Recovery is Not Linear with Heather Hower, MSW, LICSW, ACSW, QCSW

 

Episode 80 - Recovery is Not Linear with Heather Hower, MSW, LICSW, ACSW, QCSW

by Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS

In this episode, I am joined by Heather Hower, MSW, LICSW, ACSW, QCSW, Faculty Research Associate at Brown University School of Public Health and Faculty Associate at the University of California San Diego School (UCSD) of Medicine Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research. Heather is a grant reviewer, faculty member, conference presenter and proposal reviewer, manuscript reviewer, research assistant, blog writer, and advocate. Heather’s current research interests include capitalizing on eating disorder traits as strengths, promoting temperament-based treatments, and defining recovery.

SOME OF THE TOPICS DISCUSSED:

  • How regaining sanity/mental health can be a motivation to recover

  • The void that exists in between the eating disorder voice and thoughts of anxiety

  • How nature versus nurture contributes to a heightened risk of developing an eating disorder 

  • Embracing your body through “joyful movement”

  • How the assumption that recovery is a linear process is a set up for failure

ABOUT HEATHER HOWER:

Heather Hower, MSW, LICSW, ACSW, QCSW, earned her BA in psychology from Brown University, and her MSW in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in RI, and is focused on conducting psychiatry research studies in youth.

Heather serves as a Faculty Research Associate at Brown University School of Public Health and as Faculty Associate at the University of California San Diego School (UCSD) of Medicine Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research. She is also a Faculty Member at Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), including a member of the Professionals and Recovery Special Interest Group (SIG), Experts by Experience (ExE) Committee, and SIG Oversight Committee (SOC). Heather is on the Board of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), a grant reviewer for the Department of Defense (DOD), a Faculty Member and conference presenter at Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), a conference proposal reviewer for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp), a manuscript reviewer for the International Journal of Eating Disorders (IJED), an advocate for the Eating Disorder Coalition (EDC), a research assistant for Jenni Schaefer’s forthcoming book, and a writer of blogs for NEDA, Jenni Schaefer, Project HEAL, Medium, and F.E.A.S.T.

Heather’s current research interests include capitalizing on eating disorder traits as strengths, promoting temperament-based treatments, and defining recovery.

ABOUT KARIN LEWIS:

Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS has been recovered from Anorexia Nervosa for over 20 years and has been specializing in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders since 2005. Karin is the founder of the Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center located in Boston, MA. You can visit Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center online to learn more about Karin and her center’s services. You can also connect with Karin on social media by following her on Facebook and Instagram.