Laura C., former Eating Recovery Center patient
“Eating Recovery Center helped me solidify the person that I allowed myself to grow into. I grabbed onto ERVERYTHING that I always wanted and it was like touching a hot stone. It burned, but the longer and more tightly I held onto it, it eventually fused with who I am. It became the very warmth inside me.”
-Laura C., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Lauren K., former Eating Recovery Center patient
“I arrived at the ERC ten weeks ago today scared, confused and sick. Today I am leaving confident, self-aware and healthy—but also a little sad: I will miss this place and these people. At the ERC I learned that food and body were only a symptom of an internal struggle. As refeeding awakened my mind and emotions, my therapists gently led me through the process of untangling the web of painful thoughts and feelings that was the source and maintaining factor of my ED. Along the way, I met many amazing and courageous men and women, some of whom will be my lifelong friends, and through their stories I gained a much deeper understanding of the nature of our often-misunderstood disease. My time at the ERC has been a life-changing ride. I has taken a lot of faith in my team (they deserved it!) and a lot of persistence—but it has been worth the effort all the way. I feel like an emotional weight has been lifted and now I can pursue the life I really want to live.”
-Lauren K., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Stephanie P., former Eating Recovery Center patient
“Eating Recovery Center has given me the tools and skills to live a happy, healthy life. The staff and doctors have inspired me by how caring and supportive they are. I now have the strength and motivation to move forward with my recovery and with my life. Thank you for all caring about me as an individual—you have treated me with love and care and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
-Stephanie P., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Nicole F., former patient
“I am proud to announce that I have been behavior free since my departure. I am currently working full time where I am slowly learning how this type of work fits into my values. Shortly after my departure I got a new puppy …she has been such a blessing to my recovery…she does not let me have any time to worry about ED. I have been keeping busy with activities including a stained glass class, knitting class, church, CASA volunteer and friends. I can’t say it has been smooth sailing but I am definitely learning that I do have control over my thoughts and behaviors. I am learning how to speak my feelings instead of acting them out. I must say that life has been a lot more fun without ED…what a joy it has been to be able to go to restaurants and order what I want not what ED wants…to be able to go out with friends and not preplan for everything…to taste my mom’s cooking again…to cook for myself…to go for a hike when I want to and to not go when I don’t feel like it…I am learning to listen to my body and trust my meal plan…I am learning that “I ate because it sounded good” does not mean the end of the world nor will it really make any difference…Most importantly and I believe what has made this recovery different for me is my new found faith…being able to trust that God has a path for me…trusting that He will always be there for me….being able to share with Him my triumphs and defeats…knowing that I am not alone.”
- Nicole F., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Kelli E., former patient
“I think there are times in each of our lives when we find ourselves at a crossroads. One of mine came when I entered treatment at ERC. I know that I needed help. I wanted help. I could not longer live the way I was at the time. My eating disorder and other destructive ways were no longer helping me cope with life. They were killing me.
Once I walked through the doors at ERC I know I was in a safe place. I could learn to drop my guard, trust the staff, and face the very hard things that needed to be addressed. I learned to look at things in new ways. The staff taught me how to identify my values and what is dear to me, and how to start reframing my thoughts and actions to become more congruent with those values. During my time at ERC I learned that my emotions are not bad, and can not be ignored. I can experience my emotions and not need to use behaviors to try and turn them off.
I’ve learned that true healing and recovery does not come easily. I’ve also learned that not every day is a great day, and that’s OK. But even my hard days now are not as bad as most of my days before treatment at ERC. I am continuing to work on things in outpatient at ERC, and am in a weekly body image group there. I find that both of these things help keep me recovery focused. Without the intentional follow-up care at ERC I know that recovery would be very difficult.
I’m learning to pursue life with passion, and know that I can orchestrate my life how I want it to be from here on out. I know have choices, and I’m learning how to voice my needs and not let my eating disorder speak for me.
My goal, no longer is just to endure live. I want to enjoy life, embrace it, and truly feel contentment and fulfillment. I truly know that without the compassion and care I received at ERC I wouldn’t be able to have this outlook on life.
The programs, but more importantly, the people at ERC helped me to see that I do indeed deserve to be happy and can be happy. They loved me when I felt unlovable. They cared for me until I could start to care for myself again. They gently but firmly challenged me, and most of all, they had faith in me that I could succeed in this fight. For that I will always be more than grateful. ”
- Kelli E., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Stephanie B., former patient
“After ten years of treatment and five prior treatment centers, my hope for recovery from Anorexia was next to nothing. I fought to get my insurance to cover treatment, and my Dr. in Austin, Dr. Tyson, recommended the Eating Recovery Center in Denver. I figured this was my last chance. I would either recover, or I would die.
The Eating Recovery Center literally saved my live. I thought I was there wouldn’t be anything new that I could learn to help me recover, but I was wrong. In my initial meeting with my treatment team , Dr. Weiner focused on what was maintaining my eating disorder, rather than what caused it. This was new to me. He used the metaphor of a fly trapped in a house that kept smacking against a window trying to get out, not realizing that there was an open door. I was that fly that just kept hitting the window. He said their job was to help me find the door and fly through it.
I have never been introduced to Dr. Bishop’s concept of values, which I found key to my recovery. Once I gained self-awareness about my values, I really couldn’t go back to the eating disorder. It simply didn’t serve my values!
