No two eating disorders are the same, just as no two people are the same. Reading a variety of eating disorder books for therapists can help expose clinicians to a broad range of personal stories and evidence-based therapeutic interventions. It’s also helpful to read books that aren’t explicitly about eating disorders, but instead share perspectives that offer context to the complex cultural issues that inform these dangerous disorders.
Everyone’s recovery process is different. These recommended eating disorder books for therapists provide a diverse range of resources that can help mental health professionals provide more effective, nuanced personalized care and compassion to patients suffering from disordered eating.
💁 In this guide, you’ll find out more about the following recommended eating disorder books for therapists:
- Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat by Stephanie Covington Armstrong
- Empty by Susan Burton
- What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk about Fat by Aubrey Gordon
- Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
- Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch & Evelyn Tribole
- Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
- Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey
Why read eating disorder books for therapists?
According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD):
- Eating disorders (ED) have the second highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
- In part, that statistic is due to the fact that the risk of suicide for people with anorexia is 18 times higher than those who don’t suffer from it.
- BIPOC folks are about half as likely as white patients to be diagnosed with ED.
- LGTBQ youth are three times more likely to develop ED than their straight peers.
- 75% of trans college students with ED attempt suicide.
- Cisgender girls with ADHD are three times more likely to have ED.
- Two-thirds of people with larger bodies and ED have experienced such stigma from doctors, many of them stop seeking treatment.
That’s all to say: Eating disorders are a pervasive issue in our culture. Plus, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, and other eating disorders often co-occur with other mental health disorders.
With tens of millions of people struggling with those disorders each day, it’s likely that therapists will encounter patients with ED throughout their careers. So, it’s important that therapists be prepared — even if you’re not a specialized eating disorder therapist. For eating disorder therapists and helps to read first-hand accounts from people with ED, evidence-based strategies for treatment, and a variety of books that contextualize the cultural influences, pressures, and discrimination that can lead to ED.
Our list of recommended eating disorder books for therapists is a useful starting point.
We hope it helps.
1. Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat by Stephanie Covington Armstrong
With eating disorders often misunderstood as “a white girl problem,” the experiences of Black people with ED are often overlooked and underdiagnosed. In response to that, Armstrong’s painfully illuminating memoir of one Black woman’s life-long struggle with bulimia adds a vital intersectional voice to the canon of personal narratives about eating disorders.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
A mental health memoir like this one is especially important for non-Black therapists to read. It’ll help broaden their perspectives about how different communities and individuals are affected by compulsive cycles of food addiction, purging, and restriction.
2. Empty by Susan Burton
Best known for her work on This American Life, Susan Burton’s memoir chronicles her life-long battle with compulsive eating and restriction. Burton’s story will be illuminating for anyone who’s unfamiliar with the agony, shame, and psychology behind binge eating disorder and anorexia — while those who are all-too-familiar with it will feel less alone, perhaps for the first time. First-hand accounts and research about binge eating disorder are particularly few and far between, so Burton’s revealing story is a beacon of hope for those still suffering.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
Therapists will appreciate this personal insight into the experience of food addiction and compulsions that can help them better recognize the signs of binge eating disorder and better understand the lived experiences of their patients suffering from it.
3. What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about Fat by Aubrey Gordon
This book explores the cultural biases and systemic issues that breed anti-fatness and propel forward the current social justice movement around fat liberation. It’s an issue that affects everyone, regardless of size and identity, and Gordon writes about it with urgency and clarity.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
Although not strictly an eating disorder book, Aubrey Gordon’s work will enlighten therapists unfamiliar with fat activism and contextualize many of the appalling struggles that fat people with ED face. For example, with more than 50% of doctors viewing fat patients as “awkward, unattractive, ugly, and noncompliant,” it’s clear that healthcare professionals of all kinds could benefit from a perspective shift on this subject.
4. Belly of the Beast by Da'shaun L. Harrison
This trailblazing book about “The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness” is the first of its kind to be written from the intersectional perspective of a fat, Black, disabled, non-binary writer. Harrison’s personal stories, theory, and cultural research expose the harms of anti-fatness and anti-Blackness.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
This succinct volume is also not focused solely on eating disorders, but it’s a crucial text for therapists who want to understand more about the consequences and intersections of fatness, Blackness, disability, gender, and violence in our culture.
5. Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch & Evelyn Tribole
This is one of those rare pop self-help books that many therapists actually recommend. Intuitive Eating is a compassionate approach to rejecting the diet mentality that often leads to or accompanies eating disorders.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
Eating disorder recovery is about way more than just food, but the practical strategies of intuitive eating are a useful part of therapists’ toolkits.
6. Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
In many ways a natural evolution to Intuitive Eating, Harrison’s book dives into the insidious history of diet and wellness culture. Her social justice-informed approach to intuitive eating and health at every size (HAES) will resonate with many readers.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
This book is an invaluable opportunity for therapists to get more insight into the cultural context around intuitive eating and the ravages of diet culture.
7. Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey
The subtitle of this book says it all: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation. In a toxic wellness culture that focuses primarily on white cishet perspectives, Kinsey’s prioritization of wellness tools specifically tailored for marginalized folks makes this an important resource for any therapist or client.
Why read this eating disorder book for therapists?
With BIPOC and LGBTQ folks at higher risk of harm — whether through eating disorders, suicide, or violence and discrimination from others — this book serves as a guide that therapists can use and recommend to their QTBIPOC clients in need of support.
FAQ | Eating Disorder Books for Therapists
Why is it useful for therapists to read eating disorder books?
Reading books on eating disorder recovery helps mental health professionals gain insights into diverse personal stories and evidence-based therapeutic treatment options. It helps therapists understand the complexity of disordered eating and provides context to cultural issues influencing these disorders.
What are some recommended eating disorder memoirs?
- Not All Black Girls Know How to Eat by Stephanie Covington Armstrong
- Empty by Susan Burton
What are some recommended eating disorder treatment books?
- Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch & Evelyn Tribole
- Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
- Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey
What are some recommended books that give more cultural context to eating disorders and body image issues?
- What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk about Fat by Aubrey Gordon
- Belly of the Beast by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
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If you’re looking for more mental health book recommendations, check out: 71 of the Best Books for Therapists.
Ada Peng
Ada Peng is a spatial data analyst and Chief AI architect at Orchid. Before joining Orchid, Ada honed her skills as an engineer at HNTB. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Ada is actively engaged in the tech community, organizing AI and healthtech meetups in San Francisco and New York. While pursuing her dual master’s degree in City Planning and Urban Spatial Analytics at UPenn, Ada founded the Urban Studies Workshop, showcasing her commitment to fostering innovation and leadership.
