Biting the Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia [Hardcover]

Richard Maisel (Author), David Epston (Author), Ali Borden (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393703371 | ISBN-13: 978-0393703375 | Publication Date: October 18, 2004

This important book immediately draws the reader into the world of those struggling with anorexia/bulimia (a/b), whose stories, poems, and first-person accounts expose the 'voice' of these deadly problems.

The authors' decade-and-a-half collaboration with 'insiders' has yielded fresh answers to these life and death questions: How does a/b seduce and terrorize girls and women? Why is a/b successful in encouraging girls and women to unwittingly embrace their would-be murderer? How can such a murderer be exposed and thwarted? Biting the Hand that Starves You details a unique way of thinking and speaking about anorexia/bulimia. By having conversations with insiders in which the problem is viewed as an external influence rather than a part of the person, these therapists show how to bring the tactics of a/b into the open, expose its deceptions, break its spell, and encourage defiance of its tyrannical rule. These innovations enable insiders, professionals, and loved ones to unite against anorexia/bulimia rather than allowing a/b to pit a professional or loved one against an insider, and the insider against herself. Coercion is sidestepped in favor of practices that are collaborative, accountable and spirit-nurturing. The groundbreaking discoveries outlined in this book will provide new options, inspiration and hope, not only for those who suffer at anorexia's hands, but also for their loved ones and healthcare professionals. The first section of the book illuminates the means by which anorexia/bulimia insinuates itself into the lives of women and confines them to its prison. The second section focuses on how therapists and other helpers assist them to break the spell of a/b, creating possibilities for resisting and defying it. The third section of the book details a two-pronged strategy for reclaiming one's life from a/b. One method involves unmasking a/b by directly engaging with it through critique. The other method involves disengaging from anorexia in order fashion an 'anti-a/b' lifestyle guided by their own values and passions, even while they fear forsaking the promises of anorexia. Finally, the last section of the book addresses ways in which parents and other loved ones can 'team up' with insiders to fight against these lethal problems. This section includes a first-person account of a mother and father's harrowing but ultimately triumphant effort to free their daughter from anorexia's prison. Biting the Hand that Starves You draws to an unprecedented degree on the anti-anorexic/bulimic knowledge of 'insider' clients/collaborators to provide fresh insights into the workings of a/b and the means to overcome it. The knowledge of these authors and their insider collaborators, who speak poignantly and passionately on their own behalf, is sure to benefit all those affected by a/b.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[A]n excellent practical resource for psychologists.” (DECP Debate )

About the Author

Richard Maisel, Ph.D. is an adjunct professor at Alliant International University in San Francisco and maintains a private practice in Berkeley and Walnut Creek, California. He has published and presented extensively on narrative therapy and anorexia/bulimia.

David Epston, M.A., C.Q.S.W. is coauthor of Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends (1990) and Playful Approaches to Serious Problems (1997). He is a visiting professor at the School of Community Studies, UNITEC Institute of Technology in Auckland, and is the codirector of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland.

Ali Borden, M.A., M.F.T. is the Assistant Clinical Director at the Monte Nido Treatment Center, a residential facility in Los Angeles for women fighting Anorexia and Bulimia. Ali has successfully battled with anorexia/bulimia in her own life.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393703371
• ISBN-13: 978-0393703375
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #407,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Waiting for this Great Book!, September 19, 2005

By 

Jenni Schaefer "Author of "Life Without E... (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biting the Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia (Hardcover)

I only wish that Rick, David, and Ali had written this book years ago! Because Biting the Hand that Starves You would have been an incredible source of information, motivation, and hope when I was desperately struggling in the depths of my eating disorder.

I was thrilled to see that the book vividly illustrates the vicious dialogue that occurs between the eating disorder and the individual who suffers with it. Throughout my recovery, psychotherapist and author Thom Rutledge encouraged me to practice this very dialogue between my true self (Jenni) and my eating disorder (`Ed') over and over again, which was crucial to my finding the amazing freedom I experience today.

Biting the Hand that Starves You includes many uplifting, inspirational personal accounts that reveal people can and do beat anorexia/bulimia! Within the book, the authors compassionately share how you can really make practical steps to join the ranks of those who already walk that path of independence.

Unlike many other books, Biting the Hand that Starves You goes a step beyond just focusing on how to recover from specific eating disordered behaviors. It also talks about moving on and reclaiming your life --- providing great insight on overcoming perfectionism, taking risks, and even pursuing dreams and passions.

This is one book that I am glad I came across on the shelves of eating disorder literature. I just wish it would have appeared a little bit sooner!

Jenni Schaefer, author of Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too (McGraw-Hill)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, November 5, 2005

By 

Reader (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biting the Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia (Hardcover)

As someone who has struggled with anorexia for over half my life, I have often found myself reading anything on anorexia I could lay my hands on; desperately searching for the reassurance that comes from knowing one is not alone in one's experiences, as well as for some elusive insight that might assist me in resisting anorexia's stranglehold over my life. Yet frequently I have come away from such reading feeling dissatisfied and disheartened. Not so with 'Biting the Hand that Starves You'; in this book I found so much of what I had been searching for and a whole lot more.

While the authors are not the first professionals to draw on `insider knowledges' (the knowledges of people with first-hand experiences of anorexia/bulimia), the prominence and the respect accorded to such knowledges is unprecedented. The result is a book that speaks compellingly of anorexia/bulimia, and crucially, does so in a manner that is never patronising, pathologising or didactical.

Providing exciting new ways of thinking and speaking about anorexia/bulimia, the book engenders a sense of hope - a 'commodity' that is often desperately lacking, yet so vital when it comes to resisting anorexia/bulimia.

I highly recommend the book to all readers, from those struggling with anorexia/bulimia, to their family and friends, and health professionals.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book got me eating meals, April 12, 2005

By 

Timothy Patry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Biting the Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia (Hardcover)

I liked that the book doesn't discriminate against eating disorder patients. It doesn't blame the patient for the problem.

This book scared me and exposed anorexia as something outside myself and as an out of body voice that has influenced my thoughts since childhood.