403 pages (hardcover) '04

Virtually every therapist encounters individuals struggling with food and weight issues, compulsive eating, and body hatred. Beyond a Shadow of a Diet is the first comprehensive book for professionals to address the dynamics and treatment of compulsive eating. Drawing from the mountain of research indicating that diets don't work but actually contribute to the diet-binge cycle, this powerful book presents a sound method of solving, rather than controlling, compulsive eating, enabling people to find freedom from preoccupation with food and weight. Written in an engaging and easy-to-read style, this book offers practical strategies to invite anyone to examine their attitudes toward food, weight, and dieting.

CONTENTS:

Part One: The Problem
1 – I Want to Lose Weight
2 – The Therapist Trap

Part Two: The Treatment
3 – Principles of the Non-Diet Approach
4 – Obstacles
5 – Emotions
6 – Body image
7 – Treatment Considerations

Part Three: The Solution
8 – Redefining Health
9 – Changing the World… a Little Bit at a Time
Appendix A – Food House Fantasy
Appendix B – Building a Positive Body Image
Appendix C – 6–Week Group
Appendix D – Feeding Our Children
Appendix E – Sample Letter
Appendix F – Assessing Your Size Attitudes
Appendix G – Weight Loss Myths
Appendix H – The Tenets of Health at Every Size

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Judith Martz, LCSW, is a Clinical Social Worker and Director of the Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc., affiliated with the National Center for Overcoming Overeating. She has worked in the areas of eating problems for over 20 years and is a frequent presenter at workshops and conferences on topics of compulsive eating and body image. She has a private practice in Skokie, Illinois.

Ellen Frankel, LCSW, has worked in the field of eating disorders since 1987 in both outpatient and residential settings. Through her affiliation with the Massachusetts Eating Disorder Association, she has provided prevention programs from the elementary through university level. She continues to speak at conferences and serves as a consultant.

REVIEWS:

“Bravo! A compassionate, extraordinarily thorough, and helpful guide for therapists struggling with their own and their clients’ obsessions with body image and compulsive eating. It offers a truly effective approach to the culturally-induced preoccupation with body size that so often derails treatment. Life-changing on both sides of the consulting room.”
—Jane R. Hirschmann & Carol H. Munter, authors of Overcoming Overeating and When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies

“Learning to eat with hunger, to relish food, and to enjoy one’s body is our birthright. Beyond a Shadow of a Diet explains how individuals can begin to live in harmony with food and gives therapists the tools to better help those for whom eating has become, too often, a source of anguish, rather than a pleasurable and reassuring part of life.”
—Susie Orbach, PhD, author of Fat is a Feminist Issue, Hunger Strike, and On Eating

“This book is a gem! The authors have compiled a definitive, powerful, and highly readable justification for shifting the paradigm in our understanding of issues of weight and health. Just the right mix of science, theory, and practical application.”
—Jon Robison, PhD, MS, Assistant professor, Michigan State University