|
|
Good News For Eating Disorders Recovery!
Relationships Replace Eating Disorders
|
Volume XXXVII
|
|
 Welcome to this month's Good News!
Happy New Year! What a gift we have in store for us -
another whole year! There are so many exciting things on the horizon
here....MentorCONNECT celebrates our one-year birthday on February 1,
we are preparing to go non-profit, and our membership is just
exploding! We also want to welcome our newest sponsor, Ilissa
Banhazl, MS, MFT. You can learn more about her and her services below -
thank you, Ilissa, for sharing all that you do with us! In other
news, I am out and about in the next few months attending conferences
and speaking at colleges for NEDA Week 2010, so check the schedule
below and if I am coming to your area please stop by and say hello! Warmly and with HOPE,
Shannon
|
|
Shannon's February - March 2010 Tour Schedule
February 9: Bucks County Community College-Newtown, PA
February 10: University of Connecticut-Hartford
February 25: Centre College-Danville, KY
March 4-6: BEDA Conference-Baltimore, MD
March 10-14: IAEDP Conference-Orlando, FL
|
Schedule Shannon to Speak in 2010!
Knowledgeable.
Compassionate.
Witty.
Engaging.
Relevant.
Memorable.In
honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, we are now offering
25% off Shannon's program fees for the 2010 calendar year! Click HERE to inquire about scheduling Shannon to visit your group Click HERE for a short video featuring student experiences of Shannon's popular Beauty Undressed campus awareness event!
[Shannon
Cutts] was the first big speaker that we've had to campus in awhile
that wasn't related to the school's speaker series. It was a new effort
to connect to the students, and Shannon made it very easy. Not only was
she engaging and present for all of the staff and students before the
presentation but she also engaged the students incredibly during the
program and again in the evening over a meal. Everyone had great things
to say about her program - they could all relate and found it engaging,
humorous, and yet touching. -Laura Anderson, Fisher College
|
Are you in strong recovery from an eating disorder and want to help others?
 If so, MentorCONNECT needs you! If
you have been in strong recovery for at least 12 consecutive months and
want to mentor someone who is still struggling to recover, we invite
you to apply to serve as a caring volunteer mentor. Apply HERE Relationships Replace Eating Disorders. Your voice - and your help - makes all the difference to those who still suffer.
|
Feb 17: the MentorCONNECT Teleconference Series Presents: Thom Rutledge
"What You Can Really Do About Your Eating Disorder" In
this teleconference, Thom will talk about, and respond to questions
about, practical tools for eating disorder recovery. Thom points out
that far too often, we - including treatment professionals --
inadvertently settle for becoming experts about eating disorders
without becoming experts on what is most important: eating disorder
recovery. "If I have cancer," he says, "I want to talk to the people who treat cancer, not someone who just understands it." This exciting event is FREE and open to the public. To RSVP, simply send us an email with "RSVP for Thom"in the subject line to mc@key-to-life.com
To view the event flyer click HEREClick HERE To listen to past podcasts
|
Mark Your Calendar for these exciting events in our 2010 Series!
|
Support Eating Disorders Mentoring in the New Year
MentorCONNECT is the first global eating disorders mentoring community. Currently, we serve several hundred members ages 15-62 from more than a dozen countriesMembership
and all services are always free to members, and any individual who is
struggling to recover across the spectrum of eating disorders is
invited to join. In the new year, MentorCONNECT needs YOUR help. Any amount will be gratefully accepted. Funds will go to support: - A new computer system
- A new member records database system
- MentorCONNECT literature about our free services
- Attendance at two major eating disorders conferences
- Legal and CPA assistance for obtaining non-profit status
- Book scholarship fund for members who need a copy of Beating Ana
- ....and much more!
