Regaining Your Self: Understanding and Conquering the Eating Disorder Identity

by Ira M. Sacker

Book Overview

You are not what you don't eat.

Never has there been a mental disorder so controversial in the theories surrounding its causes, treatments, and recovery than that of the eating disorder. Its mysterious nature, onset, and lack of predictability make this an elusive epidemic that causes frustration and fear in those who are afflicted and those who love and treat them. This is exactly why patients, families, and treatment professionals...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0757315011
• ISBN13: 9780757315015
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Health Communications
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

" Innovative and Informative"

I really enjoyed reading the book "Regaining Your Self" by Ira M. Sacker. Having had an eating disorder in my teens, I found this book both innovative and informative. His approach is transformational. Dr. Sacker's approach known as PIRT - Personal Interactive Rational Therapy. This approach provides a basic framework that moves the patient toward their own personal recovery. I found this book to be compassionate, intuitive, heart felt and honest. Another book I read and really enjoyed was Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: The 3 Simple Ideas That Will Instantaneously Transform Your Life by award winning authors Ariel and Shya Kane. This book is refreshing and light, and a wonderful way to assist in freeing yourself from your old perceptions.

A New Possibility for Healing

As a person who suffered from anorexia and bulimia in my younger years, I find Dr. Ira Sacker's book on eating disorders wonderful. It contains powerful information to help sufferers of eating disorders gain insight on their condition and heal themselves. According to the author one of the factors that trigger anorexia are the judgments that one has on oneself, the belief that one is "not" perfect and the quest for never attainable perfection. The persons afflicted with the disease are plagued with the idea that they are flawed and that life will only get better when they reach an ideal weight. This "cursed" way of thinking is not only symptomatic of people who suffer from an eating disorder. For me, what made all the difference was finding a place of acceptance of myself where I stopped working on myself and striving to reach unrealistic goals. The book Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation by Ariel and Shya Kane really supported me in discovering that place and transformed my life. The Kanes bring the message that we are perfect just the way we are and that if we can stop listening to those delusional conversations in our heads about our imperfections, life can transform instantaneously into an exciting adventure. If you are or have been suffering from an Eating Disorder and are looking to strengthen your ability to be yourself, experience satisfaction and live free of neurotic behavior, I urge you to look into the work of Ariel and Shya Kane (they have written 2 other books How To Create a Magical Relationship and Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment). They bring a very real and instantaneous possibility for Healing that very few people have had the chance to experience.

Nourishing the self

Ira Sacker's approach to treating eating disorders is indeed a bold new one. His refreshing approach known as PIRT (Personal Interactive Rational Therapy) takes the focus away from the food and the eating and shines the spotlight where it is most needed--on the individual's path of self-discovery. PIRT transcends traditional approaches to treating eating disorders as it provides the client the safety, space, and support to discover her own identity, independent of the confines of her eating disorder. This book presents a comprehensive overview of eating disorders in such a compelling, fascinating, and illuminating way. Ira demystifies the lure of eating disorders by explaining how they can serve as ways (albeit unhealthy ones) to help individuals relieve their anxiety, while also giving them a sense of identity. His therapy focuses on helping the individual redefine themselves in terms of their passions and interests--and not by their body shape and weight. Regaining Your Self is filled with compassion and understanding for those suffering from eating disorders. Ira stresses that effective treatment is one that respects the individual's difficult journey of giving up the eating disorder identity and replacing it with their newly discovered personal identity. This journey is beautifully summarized in a quote by Anais Nin that appears in the final chapter of the book: "...and the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom..."

Finally I Understand

I have been a compulsive overeater for twenty-five years. I can't calculate the damage this has done to my life. I have been to four therapists, attended Overeaters Anonymous, and read scores of books on diet, exercise, overeating, and compulsive behavior. All of them have provided clues, but none of them taught me the comprehensive overview of why I behave the way I do and what is needed to recover that this book has done. It has answered all of my questions, and several more that I didn't know to ask. It showed how a great deal of my strange behavior is not just a quirky personality, but the direct result of my disease. The book has shown me the way to real healing. I am very grateful to the author for making this information available. Yes, the book focuses on anorexics and bulimics. Yes, sometimes the book seems to be addressing patients and other times therapists. Yes, some of the book does not seem to relate to me. But this is probably necessary given the books objectives and, as I said, it addresses every concern I had and more. I am now looking for a therapist who is willing to read the book and work through its approach with me. This book is a life changer.

This book is a blessing

I highly recommend Dr. Ira Sacker's book to anyone suffering from an eating disorder, as well as to their families, friends, professionals, and anyone else interested in this area. God has used this book to help me understand so much about my own seventeen year struggle with anorexia, which began at the age of thirteen, and it has given me hope on my road to recovery. I have experienced all of the slips, lapses, relapses, and collapses, in which he explains in his writings. I now see a light at the end of this long dark tunnel. Dr. Sacker has been working in the field of eating disorders for more than 35 years; and his knowledge and unique approach known as PIRT-Personal Interactive Rational Therapy-is profound. This book is validating, informative, and deeply insightful. I have finally grasped that overwhelming anxiety along with other issues is at the core of eating disorders, rather than weight and food. Dr. Sacker does not just write about the underlying problems, but provides how one can overcome them by finding their passion in life. I can see Dr. Sacker's heart and soul in every page of this book. I am so grateful to him for his dedication, compassion, sensitivity, and incredible desire to see individuals regain their true selves and to be free from the "hell" that they are in. I am also eternally grateful to God for the contribution that he has made to the eating disorder field. Dr. Ira Sacker is a blessing. Please buy his book and internalize its truths, so that you can become the person you are meant to be. As Dr. Sacker quotes, from an anonymous source, "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." Sincerely, Dawn D.