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Good News For Eating Disorders Recovery!
Relationships Replace Eating Disorders
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Volume XXXIIII
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 Welcome to this month's Good News!
October is a month when I am feeling grateful to the
professional community for their interest in mentoring as I prepare to
give a poster presentation at the Renfrew Annual Conference for
Professionals in November. Woohoo! October is also the month that MentorCONNECT, our global eating disorders mentoring community, reached 400 members. WOW. And,
last but most importantly, October is also the month my little (but
loud) bird, Pearl, learned to climb up her new ladder after her wing
injury. Yippee!! Warmly and with HOPE,
Shannon
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 Pearl & the Big Climb
Wing bandage
Go Pearl!
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Shannon Goes to Philadelphia
Shannon will be in Philadelphia, PA in November for two special events and would love to see you there!
November 11: DeVry University Beauty Undressed presentation
November 12-15: Renfrew Annual Conference for Professionals (poster presentation on eating disorders mentoring November 14)
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Nov 4: The MentorCONNECT Teleconference Series Presents: Jessica Setnick
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November 4th, internationally-recognized registered dietician Jessica
Setnick, MS, RD/LD, CSSD will be with us for the monthly MentorCONNECT Teleconference series! This exciting event is FREE and open to the public. We highly suggest you RSVP now to reserve your space! To RSVP, simply send us an email with "RSVP for Jessica" in the subject line to mc@key-to-life.com
To view the event flyer click HERE
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Visit the MentorCONNECT Store & Help Support Eating Disorders Recovery!
The new MentorCONNECT Store highlights a selection of great products by leaders in the eating disorders recovery field. Beating Ana: The first eating disorders mentoring how-to manual The Circle of Hope Pendant: Ed Armor that reminds us that relationships really DO replace eating disorders The You Are Not Alone Book & CD, Vol II: Inspiring stories and music to remind you that you are NOT alone Thom Rutledge's Embracing Fear: the book that will teach you how to turn what scares you into your greatest gift. And much, much more! A portion of all sales proceeds goes to support MentorCONNECT, the first global online (soon to be) not-for-profit eating disorders mentoring community. Click HERE to shop and support MentorCONNECT today!
p.s. Looking for even more ways to offer your supprot? You can also make a donation or become a MentorCONNECT Sponsoring Care Partner
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Shannon's Column: Beating Ana
Turning our ENEMY into our ALLY
Just
for grins (okay,maybe for more than that) I would like you to repeat
the following six phrases to yourself, pretending you believe in their
absolute validity as you do so. When you have repeated all six, grab
your journal and write down your predominant feelings, thoughts, or
mood.
I am beautiful. I am wonderful. I am smart. I am capable. I am worth loving. I am worth fighting for.
Now,
I would like you to repeat a new set of six phrases to yourself. Again,
when you have repeated all six, write down your predominant feelings,
thoughts, or mood.
I am ugly and fat. I am an embarrassment. I am stupid. I am incompetent. I am unworthy of love. I am not worth fighting for.
So, how did you feel after repeating the first set of six phrases? The second?
Compare
and contrast your inner states. This is the time to begin to realize
that how we allow ourselves to talk to ourselves will create an inner
environment that is either hospitable or hostile to our recovery.
Excerpt from "Enemy to Ally" from Beating Ana: How to Outsmart Your Eating Disorder and Take Your Life Back
For more excerpts click HERE
To learn more about Shannon, click HERE |
Jeanette's Column: Thankfulness
by Jeanette H.
Forrest Gump was right when he said "Life is like a box of chocolates -
you never know what you are going to get." While we cannot always
control the situations we are faced with in life, we can control our
attitude and outlook on the circumstances we are presented. In my
recovery, being thankful was an essential piece to my healing. Being
thankful helps keep you in the now and not in the past or the future.
It says right here and right now this is where I am at.
For me having
an attitude of thankfulness did not come naturally. I tended to always
look at what I did not have which kept me stuck in the past. I had a
very rough childhood and so I often lived my day to day life based on
the hurts of my past. I let my past dictate the decisions I made in my
present circumstances. Once I started to work through my past and all
the hurts associated with it and heal those wounds I was able to look
at situations differently.....for full article click HERE
To learn more about Jeanette click HERE
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 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.
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Andrea's Column: Building Confidence to Get Rid of Ed
by Andrea Roe
During and before my struggles with eating disorders, I never felt
good enough. I didn't feel worthy. Like everybody else was better than
me. Like my opinion didn't matter as much as others' did.
If you feel the same, I'd like you to know that you are worthy! You
are special! And you can learn to love yourself! It's just a matter of
working on your self-esteem.
Here are some exercises that helped me
during my recovery:
-Stop thinking negative thoughts about yourself.
Of course, that's easier said than done but lots of practice will
eliminate the negativity in your head. Pay attention to your thoughts,
and whenever you catch yourself being too critical about yourself,
counter it by focusing on positive aspects of yourself and your life......for full article click HERE
To learn more about Andrea click HERE
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Lynn's Column: The Right Action Can Be Salvation
by Lynn Gerhard
Most of us have heard the statement "Faith without works is dead." It
means that if we believe in something, that belief will be demonstrated
in our actions and that we purposefully take actions that demonstrate
our beliefs.
I think that hope also has more substance in its
demonstration rather than in simply speaking it. When we are having
trouble holding on to faith and hope, when our minds are awhirl with
the devastating feelings that come with active addictions, we can find
peace in taking positive action. We get out of the whirlwind of want,
need, loneliness, fear, and anxiousness - the monsters that leave us
cowering in the corners of our minds - by taking positive action.
I am
not talking about just being busy; I am talking about taking actions
that take us out of ourselves.....for full article click HERE
To learn more about Lynn click HERE
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Thom's Column: Don't Run From Positive Guilt
by Thom Rutledge
Positive guilt occurs when we begin to break rules that need to be broken --- rules left over from family dysfunction, rules defined by "Ed"
or that condemning Bully that lives in our heads.
Mary
Beth told me that she was backsliding, losing whatever progress she had
made in the last six months of therapy. She was spending more time with
her parents and her sisters during the
holiday season and feeling "guilty around the clock." I asked her to tell me more about her constant guilt.
"I've
always felt guilt easily, you know, assuming the blame for just about
anything," Mary Beth said. "But now it's worse."....for full article,
click HERE
For more about Thom, click HERE
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You Are Invited To Join MentorCONNECT!
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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
The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience
to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and
richer experience.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
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Good News for Eating Disorders Recovery and MentorCONNECT are sponsored in part by:
Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders
 Tapestry: A Residential Treatment Center for Women with Eating Disorders
You Are Not Alone
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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
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