| Reviewed
by Jasmine
I happened to stumble upon The Anorexia Workbook last
summer, as I was browsing through some books at the local "Chapters",
and challenged myself to read it.
The Anorexia Workbook is written from the perspective
of behavioural therapists. The authors present research evidence
to suggest that people with anorexia nervosa often have great
difficulty in challenging, suppressing, and ridding themselves
of unwanted thoughts related to food and weight, and thus
remain trapped in a vicious cycle in which they continue
to diet in response to illogical thoughts. The authors offer
people with anorexia hope by introducing a new form of therapy
known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In ACT,
persons with anorexia ACCEPT their irrational thoughts related
to weight and shape, CHOOSE a valued direction and path for
their lives, and TAKE ACTION towards the meaningful goals
that they have established for themselves. In this way, ACT
encourages commitment to a life of valued action inspite
of irrational thoughts.
The Anorexia Workbook makes use of unique analogies,
metaphors, and activities that are complex, thought provoking,
and provocative and left me reflecting long after I had completed
them. One activity, for example, asks clients to write their
own eulogies. After the initial shock of this activity wore
off, I realized that the purpose of this funeral meditation
exercise is to critically examine how we want to be remembered
by loved-ones after we pass on, and that weight and shape
is of little importance in the greater scheme of things compared
to ones value as a person, and the legacy that we leave behind.
In addition, an analogy that I found to be of particular
interest was the parallel that the authors drew between anorexia
and an unfair running race, because the finish line is always
being moved back; just as soon as you think that you have
reached your weight loss goal, anorexia moves the finish
line back, and you must keep on running, despite the fact
that you are completely exhausted. As someone who has been
involved in both recreational and competitive running for
many years, this analogy rang especially true, and made me
feel quite discouraged and disheartened.
I really appreciated the use of examples in The Anorexia
Workbook, which once again reminded me that this is
a disorder that affects people of different ages, who perform
a variety of different occupations, and are from various
walks of life. Despite the tremendous differences among
us, we are united by a common struggle with food and weight,
and a common negative voice. The Anorexia Workbook provides
a case example of a client named Emily in which they describe
both her struggle with anorexia and her recovery using
the ACT method, and I found this to be particularly helpful.
In my opinion, The Anorexia Workbook does have
a few weaknesses. For example, the strong emphasis of ACT
on the importance of accepting intrusive and irrational thoughts
related to food and weight, left me quite confused with respect
to the place of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in the
treatment of people with eating disorders. I have read much
about the importance of challenging and changing cognitive
distortions related to size and shape in order to facilitate
meaningful behaviour change, and it is clear that the jury
is still out as to which of these, or both, is the preferred
method of treatment for people struggling with eating disorders.
Furthermore, I think that The Anorexia Workbook can
benefit anyone with serious eating and body image issues,
rather than just people with anorexia. In this way, I would
encourage anyone with an eating disorder, who is interested
in reading this book to do so, and not be concerned with
diagnostic criterion. In addition, The Anorexia Workbook appears
to be a little too serious, dark, and foreboding for my liking,
and I would have appreciated the use of more humor, hope,
and lightheartedness.
Above all, what sets this book apart from the many others
that I have read on the topic is its unique approach to motivating
recovery. Rather than the typical, run- of the mill scare
tactics on how we are jeopardizing our health, clients are
encouraged to conceptualize recovery simply as a means to
a valued life, a way to live life through ones goals. If,
for example, one discovers that he/she believes in the importance
of friendship, political action, a career, and being an environmental
activist, then being healthy through acceptance of ones illogical
thoughts, and a commitment to recovery anyways, is a means
to achieving these goals.
I would encourage anyone with an eating disorder to be
willing to try reading and completing the activities in The
Anorexia Workbook. Although it is challenging and requires
you to think deeply, it also helps you to identify that which
you truly value. With its flaming orange book cover, you
surely cannot miss it on the shelves of any Chapters or Indigo,
and, as one of my friends likes to say, "that book
SO needs to be pogged!"
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