Episode 027

Getting to Recovery, Staying Recovered: A Mother-Daughter Story (with Ellen Ewing and Josie Brown)

In this episode, Jenni Gaines and Laura Cohen sit down with Josie Brown and her mom, Ellen Ewing, to talk about something we don't hear enough about: what it looks like to stay recovered. Josie, now around eight years recovered from anorexia, shares how her illness began without dramatic weight loss---she simply stopped growing for five years---and how her autism diagnosis, which came after recovery, reframed her experience of sensory overload and shame in residential treatment. Ellen, who chairs the FEAST board of directors, describes adapting treatment to her daughter rather than the other way around, from changing the locks at mealtimes to supporting the yoga, climbing, and outdoor life that gave Josie a reason to stay well. Together they walk through the "frame shift" that carried Josie from feeling like an individual floating in space to a person connected to the world around her, how she took ownership of her own recovery, and how climbing went from part of the disorder to a moving meditation and a career coaching kids. Listeners will come away with a rare, hopeful picture of full recovery---and Ellen's reminder that you are the expert on your own child.

00:00 Introduction and Disclaimer

01:15 Meet Josie Brown and Ellen Ewing

03:15 How Josie's Eating Disorder Began

05:45 Five Years Without Growing

09:15 Autism, Sensory Overload, and Residential Treatment

14:00 Shame in Treatment and Adapting Care at Home

17:00 You're the Expert on Your Child

19:30 The Frame Shift: Reconnecting to the World

24:00 Taking Ownership of Recovery

28:30 The Click Over and Letting Go

32:00 Silver Linings and Driven Traits

33:30 Does the Eating Disorder Ever Pop Up Now?

37:00 Climbing Out of Anorexia

42:00 Coaches, Mentors, and the Unofficial Treatment Team

45:30 What to Hold On To: Full Recovery Is Possible

SUPPORT & RESOURCES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FEAST website:

https://feast-ed.org/

FEAST programs and services:

https://feast-ed.org/programs-and-services/

Climbing Out of Anorexia, by Josie Brown (FEAST blog):

https://feast-ed.org/climbing-out-of-anorexia/

Anorexia on the Spectrum, by Ellen Ewing (FEAST blog):

https://feast-ed.org/anorexia-on-the-spectrum/

Guest Bio:

Josie Brown lives with her husband and cat, Sam, in a converted school bus in Western North Carolina, where she enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, and getting lost in the woods. Over the past eight years, she has graduated high school and college, worked as an elementary school teacher, gotten married, and built a life on her own terms.

Ellen Ewing is Josie's mom and supported her throughout treatment and recovery from anorexia. She has been on the FEAST Board of Directors for 6 years and currently serves as the Board Chair. Before retiring she was an executive at a large multinational corporation. Now she is a painter and does volunteer work for nonprofits in the eating disorder space.