Recovered Q&A - How Jenny Mullaney recovered from her own eating disorder, Part 1
Jenny Mullaney is a Carolyn Costin Institute (CCI) certified eating disorder recovery coach and performing artist working out of NYC. As a recovery coach, Jenny offers many services to her clients, including meal time support, real-life recovery skills, and even live-in coaching.
However, before becoming a recovery coach, Jenny suffered from own eating disorder. With a lot of hard work, introspection, and the right help, Jenny was able to recover and now lives a happy life without an eating disorder.
In part 1 of this interview, Jenny discusses the details of how she changed and what helped her find the motivation to heal.
The Interview, Part 1
Joe: What was the biggest factor that helped push you to recover?
Jenny: The support of my treatment team. I really cared about making them happy and I wanted the kind of life that they had, so I listened to what they had to say.
Joe: Many clients that start therapy with me say “I want to get better, but…”. What were some of your “buts” and how did you overcome them?
Jenny: My biggest “but” was that I wanted to get better, but I didn’t want my body to change. I struggled with this one for a while. I really wanted to find a way to have my sick body and my recovery at the same time. But over time, I realized that these two things can’t go together. Luckily, my treatment team was flexible and let me recover in steps, which for me meant taking some periods of time to gain weight, then pausing my weight gain to get used to the changes I was feeling, and then reevaluating my goals over time. This let me get gradually used to my body as it changed.
Joe: Why do you believe in ‘recovered’ vs. ‘always being in recovery’?
Jenny: I know that it's possible because I live it every day: I no longer have issues with food, eating, my body - any of it. In fact, I think I have a better relationship with these things compared to the average person. If I can do it, so can anyone else.
Joe: What helped you ‘get a handle’ on your emotions as you progressed through recovery?
Jenny: As simple as it sounds, learning to not use eating disorder behaviors made all the difference. I learned that I could handle my feelings by feeling them over time and seeing that they were actually OK to feel.
Joe: If someone criticized your appearance today, how would that make you feel?
Jenny: This happened to me recently! I was wearing a dress in public and a random woman came up to me and asked if me, and my friend, were pregnant. I was shocked and stunned. That being said, as much as I didn’t appreciate it, it didn’t feel like it would have if I were still in my eating disorder or even early recovery. Looking back, instead of being mad at myself, I am annoyed with her for commenting on other women’s bodies (where’s the solidarity, sister?).
Joe: How did you learn to accept your body as it progressed through recovery?
Jenny: The first step was learning to appreciate that my body in recovery was able to dance again. I had energy again. I also used to do some reality testing by comparing myself to other people and I started to understand what I actually looked like by doing this. I tried to avoid reflective surfaces outside of my dance studio. As a dancer, I also tried to focus less on how I looked and more on my form and technique: what dancing is supposed to be about.
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If you want to learn more about Jenny’s services, check out the links below:
Bio: https://www.recoveredispossible.com/about
Recovery coaching services: https://www.recoveredispossible.com/services
