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Things I've learned, in one place.

Sharing bits from nearly five decades of work, gathered here for you — books, talks, essays, short videos, recovery tips and now a podcast of my own. Take what helps. Leave the rest for later. This is here whenever you need it.

Books

Books by Carolyn Costin.

8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder

8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder

Carolyn Costin & Gwen Schubert Grabb

The heart of Carolyn's philosophy, written with Gwen Grabb — a former client, now a therapist, both recovered from their own eating disorder. A summary of the most fundamental keys to recovery. These eight keys have helped thousands to become fully recovered.

Buy on Amazon →
The 8 Keys Workbook

The 8 Keys Workbook

Carolyn Costin & Gwen Schubert Grabb

An important addition to the original — new material, exercises, journal prompts and challenges that move things along. Where reading becomes doing, and doing is how recovery happens.

Buy on Amazon →
The Eating Disorders Sourcebook

The Eating Disorders Sourcebook

Carolyn Costin

A comprehensive sourcebook for understanding and treating eating disorders — covering causes, symptoms, treatment, and the paths to getting well.

Buy on Amazon →
100 Questions & Answers About Eating Disorders

100 Questions & Answers About Eating Disorders

Carolyn Costin

The questions everyone asks, answered plainly and kindly. An easy, straightforward place to start — especially for families finding their footing.

Buy on Amazon →
Your Dieting Daughter

Your Dieting Daughter: Is She Dying for Attention?

Carolyn Costin — first edition (1996)

Focuses on the essentials of nutrition with clear guidelines for healthy eating, dispels the myths promoted by the diet industry, and includes a review of popular diet programs — helping parents understand the pressures their daughters face and forming a strong sense of self.

Buy on Amazon →
Yoga and Eating Disorders: Ancient Healing for Modern Illness

Yoga and Eating Disorders: Ancient Healing for Modern Illness

Edited by Carolyn Costin & Joe Kelly

Bridges the knowledge and practice gaps between mental health providers and yoga practitioners who work with clients suffering from disordered eating. Combining the wisdom of 20 experts in eating disorders treatment and yoga practice, editors Carolyn Costin and Joe Kelly show how and why yoga's mind-body connection facilitates treatment and recovery.

Buy on Amazon →
Your Dieting Daughter: Antidotes Parents can Provide for Body Dissatisfaction, Excessive Dieting, and Disordered Eating (Second Edition)

Your Dieting Daughter: Antidotes Parents Can Provide

Carolyn Costin — revised second edition (2013)

This second edition is full of practical and invaluable information — from aiding a young girl to lose weight for health reasons, to encouraging a young woman to accept her natural body size, to helping detect, prevent, and understand eating disorders — guiding parents in the Do's and Don'ts that help a daughter accept, respect, and care for her body.

Buy on Amazon →
Anorexia and Bulimia: A Nutritional Approach to the Deadly Eating Disorders

Anorexia and Bulimia: A Nutritional Approach to the Deadly Eating Disorders

Alexander Schauss & Carolyn Costin

Experts in behavioral therapy and weight management explore the complex world of eating disorders and discuss a nutritional approach that has had astonishing success in many cases — outlining the psychological and biochemical causes of these life-threatening eating disorders and a comprehensive program to address them.

Buy on Amazon →
The framework

The 8 Keys to Recovery.

A course framework — with the primary focus on how to get better rather than why you got sick. It's used in treatment centers worldwide, and it's the spine of everything we teach our coaches.

1
Motivation, patience, and hope
2
Your Healthy Self will heal your Eating Disorder Self
3
It's not about the food
4
Feel your feelings, challenge your thoughts
5
It is about the food
6
Changing your behaviors
7
Reach out to people rather than your eating disorder
8
Finding meaning and purpose
8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder book cover
The book behind the framework

8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder

Carolyn's framework, co-written with Gwen Schubert Grabb — these eight keys have helped thousands to become fully recovered.

Carolyn's podcast

Becoming Recovered: Body & Soul.