Click HERE to donate in support of MentorCONNECT's mission in 2010 :
If you wish to donate in the name of someone you know who has been
personally affected, please indicate that on your donation and we will
send them a beautiful notification certificate.
|
| Great articles by our wonderful Good News columnists....
|
|
|
Shannon's Column: Beating Ana
How to Be a Good Mentor
Beating
Ana is a book about eating disorders mentoring. It crosses the spectrum
of eating disorders to address recovery toolkit skills that help us say
no to Ana, Mia, EDNOS, and BED and yes to our right to recover and
enjoy life.
This month, in that spirit, I wanted to share an
article I contributed to Gurze Books' wonderful journal "Eating
Disorders Recovery Today".
We can all think of at least one person whose path has crossed our own and left us forever the better for it.
Maybe this person arrived at a time in our life when we were feeling
negative, discouraged, uninspired, or outmatched by life"s challenges.
After time spent in their company, however, we came away feeling
refreshed, encouraged, renewed, and determined to overcome...with a dream
of one day helping someone else in turn. This
experience, which is common to all of us, forms the foundation of the
partnership known as mentoring.....for the full article click HERE
For archived columns click HERE
To learn more about Shannon, click HERE |
Jeanette's Column: Asking for Help
by Jeanette H.
A
famous self-help author, Brian Tracy, once said "No one lives long
enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To
be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have
already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to
achieve our goals." That is exactly the idea behind
mentoring. A mentor learned how to overcome an eating disorder
and has tools that are essential to separate from ED. By having a
mentor or other supportive people in your life, you don't have to start
at square one because others can share what worked for them.
How
do you get to the point of being able to ask for help and support
whether from a mentor or other people who have learned those lessons in
life already? I have individuals ask me that question all the
time. The concept seems so foreign to so many yet it was not
always that way. Children learn from an early age how to get
their needs met. They reach up to their mom and ask to be
held. They ask for help with tasks that seem overwhelming.
However, at some point in our lives we got the message that we should
be independent and independence means not asking for help.
However, that is not true at all. To be independent means you
take care of your needs and get your needs met. Sometimes in
order to do that, we must ask for help and seek guidance from people
who have been there or are knowledgeable about what we are going
through......for full article click HERE
To learn more about Jeanette click HERE
|
 Q&A with
Shannon & Thom
...where YOU share
your questions and we do our best to answer!
To access the latest Q&A simply click HERE (all Q&A will be archived in the order received)
To submit your question click HERE. Each question will be answered in the order it was received.
|
Enjoy Radio Shows with Shannon
Shannon Cutts on Your Mental Health Talk Radio - with Host Jacqueline Foreman Shannon Cutts on Power Women Radio - with Host Deb Bailey 
Shannon Cutts on TruVue Radio- with Host Roland Hinds
|
|
Andrea's Column: New Year's Resolutions and Recovery
by Andrea Roe
I'm writing this in the middle of January. Many people have just
finished making their New Year's Resolutions. For those in debt, it
might be an effort to pay off some credit cards and save a little bit
of money. Or it could be quitting smoking, visiting friends and family
more often or one of a thousand other things as well.
Personally, I've never been a fan of New Years Resolutions -- at least not in the traditional sense.
Rather,
I prefer NOT to wait until the New Year to start making improvements in
my life. I prefer to start RIGHT NOW;
as soon as I've made the decision
to do something to solve my problems. Every day, one little thing...
One tiny proactive action that will help me solve my problem and
improve my life.
This applies to anything... those credit cards, the cigarette and especially an eating disorder.
It
can be something as simple as skipping the scale that day, or keeping
yourself busy when you're tempted to binge. It can be as
straight-forward as adding a little more food to your plate, or opening
up with a friend, family or therapist about your struggles......for full article click HERE
To learn more about Andrea click HERE
|
Lynn's Column: Second Chances
by Lynn Gerhard
(editor's note: please enjoy Lynn's excellent column from last month - she will be back with a great new editorial in February!)
