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