Another influential element in this program was learning about my temperament through the TCI. My therapist and Dr. Weiner reviewed it with me and I learned to embrace my “turtle” nature. Suddenly, it made sense to me why I felt so out of place, being a turtle in a “hare’s” world!
A third paramount aspect of the ERC’s curriculum was learning about experiential avoidance. I had always been taught to embrace it and meditate on it! What a concept! Through my faith in my treatment team, I did embrace it, and it slowly diminished. I was stunned.
While I know that recovery is a process, not an event, I finally have hope that I can live a life free from my eating disorder. I can live a values-driven life. I understand myself and my true nature. Ten years of solid treatment and five previous treatment centers, and I now have hope.
I owe my life to all of the staff that invested so much time and energy into making sure that my treatment this time was different than all of the previous ones. With their support, I can truly say that I am well on my way towards recovery. Thank you. I will always hold a special places in my heart for the Eating Recovery Center. Thanks to the incredibly talented, insightful and skilled staff at the Eating Recovery Center, I have been given a gift I had never thought possible: Recovery and Healing.”
-Stephanie B., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Karen I., former patient
*Testimonial Update: As of September 2011, patient is over one year 100% behavior-free.
“I’ve been behavior-free for 9+ weeks now.* It brings tears to my eyes as this is the longest I’ve been behavior-free outside of treatment in the last 30+ years. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe it would be possible for me to do this. And while 2 months is not much in terms of the big picture, it is everything to me and is probably one of my biggest accomplishments ever. To be behavior-free while going back to work, dealing with my birthday, family, Thanksgiving, and all the December holidays is shocking to me. It’s strange, but I think I have been able to somehow “internalize” a majority of what I’ve learned from all of you individually as well as from the Eating Recovery Center program itself. At some point over the last couple months, I’ve heard each and every one of your voices whispering in my ear helping me make the right decisions at the right times. And I find myself turning to things like deep-breathing and counting my breaths when my anxiety increases, finding ways to distract myself after meals, focusing on values and what’s important in the bigger picture yet staying very much focused on the present, and really just not even allowing ED any air-time inside my head. While all these things might sound cliché, they have actually become fairly automatic to me and I don’t really find that I have to think about them, I’m just more or less naturally doing them. I thank each and every one of you for your support and patience, and for believing in me. I’m well aware that the road ahead will be filled with challenges and most probably slips, but I’m staying seriously focused on my recovery in the here and now.”
- Karen I., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Emily S., former patient
The Eating Recovery Center absolutely changed my life; I can’t imagine a more appropriate program to give me the tools to combat my eating disorder. For the first time in months I felt connected to the people around me; I felt so safe with all of the other patients and staff, really willing to express myself and solicit feedback. I felt like my team was well-matched with my needs as an individual and I adored my therapist. I also thought the program was creative with its outings, really utilizing the surrounding areas and weather changes well. I also liked the lessons which I thought appealed to all the different aspects of my ED, from my internal thoughts to my external body image, from the psychological to physiological. I learned so much about the traits of the disorder and all of the parts about my character and inner landscape that I had never taken the time to appreciate. I am so grateful for the ERC.
-Emily S., former Eating Recovery Center patient
Amelia T., former patient
“While I was here, I found the ability to turn around. With awareness, I found a turning point. I saw my broken self still able to smile and I began to understand. With understanding, things have shifted. There are moments of pain, but in the pain, I found myself capable of pushing through.
I’ve let myself care. I’ve let myself love. I found the fight inside that never lets go. I’ve fought so hard. When it feels like I can’t do it for me, I let myself hold on for others. I let myself hold their positive thoughts and words close to my heart, till once again, I can hold on for me. I’ve seen myself make the progress that I never thought I’d make. I see myself, today, in a place I never thought I’d be.
I faced the monster inside recently, I didn’t fight it. I didn’t feed it. I had it sit down and I gave it some tea (Chai of course-it needs a little spice). It’s not about running away. It’s not about denying the feelings inside. It’s not about pushing away the thoughts. For me, it’s about acceptance, acceptance of all parts of me.
I accept that recovery is a unique process. I used to wish that I was further ahead in the process and that got me nowhere, until I let myself be in the moment with my experience. Everyone takes their own path on this road. For me, it has been a long journey. It has been multiple treatments, yet, every time, I learn something. Every time, I make strides, steps, and even slips. This time, I have grown in more ways than I ever thought possible. With the birth of maturity my true self has emerged. At times, I felt stuck in moments, but really, I never am because the world is constantly moving and in flux. During this treatment, I spoke from my reality in groups, rather than the easy connection I have with intellect.
I have never been so accepting, open, and speaking from the heart. I am finally in touch with me, with my heart, and with my intuition. I have many sides. I go up and down. I get scared. I get excited. I can hold many emotions at the same time. Even in the worst of times, I can get through. I can smile in depression. I can engage when I’m distant. I can listen and offer support to others. I am capable. I am worthy. I’m curious. The curiosity keeps me moving and going and exploring and hoping. I deserve connection. I deserve recovery. I deserve life.
This treatment was worth it. I am not failure for coming here. Things do happen for a reason. I couldn’t have come to the place that I’m at without this treatment and without the staff. They helped and added to my experience. They helped me to survive and more so, they helped me to live.”
-Amelia T., former Eating Recovery Center patient
