Josie Geller, Suja Srikameswaran, and Stephanie Cassin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195398090
- eISBN:
- 9780199776900
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398090.003.0019
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology
This chapter examines self-silencing and loss of voice in women's experiences of eating disorders. The authors put forward a model that links etiological perspectives, self-silencing, and eating ...
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This chapter examines self-silencing and loss of voice in women's experiences of eating disorders. The authors put forward a model that links etiological perspectives, self-silencing, and eating disorder behaviors, arguing that a critical function of eating disorder behaviors is communication and management of emotions and that these behaviors reinforce and perpetuate the self-silencing schema through a negative feedback loop. The model is based on a series of studies in Canada with clinical samples of adolescents and adult women with anorexia and/or bulimia compared with various types of control groups.[Q2] The authors suggest that women who feel unable to express an authentic self through words may use their bodies as a means of communicating emotional distress. The authors describe treatment strategies and suggest that the most effective interventions engage women in collaborative nonhierarchical relationships that focus on readiness for change and that address the functions of the eating disorder.Less
This chapter examines self-silencing and loss of voice in women's experiences of eating disorders. The authors put forward a model that links etiological perspectives, self-silencing, and eating disorder behaviors, arguing that a critical function of eating disorder behaviors is communication and management of emotions and that these behaviors reinforce and perpetuate the self-silencing schema through a negative feedback loop. The model is based on a series of studies in Canada with clinical samples of adolescents and adult women with anorexia and/or bulimia compared with various types of control groups.[Q2] The authors suggest that women who feel unable to express an authentic self through words may use their bodies as a means of communicating emotional distress. The authors describe treatment strategies and suggest that the most effective interventions engage women in collaborative nonhierarchical relationships that focus on readiness for change and that address the functions of the eating disorder.
