Resources:
Eating Disorders
Find Focus on the Family broadcasts, best-in-class books,
referral recommendations, and more.
Empty: A Story of Anorexia by Christie Pettit (not currently available through Focus on the Family)
For those who struggle with eating disorders, Pettit’s story offers hope in the battle over control and body image. Excerpts from her personal journals describe the comfort and victory she found in God’s Word and counseling.
God Loves Ugly & Love Makes Beautiful by Christa Black
Black vulnerably shares her story and invites you to look to the Lord for affirmation and healing—whether dealing with disordered eating or depression, or simply feeling insecure.
Hollow: An Unpolished Tale by Jena Morrow
Every day thousands of girls and women battle self-imposed starvation. Morrow chronicles her struggle with anorexia and shares how she found strength, acceptance, and healing as she fully surrendered control to a loving God.
Hope, Help, and Healing for Eating Disorders by Gregory Jantz, Ph.D.
Jantz looks at the physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual aspects of life, and how eating disorders—anorexia, bulimia, and overeating—relate to each area.
How to Help Your Hurting Friend by Susie Shellenberger
This book is geared to help teens support their friends who struggle with a variety of issues, including eating disorders, depression, suicidal thoughts, Internet addictions, self-mutilation, abuse, teen pregnancy, and homosexuality.
Life Inside the “Thin” Cage by Constance Rhodes (not currently available through Focus on the Family)
“A Personal Look Into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter”
“Mom, I Feel Fat!” by Sharon A. Hersh
“Becoming Your Daughter’s Ally in Developing a Healthy Body Image”
The Real Me: Being the Girl God Sees by Natalie Grant
Grant shares how a distorted self-image pushed her to a destructive eating disorder, and she reminds readers they’re not alone. She points to God’s perspective of our real worth.
She Teen: Safe, Healthy, Empowered by Rebecca St. James and Lynda Hunter Bjorklund (not currently available through Focus on the Family)
This bookzine hits some hot issues: sex and purity, body image and eating disorders, boundaries, and purpose in life.
Table in the Darkness: A Healing Journey Through an Eating Disorder by Lee Wolfe Blum
Blum shares her personal journey through an eating disorder, exercise addiction, and clinical depression. She offers others the same hope for healing she found with spiritual, psychological, and physiological resources.
Thin Enough: My Spiritual Journey Through the Living Death of an Eating Disorder by Sheryle Cruise
The teen and college years are a crucial time for young women—when positive or negative views about their bodies often manifest. This book offers hope that, with God’s love, those with eating disorders can rise above struggles.
Breaking Free from Chronic Dieting (Constance Rhodes)
Rhodes describes her former battle with bulimia, reveals how she found freedom from chronic dieting, and offers encouragement to those struggling with their weight.
Eating Disorders: What Today’s Parents Need to Know (Dr. Dena Cabrera)
Cabrera shares her own struggles with an eating disorder in college. She offers advice and encouragement to parents, helping them understand why girls often wrestle with disordered eating.
Parenting—Eating Disorders and Kids
Articles help parents identify if their teen is at risk for an eating disorder, and they offer information for finding help.
Parenting—The Truth About Eating Disorders
Learn the risk factors for developing an eating disorder, find biblical truth about beauty, and be encouraged by the hope of recovery for those struggling with disordered eating.
Focus on the Family Counseling Consultation Line
If you need someone to talk to, Focus on the Family offers a free phone counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. Call 1-855-771-HELP (4357), Monday through Friday, 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (MT).
Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network
Search for licensed Christian counselors in your area.
The Center – A Place of Hope
This organization offers whole-person treatment for disorders and addictions, including eating disorders.
Mercy Ministries of America
This biblically based organization offers hope and healing for young women seeking freedom from life-controlling problems, such as depression, drug and alcohol addictions, eating disorders, and physical and sexual abuse.
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders
This secular non-profit organization seeks to meet the needs of anorexics and their families. It provides counseling, information, and referrals; self-help groups for victims and their parents; educational programs; and a referral list of therapists, hospitals, and clinics that treat these illnesses.
Selah House
Selah House, located in Indiana, is a place to reclaim freedom from eating disorders. Selah House offers Christian treatment for women and teen girls with a primary diagnosis of anorexia, bulimia, ARFID, OSFED, or other co-occurring disorders.
Timberline Knolls
This residential treatment center for women and adolescent girls addresses eating disorders, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, trauma and PTSD, and mood and anxiety disorders.
Referrals to secular organizations dealing with specialized areas of knowledge shouldn’t be read as an indication that their stances necessarily align with Focus on the Family’s perspective in all areas.
