How the NEDA Screening Tool Woke Me Up

For so long, I existed in what I thought was a gray area. The entity I can now recognize as diet culture was guiding me for my whole life, or at least beginning from the moment I understood that hating my body was commonplace. As a child, I considered the images and perspectives from TV, […]

Perspectives on Diversity and Being Marginalized from Both Sides of the Couch

The acknowledgement of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnic background and cross-cultural differences is necessary and vital to building the therapeutic relationship. All of these things contribute towards one’s identity and, in my experiences as a clinician, are always present in the room with clients. This blog is offered as a collaborative piece between an […]

Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat on Receiving the NEDA Inspires Award

At the NEDA Annual Gala on May 16th, 2018 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, Becca McCharen Tran of CHROMAT accepted the NEDA Inspires Seal of Approval Award. Her remarks that evening were powerful and we’d like to share them with you here… Thank you so much Emme for your kind words. I’m […]

Thank You For Everything, Mom.

I feel extremely lucky to have a mother that is also my best friend. She has and always will be a source of comfort for me. When I was in elementary school and would come home from ballet class in tears because the teacher made me feel badly about my body my mom would hug […]

Every Day – Taking Recovery One Day at a Time.

Imagine you take one of those vibrating back-massagers (the kind that look like little plastic squid creatures you might find at a CVS) and place it on the back of your head. Then, use duct tape to secure the massager to your head by wrapping the tape around your jaw – kind of like a […]

Purpose for the Pain: Fusing My Story with My Passion for Music

“I’m tired of trying so hard to be what everybody else wants me to be, so now I’m fighting for the girl…little girl in the mirror.”  Penning these lyrics was one of the most freeing and rewarding feelings in the world.  If someone had told me when I was a teenager that struggling with and […]

How My Mom Helped Save My Life

I can vividly recall my first day at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital clinic. I had already been sick for 3 years, in which time I had seen more treatment providers than I can count on two hands. I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever get better. My EKG showed my heart […]

When You Feel Like Giving Up in Recovery, Pause

When I began my recovery from my Eating Disorder (ED), Anorexia Nervosa (AN), I had a lot of momentum. I was sprinting towards a “recovery finish line” that I had imagined for myself within a self-imposed timeframe of a few months. This was in stark contrast to my 23 years of living with AN. At […]

Speaking at the DC NEDA Walk: A Milestone in My Recovery

Most of us have heard this before: recovery is not a linear process. As I graduated from treatment in November 2017, I kept that message in mind. My outpatient team and my family continue to remind me that I don’t have to seek perfection in my recovery; ups and downs are to be expected. In […]