Resources List: Recommended Reading for Eating Disorder Recovery

Supplemental reading materials can be a valuable part of the eating disorder recovery process. 

While the information in these books can help individuals and families better understand eating disorders, no one book will fully explain how the eating disorder functions for you or your loved one or replace treatment and human connection. 

Eating Recovery Center recommends discussing the insights gained from the book with your own treatment team or your loved one and their treatment team. Please copy, save, and bookmark this page for future reference. 

Adults

• Anti-Diet: Reclaim your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating – Christy Harrison, MPH, RD
• Belly of the Beast – Da’Shaun L. Harrison
• The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love – Sonya Renee Taylor
• Bodies out of Bounds – Jana Evans Braziel and Kathleen LeBesco
• Body Kindness – Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN
• Diary of an Exercise Addict – Peach Friedman
• Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationships with Food Through Myths, Metaphor, and Storytelling – Anita Johnston, PhD
• Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture – Virgina Sole-Smith
• Fearing the Black Body: The Radical Origins of Fat Phobia – Sabrina Strings
• Framing Fat – Samantha Kwan and Jennifer Graves
• The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should be Easy – Caroline Dooner
• Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life  (10th anniversary edition)– Jenni Schaefer
• How to Nourish Yourself Through an Eating Disorder – Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CED-S, CSSD and Casey Crosbie, RD, CEDS-S
• I'm Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
• Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach (4th edition) – Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S, FAND
• Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too (2nd edition) – Jennie Schaefer
• Lost and Lived In – Michelle Ray Prellz
• Making Peace With Your Plate: Eating Disorder Recovery (2nd edition)– Robyn Cruze and Espra Andrus, LCSW
• The Picky Eater’s Recovery Book: Overcoming Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder – Jennifer J. Thomas, Kendra R. Becker, and Kamryn T. Eddy
• Reclaiming Body Trust: Break Free from a Culture of Body Perfection, Disordered Eating, & Other Traumas – Hilary Kinavey, MS., LPC, and Dana Sturtevant, MS, RD
• Running in Silence – Rachael Steil
• Starving for Survival: One Man’s Journey with Orthorexia – Jason Wood
• The Wellness Trap – Christy Harrison, MPH, RD
• What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat – Aubrey Gordon
• You Have the Right to Remain Fat – Virgie Tovar
• “You Just Need to Lose Weight” and 19 Other Myths About Fat People – Aubrey Gordon

Recovery workbooks

• The Body Image Workbook (2nd edition) – Thomas F. Cash Ph.D.
• The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bulimia: Using DBT to Break the Cycle and Regain Control of Your Life – Ellen Astrachan-Fletcher, Ph.D. and Michael Maslar Psy.D.
• The Food & Feelings Workbook – Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed
• The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food – Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S and Elyse Resch MS, RDN, CEDRD-S, FAND
• The Radically Open DBT Workbook for Eating Disorders: From Overcontrol and Loneliness to Recovery and Connection – Karyn D. Hall PhD, Ellen Astrachan-Fletcher PhD, Mima Simic MD

Kids and teens

• Beautifully Me – Nabela Noor and Nabi H. Ali
• Big – Vashti Harrison
• Bodies Are Cool – Tyler Feder
• Love Your Body – Jessica Sanders
• My Food, Your Food, Our Food – Emma Carlson Berne
• No Weigh! A Teen’s Guide to Positive Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom – Signe Darpinian, Wendy Sterling, and Shelley Aggarwal
• Our Bodies – Kailee Coleman and Jameson Malone
• Some Bodies – Sophie Kennen
• Tomatoes for Neela – Padma Lakshmi and Juana Martinez-Neal

For guardians and caregivers*

• ARFID Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: A Guide for Parents and Carers – Rachel Bryant-Waugh
• Diet-Proof Your Daughter: A Mother's Guide to Raising Girls Who Have Happy, Healthy Relationships with Food and Body – Amelia Sherry, RDN, CDCES
• Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder – James Lock, MD, PhD and Daniel Le Grange, PhD
• How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder – Casey Crosbie, RD, CSSD and Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD
• Surviving an Eating Disorder: Strategies for Family and Friends (4th editition) – Michele Siegel, PhD, Judith Brisman, PhD, CEDS, and Margot Weinshel, LCSW

*Additional book recommendations for caregivers and those supporting someone with an eating disorder can be found on ERC’s Family Resources webpage.

For clinicians and providers

• Eating Disorders:  A Comprehensive Guide to Medical Care and Complications (4th edition) – Philip S. Mehler, M.D. & Arnold E. Anderson, M.D.
• Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders – Jennifer L. Gaudiani

Mood and general mental health resources (not eating disorder specific)

• Act with Love (2nd edition) – Russ Harris
• The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance (2nd edition) – Matthew McKay, PhD, Jeffrey C. Wood, PsyD, Jeffrey Brantley, MDMatthew McKay, PhD, Jeffrey C. Wood, PsyD, Jeffrey Brantley, MD
• Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life: The New Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – Steven Hayes, PhD and Spencer Smith
• The Happiness Trap (2nd edition) – Russ Harris
• A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters – Steven C. Hayes, PhD
• Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think, 2nd edition – Dennis Greenberger, PhD, Christine A. Padesky, PhD
• The Mindful Couple – Robyn Walser & Darrah Westrup
• The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook – Kristin Neff, PhD and Christopher Germer, PhD
• The Worry Trap: How to Free Yourself from Worry & Anxiety Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – Chad LeJeune Ph.D.

If you need more support and want information about our treatment options, please contact our Admissions team:

• Call 877-825-8584 
• Reach out to us by filling out this form

This list has been reviewed by Natalie Heimbrock RD, LD and Gina Valentino MS, RDN, LDN.

Find more eating disorder recovery resources here:

• Eating Disorder Recovery Tips for Tough Days
• Eating Disorder Relapse: Prevention & Planning
• Eating Disorder Facts and Myths