BOOK REVIEWS: The Food and Feelings Workbook
By Kelly Coutee, RN, MA, LMFT, LPC
Reprinted from Eating Disorders Recovery Today
Fall 2008 Volume 6, Number 4
©2008 Gürze Books
Food and Feelings Workbook A Full Course Meal on Emotional Health |
The Food and Feelings Workbook, by Karen R. Koenig, LCSW, M.Ed is a "full course meal on emotional health." Based on the Cognitive-Behavioral treatment model—that our beliefs create our feelings and our feelings produce our behaviors—this is truly a book about how listening to feelings can heal your life.
In her 30 years of teaching and counseling, the author noticed that many people have difficulty maintaining recovery specifically in the area of handling emotions. Noting that certain kinds of distress were too scary, overwhelming, intense and unbearable, she offers a powerful understanding about emotional suffering: that feelings have intrinsic purpose and value and that it is possible to be with even the most intense pain and not crumble or collapse. What's more, by learning to handle emotions effectively and appropriately, readers can let go of dysfunctional eating and creating a happier, more satisfying life.
The Food and Feelings Workbook focuses on seven specific feelings that drive people to disordered eating more than others: guilt, shame, helplessness, anxiety, disappointment, confusion, and loneliness. Each of these feelings is explored in detail, and readers are encouraged to journal with "Stop and Feel" questions, "Practice Exercises," and "Questions for Further Exploration." Engaging stories are effective in making clear not only that overwhelming emotions can be survived, but also that they have lessons to teach. This knowledge empowers readers to courageously identify and experience their feelings and learn to trust that they can self-regulate.
