Recent Posts
The Reason I’m Both Catholic and in Recovery
The response of Pilate to our Lord betrays the skeptical view that there is no discernable, universal truth that can be discerned. Or to put it succinctly: “It is all relative.” Your truth is your truth and mine is mine and never the twain shall meet. I was blessed...
Did My Mom Cause My Eating Disorder? Faith, Powerlessness, and Recovery
I haven’t spoken to my mother in over two decades, but every once in a while, when I’m walking through a rainy parking lot in a pair of jeans, I’ll still hear her voice speak from my memory. I hear her tell me that my legs look like stuffed sausages, just like she did...
Spiritual Snacking: Taking Your Eating Disorder On Retreat
I love retreats, and I’ve been to a lot of them. There’s just something about getting away from the usual faces and the usual routine in order to meet others who are drawn to God in the same way I am. There’s also one feature that just about every retreat has that can...
Overcoming Alcoholism and Unhealthy Eating through the “Spiritual Toolkit” of the Twelve Steps
I am a miracle. I am a recovering alcoholic and anorexic. It is my hope that by sharing my experience of addiction and recovery, I can bring awareness to others that there is a solution, and that through it they may experience a “spiritual awakening.” A spiritual...
Dante and Recovery Part 3: Vice, Virtue, and Character Defects (Cont.)
In the previous article, we journeyed with Dante from the first terrace of Mt. Purgatory to the fourth, covering the sins or character defects of pride, envy, wrath, and sloth. Dante sees firsthand how the souls are purified from their attachments to particular sins...
Losing Control: Navigating Disordered Eating & Lenten Fasting
I used to treat Lent like yet another diet. My eating disorder is binge-restrict: I didn’t like the size of my body, so I’d restrict. Restricting was painful. Food was my comfort, so I binged. I’d then feel bad about my trashed self-control and poor body image, so I’d...
A Look at Internal Family Systems Therapy for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes
In ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and ACDH (Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes) meetings, we often hear about people doing IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapy. So I decided to do a little research and discovered Souls and Hearts founded by Dr. Peter...
Do I Really Need a Sponsor for Food-related Recovery?
The short answer? Yes. The long answer? Yes, you can’t do this alone. If you are like me, you have begged God to relieve you of your addictive or compulsive behavior. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed, asking God to make me wake up thin and promising to give...
Beauty, Eros, and Why Pornography Is So Hard to Overcome
In his writings, Saint Thomas Aquinas describes sight to be the principal and primary of all the senses. His reasoning is that when we open our eyes and look at something, we are immediately abstracting—taking into our minds—what we see and rearranging it in an...
The Magic If: Acting Our Way out of Compulsive Overeating
I never imagined that God would use my theatre degree to save my life. Since I received my acting and directing training before Method Acting got its current bad reputation, I was trained in what’s called Stanislavski’s Method, which involves a number of exercises an...
The Reason I’m Both Catholic and in Recovery
The response of Pilate to our Lord betrays the skeptical view that there is no discernable, universal truth that can be discerned. Or to put it succinctly: “It is all relative.” Your truth is your truth and mine is mine and never the twain shall meet. I was blessed...
Did My Mom Cause My Eating Disorder? Faith, Powerlessness, and Recovery
I haven’t spoken to my mother in over two decades, but every once in a while, when I’m walking through a rainy parking lot in a pair of jeans, I’ll still hear her voice speak from my memory. I hear her tell me that my legs look like stuffed sausages, just like she did...
Spiritual Snacking: Taking Your Eating Disorder On Retreat
I love retreats, and I’ve been to a lot of them. There’s just something about getting away from the usual faces and the usual routine in order to meet others who are drawn to God in the same way I am. There’s also one feature that just about every retreat has that can...
Overcoming Alcoholism and Unhealthy Eating through the “Spiritual Toolkit” of the Twelve Steps
I am a miracle. I am a recovering alcoholic and anorexic. It is my hope that by sharing my experience of addiction and recovery, I can bring awareness to others that there is a solution, and that through it they may experience a “spiritual awakening.” A spiritual...
Dante and Recovery Part 3: Vice, Virtue, and Character Defects (Cont.)
In the previous article, we journeyed with Dante from the first terrace of Mt. Purgatory to the fourth, covering the sins or character defects of pride, envy, wrath, and sloth. Dante sees firsthand how the souls are purified from their attachments to particular sins...
Losing Control: Navigating Disordered Eating & Lenten Fasting
I used to treat Lent like yet another diet. My eating disorder is binge-restrict: I didn’t like the size of my body, so I’d restrict. Restricting was painful. Food was my comfort, so I binged. I’d then feel bad about my trashed self-control and poor body image, so I’d...
A Look at Internal Family Systems Therapy for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes
In ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) and ACDH (Adult Children of Dysfunctional Homes) meetings, we often hear about people doing IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapy. So I decided to do a little research and discovered Souls and Hearts founded by Dr. Peter...
Do I Really Need a Sponsor for Food-related Recovery?
The short answer? Yes. The long answer? Yes, you can’t do this alone. If you are like me, you have begged God to relieve you of your addictive or compulsive behavior. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed, asking God to make me wake up thin and promising to give...
Beauty, Eros, and Why Pornography Is So Hard to Overcome
In his writings, Saint Thomas Aquinas describes sight to be the principal and primary of all the senses. His reasoning is that when we open our eyes and look at something, we are immediately abstracting—taking into our minds—what we see and rearranging it in an...
The Magic If: Acting Our Way out of Compulsive Overeating
I never imagined that God would use my theatre degree to save my life. Since I received my acting and directing training before Method Acting got its current bad reputation, I was trained in what’s called Stanislavski’s Method, which involves a number of exercises an...