Career Goals After ED Treatment

Too often the eating disorder becomes our identity. Our label. What we have. And when we no longer have it (well, mostly we don’t) anymore, who are we? What are our goals after eating disorder treatment?

We must reclaim our pre-eating-disorder selves. You know, that guy or girl who had dreams of what he or she wanted to be before the storm hit. Before the eating disorder struck. Those dreams remain, but they may be buried beneath all you’ve been through.

Don’t Let ED Define You

Post-treatment, when you think you have a pretty good handle on recovery, it’s time to salvage those what-I-want-to-do-when-I-grow-up dreams. And maybe the dreams have changed since you’ve struggled with an eating disorder and arrived on the other side; either way explore your goals and try to make a roadmap to them.

You may have to start small. In fact, you probably shouldn’t take on too much stress and pressure early in your recovery. Recovery is hard enough.

If it was easy, no one would die from an eating disorder. But, sadly they do. Not you, though. You have goals. You’re on the other side of this illness and ready to recover your true self.

Set Goals After Eating Disorder Treatment

Before you leave treatment, discuss plans with your therapist or anyone on your treatment team. Make small goals, and pat yourself on the back when you achieve them because you will.

If you’re out of treatment and haven’t had these discussions, do it with your outpatient therapist. Talk about your goals. Do you want to be an artist, lawyer, stockbroker, therapist, writer, etc.?

What are your strengths? You have them. We all do. Maybe the eating disorder caused you to forget them. Well, forget the eating disorder. Remember your innate strengths, they are a part of you. The eating disorder? It’s not you.

All Progress is Good

Just like people go into treatment from different places in life, people come out of treatment to different worlds. Maybe you’re in the middle of college or a career.

Maybe you were doing one of the hardest jobs of all and raising children. It’s difficult to jump right back into it. You’re carrying with you this trunk of experiences from treatment that nobody outside of treatment knows.

That’s okay. This is your time to shine – to see the world through conscious, recovered eyes.

Eyes that have turned inward and asked yourself, why? These are eyes of wisdom.

These are your eyes. Maybe you’ve lost a few months, even a year or two, to treatment. Your friends and/or co-workers have “moved on.” It’s not the same. And it shouldn’t be.

The same is where you developed an eating disorder. Different is you pursuing your career goals and not giving in to the eating disorder. That’s different.

And your purpose is to find your purpose because it’s not starving or bingeing or purging. Your purpose is far greater than this. And while you are the only who knows it, you have many people helping you pursue it.

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About the Author:

Leigh Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with minors in Creative Writing and French from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She is a published author and journalist with 15 years of experience, and a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism. Leigh is recovered from a near-fatal, decade-long battle with anorexia and the mother of three young, rambunctious children.

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The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders.  These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer a discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.  We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors.  If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on August 28, 2015. Published on EatingDisorderHope.com