Jenni Schaefer's "Life without ED"

A unique new approach to treating eating disorders
Eight million women in the United States suffer from anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. For these women, the road to recovery is a rocky one. Many succumb to their eating disorders. "Life Without Ed "offers hope to all those who suffer from these often deadly disorders. For years, author Jennifer Schaefer lived with both anorexia and bulimia. She credits her successful recovery to the technique she learned from her psychologist, Thom Rutledge.
This groundbreaking book illustrates Rutledge's technique. As in the author's case, readers are encouraged to think of an eating disorder as if it were a distinct being with a personality of its own. Further, they are encouraged to treat the disorder as a relationship rather than as a condition. Schaefer named her eating disorder Ed; her recovery involved "breaking up" with Ed Shares the points of view of both patient and therapist in this approach to treatment Helps people see the disease as a relationship from which they can distance themselves Techniques to defeat negative thoughts that plague eating disorder patients
Prescriptive, supportive, and inspirational, "Life Without Ed "shows readers how they too can overcome their eating disorders.

Jenni Schaefer is an internationally known author and speaker whose work has helped change the face of recovery from eating disorders.

Her breakthrough best-seller, Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too (McGraw-Hill), popularized an approach that enables men and women to personify their illness (Jenni called hers "Ed," short for "Eating Disorder") and "divorce" themselves from it. Her latest book, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life (released in September 2009 by McGraw-Hill), takes the journey a step farther, from recovery to liberation.

Jenni is a regular guest on national radio and television shows including "Dr. Phil" and "Entertainment Tonight," a contributor to mainstream magazines and collections like the Chicken Soup series, and a popular speaker at schools, conferences, and other venues. She is also a consultant with Center For Change in Orem, Utah, and a member of the Ambassador Council of the National Eating Disorders Association. Her work has been recognized in publications including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and Woman's World.

A singer/songwriter living in Austin, Texas, Jenni uses both music and humor in her outreach efforts to help those touched by eating disorders. She is, she says, "single in the city," enjoying a life she considers a gift to be treasured.

She was also currently named as one of NEDA's newest ambassadors.

My Review:


Jenni's take on inspiring those with eating disorders to recover is a new one. It's different from books such as Marya Hornbacher's 'Wasted' in that it tells the story but doesn't include triggering information such as numbers, weight, etc.

It's also different from clinical books such as 'Gaining: the truth about recovering from an eating disorder' in that, again, there are no triggering stories.

Jenni tells the truth. She doesn't say "these are the symptoms and how to get rid of them." Instead, she says: This is my life with Ed, and how I overcame him.

I have since talked to my support group of recovered anorectics and bulimics, and we can all agree: It seems like Jenni read our minds, but our thoughts on paper, and gave us the hope we needed to recover.