 We don't ever return to things as they
were, it is true. I have changed, and all the players in my life have
changed. Some have evolved, and some have devolved. And that,
marvelously, is God in His garden of life cultivating, pruning,
watering, planting --- creating eternal miracles. The Creator's energy
swirls like wax in lava lamp oil -growing, shrinking, rising, falling,
joining - always in motion, always in change when the light shines upon
it and warms it. So, while we don't ever return to things as they
were, it is silly to say that there are no second chances. They are
one of creation's eternal miracles.
Why would we even want second
chances? Some say that if things didn't work out in the first
go-round, perhaps they were never meant to work out at all. Sometimes
that is true, and we generally know it while we are making the decision
to participate. But often it is not true. Our ability to grasp and
perform life is based on our readiness; readiness is the goal of
spiritual evolution. Perhaps the first time around, one or more of the
players had not evolved to the point of readiness. With a second
chance, all is now ready, and we begin again. We are not even seeking
what was there before - that is so limiting - yet we can relish a fresh
opportunity to create something even better than what we dreamed of the
first time around.....for full article click HERE
To learn more about Lynn click HERE
|
Thom's Column: Perfectionism
by Thom Rutledge Perfectionism is about self-criticism, not about success.
A perfectionist is not someone
who does things perfectly; a perfectionist is someone who believes he
or she is supposed to do things perfectly. Perfectionism is a
condition of constant pain, and self-absorption. Contrary to
popular opinion, striving for perfection is not productive; it is
destructive --- at its worst, suicidal. By constantly expecting
the impossible of yourself (perfection), you set yourself up to fail --
over and over again.To
be successful you must become both optimistic and realistic. This
requires that you come to terms with your own human imperfection.
To pretend that your very real human flaws do not exist is certain
self-sabotage, as is thinking of yourself as nothing but flaws....for
full article click HEREFor more about Thom, click HERE | |
|
|
Until next time....remember that Relationships Replace Eating Disorders, and that this is the kind of Good News that lasts and lasts - and turns into RECOVERY!
Warmly and with HOPE,
Shannon, Andrea, Lynn, Jeanette, Cheryl, Thom & the Key to Life Team
Live in the present moment and find your interest and happiness in the things of today.
-Emmett Fox
|
Welcome to our Newest Sponsor - Ilissa Banhazl, MS, MFT
Ilissa Banhazl, MS, MFT - Marriage and Family Therapy Specializing in Eating Disorders. Life
is often filled with challenges which affect each of us in different
ways. I believe that how we approach and overcome those challenges,
help to shape us and allow us to experience life to the fullest. I have
discovered that building a supportive relationship through therapy
creates a safe place to explore life struggles, understand difficult
issues, learn new skills, enrich relationships, and work through
situations in order to lead a more authentic life. Creating a safe
environment, where you can feel comfortable, is essential to my
practice. In that setting, we can collaborate on how best to understand
your situation, identify your goals, and find solutions. My services
include counseling individuals, families, couples and groups. I
specialize in treating eating disorders, relationships, anxiety,
depression, grief and loss, parenting, and more.
|
Good News for Eating Disorders Recovery and MentorCONNECT are sponsored in part by:
PREMIUM LEVEL SPONSORS:
Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders
 Tapestry: A Residential Treatment Center for Women with Eating Disorders
You Are Not Alone
PROFESSIONAL NETWORK SPONSORS:
|
|
REPRINTS: You may reprint any of the content found in Good News in your own ezine or website. Simply send an email requesting permission by clicking HERE.
NOTE: Good News
is NOT meant to replace the supervision and care of a qualified medical
professional, and should never be construed as such. Shannon Cutts, the
MentorCONNECT Leadership Team and Key to Life
can NOT be held liable for any activities undertaken as a part or
result of receiving or participating in these online communities.
NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: Good News is
sent by invitation and subscription only - if for any reason you
believe that you have received this e-newsletter in error, or you no
longer wish to receive it, please use the link provided below to let us
know. Peace. |
|
|
|
|
