Reclaiming You: The Field Guide: Practical Strategies for Building Confidence and Wellness after Eating Disorders (The Psychology of Wellbeing Field Guides Series Book 4)
About
Recovery from an eating disorder doesn’t pause for dinner parties, doctor’s appointments, or Tuesday mornings in the supermarket. It happens in ordinary life — in the moments before a meal, in a changing room, across a table from someone who knew you when you were sick.
Reclaiming You: The Field Guide is a practical companion for adults in eating disorder recovery who need strategies for real-world situations — not more theory about why they happened.
Across eight chapters, the guide covers the domains where recovery creates friction with daily life:
Food and eating in public — restaurants, comments on your plate, buffets, food as love in your culture
Body image in the real world — mirrors, changing rooms, being photographed, the scale at the doctor’s office
Social situations — diet talk, “you look so well,” explaining why you left treatment
Relationships — dating and disclosure, partners who don’t know how to help, parenting while recovering
Medical settings — advocating for yourself, leaving a therapist, medication and appetite
Exercise and movement — compulsive exercise, rest days, finding movement that isn’t punishment
Setbacks and relapse — telling your therapist, the shame spiral, getting back on track
Daily living — grocery shopping, cooking for yourself, mornings, the gap between recovered and functional
Each scenario gives you the psychological mechanism, three clearly labelled options with “works when” guidance, and scripts for when things go sideways. The tone is honest rather than optimistic: recovery is hard, relapse is common, and the goal of each situation isn’t perfection — it’s sufficient.
Also covers ARFID and OSFED presentations; neurodivergent readers (high comorbidity between ASD/ADHD and eating disorders is acknowledged throughout); and loved ones supporting someone in recovery.
Written by Dr. Melanie du Preez — clinical psychologist with 26+ years of experience specialising in eating disorders, BWRT Levels 1 & 2 practitioner, and late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD individual. The Fourth volume in the Psychology of Wellbeing Field Guides Series.
This guide does not replace professional treatment. If you are in acute distress, please contact a mental health professional or crisis service.