eating and food addictions begin as coping mechanisms for dealing with pain, emotional turmoil, and trauma; over time, the coping mechanisms develop into serious health and mental health problems.  Professionals and policymakers need to recognize that food addictions are as serious as alcohol and drug addictions.  Recovery from DE and FA is a long, continuous process and requires on-going support.  Women in Recovery experienced an overall lack of professional understanding; a) Professionals generally under-estimate the seriousness of DE and FA; b) Professionals generally don’t understand that recovery is a lengthy, complex, and and multi-faceted process; c) Professionals need to be aware that recovery processes involve three inter-connected dimensions: the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual domain..  Recovery was achieved only after finding resources that utilize an addiction paradigm together with spiritually-based approaches. These narrative insights are important contributions for guiding social policy decisions, developing fresh therapeutic approaches to treatment, and exploring the feminist implications for social change. Presented at the First National Conference on Promoting Women's Health among Women, Beer Sheva, Oct. 2002