Recently a colleague asked me, "Do you try to get your clients to diminish their bingeing behaviors from the beginning of therapy, before you together have explored the feelings that are fueling that behavior? I know there are differing views on this, and I would be interested in hearing yours."

When I heard this question, several points of equal value, in my opinion, arrived simultaneously in my mind concerning therapy work with eating disorder patients. Since writing is linear I can only communicate one point at a time. Please understand that these considerations are simultaneous.

My first thought was that I don't try to 'get' my clients to do anything. I want them to heal and develop the capacity to live a fulfilling and satisfying life. But what that means to them and how they specifically accomplish that falls into the realm of their personal values, decision making and evolution.

If you are suffer from anorexia you do not eat in ways that fully nourish your body. Yet you, like the lovely lotus, need nourishment to radiate the vibrant beauty of health. Without adequate nourishment the lotus will wither and die. Would you starve this flower?