Eating Disorder Pro

For those of you wondering whether or not to work with Dr. Norton…

If you’re like me, you recognize that there is a problem. Most of your time and energy is consumed with thoughts of food and appearance and wishing you were someone else. You know your life could be so much more fulfilling and that there could be so much more freedom without the worries, obsessions, preoccupations. You want to be a respected, successful, wise, mature adult . . . but you don’t want to part with childhood. You want to be happy . . . but you don’t want to lose the attention that comes from being miserable or from having “special problems.” You want to be healthy . . . but you don’t want to gain weight.

You might have started slowly down the path of self-demise with every intention of stopping at the nearest exit and heading towards Good Health and/or Self-Acceptance. But, you rationalized, that you just needed to drop a few more pounds to feel more energized, or to look just a bit more sculpted, or to retain your youthfulness. Just a few more, and then just a few more after that, but it’s never enough. Somehow you got stuck on autopilot! And thank goodness for cruise control so you didn’t have to think. You saw the warning signs and of course you ignored them. You saw the roadblocks, which , because of the driven person that you are, you just plowed right through. You kept on truckin.’

You might have stopped for directions, but you didn’t really follow them. At times you were forced to have some maintenance or repairs done when there was just too much damage to go on. You may even have done some re-fueling along the way. More often than not, you kept ending up on one-way streets with names like Desperation, and Isolation. Treatment may have seemed to offer “no outlet” for you.

Now, you are at the fork in the road and you must choose between “right” and “left.” If you’re headed to the “left,” you’ve probably already “left” behind family, friends, jobs, and hobbies. All that’s left to leave is life itself. Dr. Norton will meet you at the fork in the road and together you will plot a map with many possible routes to wellness. She is not the typical crossing guard; you are allowed to step outside the solid lines if that’s what works for you. She won’t give you a citation if you break some of the rules along the road to recovery. With Dr. Norton, it’s not “my way or the highway.” Even if you’re on a crash course towards the ultimate EXIT, Dr. Norton will accept you, listen to you, and allow you to determine your destiny.

In seeking help from Dr. Norton rather than a traditional in-patient eating disorder treatment center, I believe that I’ve taken the road “less traveled by/and that has made all the difference” (Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken). If your life is stuck in idle or if you seem to have taken a detour, Dr. Norton will encourage you to trade-in your old habits and test-drive alternative, better ones.
Only you can truly steer yourself toward happiness, self-acceptance, and well-being, but Dr. Norton could be your compass. She has been mine!

Written by a patient recovering from severe Bulimarexia.

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Dear Dr. Norton,

It has become clear treatment for our daughter is coming to an end and I wanted to take a minute to tell you how grateful we are for what you have done for our family. I look back to when we first started treatment with no understanding of our daughter’s illness, the roles we all played in arriving to that point, and little understanding of the role we would play in the recovery. The craft you have in bringing the issue’s to the surface, understanding and accepting our behavior, and the diligence and determination you had to help us will never be forgotten. Throughout the process I felt the situation would never end. My feeling now is that the process needed adequate time for you to understand all the dynamics of our situation, for all parties to open up and allow you to get to work. I know that my wife and I both tried your patience, but again you persevered with our best interest in mind. You got it done!

I am thankful you agreed to help us. The perspective you have on other treatment options, the open minded comments to the curve balls we constantly threw your way convinces me the experience you have is a valuable asset to anyone in our situation and I would give you glowing reviews if I ever had the opportunity.

We have our daughter back! She is a happy productive college student preparing to be a successful adult. She is very supportive and thankful for what you have done for her, and your support will never be forgotten.

Thank you for all you have done,

M.V.M.

This letter was received on February 22, 2008 from a father of a recovered patient.