How to Help Your Child Overcome an Eating Disorder: Advice from Tracey Yokas

The Body Love Binge - Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast

In this episode of the Body Love Binge Podcast, host Victoria Kleinsman interviews Tracey Yokas, an advocate for mental health and wellness. Tracey shares her family's journey with mental illness to help others know they are not alone.

The conversation focuses on Tracey's experience as a mother to a daughter struggling with disordered eating and depression. She provides insight into how a parent's past can impact how they show up for their children, especially when difficulties arise.

Overall, listeners can expect to gain perspective on mothering children with mental health issues. There is also helpful advice around self-care, healing generational trauma, and embracing imperfection.

Guest Bio:

Tracey Yokas is dedicated to supporting women on their wellness journeys. She earned her master's degree in counseling psychology and lives with her family in California. Tracey creates art and writes about mental health to help destigmatize related issues. She recently published a memoir entitled "Bloodlines: A Memoir of Harm and Healing."

Tracy's book: https://traceyyokascreates.com

Main Discussion Points:

- The grief over Tracey's mother's passing preceded the onset of her daughter's eating disorder symptoms at age 13 (06:50). She believes death and grief can trigger mental health struggles.

- As a parent, Tracey felt confused, scared and angry in response to her daughter's eating disorder behaviors (12:02). She sought professional help, but her daughter continued declining.

- Tracey emphasizes the importance of parents getting therapy to heal themselves. This enables them to be better support systems (14:44).

- Her daughter ultimately spent time in intensive outpatient therapy as well as two residential treatment centers. Tracey says there's no one answer, but time and engagement played a big role in recovery (29:02).

Quotes:

"I realised that the only thing I could do was start doing my own work to heal that and then allow my daughter to see me taking my own journey seriously." (39:44)

"The relationship we want with other people is on the other side of the one we have with ourselves." (43:11)

"Our children are people. Can we look at them without all of that baggage that was put on us by our parents?" (52:01)

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