My own podcast is finally here — intimate conversations about recovery, soul work, and everything almost fifty years has taught me. Leave your email and I'll make sure you don't miss an episode.

Or explore the podcast → Hope is contagious. Unsubscribe anytime.
Becoming Recovered: Body & Soul podcast cover
Listen

Podcast appearances.

Over the years I've been lucky to be a guest on some wonderful shows, talking about all sorts of things — recovery, coaching, the 8 Keys, yoga and so much more. A few favourites — settle in.

TuTu Thin Podcast
TuTu Thin Podcast
Carolyn Costin Interview

Founding Monte Nido, weaving meditation and yoga into healing, and why I started the Institute.

Listen now →
The SeasonED RD
The SeasonED RD
Put Me In Coach — I'm Ready

What it really takes to be ready to help someone recover — proper training, and lived experience used well.

Listen now →
Butterfly Foundation
Butterfly Foundation
Let's Talk In Depth

Honored to be the first guest on their flagship series — a wide, heartfelt conversation about a lifetime's work.

“Nobody has had a more profound impact on the treatment of eating disorders than Carolyn Costin.”— Butterfly Foundation
Listen now →
Recovery Warrior Show
Recovery Warrior Show
How Personality Fuels Your Eating Disorder

Loosening ego's grip on your worth, practicing acceptance — your traits aren't the enemy, they can be your assets.

Listen now →
Trauma Warriors — Soul Sessions
Trauma Warriors — Soul Sessions
The Soul of Disordered Eating

The soul's part in healing — because an eating disorder grows where soul has been forgotten.

Listen now →
Seven Health
Seven Health
Keys to Recovery (Ep. 204)

Chris Sandel and I take the 8 Keys apart — a generous, wide-ranging talk that goes well beyond the book.

Listen now →
Recovery Bites
Recovery Bites
Investing in Yourself (Ep. 57)

Choosing yourself — acceptance over resistance, the old messages we carry, and what holds us steady.

Listen now →
End Eating Disorders
End Eating Disorders
The 8 Keys Explained

All eight keys and why each one matters — none optional, all part of becoming fully recovered.

Listen now →
Impact the World with Lee Harris
Impact the World with Lee Harris
Care of the Soul for Healing the Body

Why you can't heal the body while starving the soul — and how tending both is the whole point.

Listen on Spotify →
Press & media

In the press.

A few of the places Carolyn's work has been featured over the years.

Portia de Rossi
“Carolyn Costin was my eating disorder therapist, and I credit her with my recovery.”
Portia de Rossi — on 8 Keys to Recovery From an Eating Disorder
Written works

Essays to download.

A handful of pieces I've written over the years — yours to read whenever the moment is right.

Tending the Soul During the Holiday Season

Holidays are supposed to be happy times — but what if we don't feel happy, and what can we do about it?

PDF ↓
How To Get the Most Out of Treatment

Insights from clients on getting the most out of your treatment team.

PDF ↓
Soul Lessons

There exists a sleeping sickness of the soul — its most dangerous aspect is that one is unaware of its coming.

PDF ↓
Why I Do Not Use The 12 Step Approach

The addiction model of treatment for eating disorders was originally taken from the disease model of alcoholism.

PDF ↓
Food, Feelings and the Holidays

Holidays are supposed to be happy times; why do so many people get depressed?

PDF ↓
Our Bodies, Ourselves

How contemporary culture's treatment of the female body affects both clinicians and clients.

PDF ↓
The Mindful Therapist

On the decision to sit down and listen to other people's suffering for a living.

PDF ↓
From the blog

Reflections.

Short, personal pieces from over the years — recovery wisdom, soul work, and a few thoughts on the seasons of a life.

View all posts →
Video series

Recovery tips from Carolyn.

Short videos — a minute or two each — with the kind of practical tips I give both clients and clinicians. Gathered from almost fifty years of walking alongside people on their way to becoming recovered. Tap any one to watch.

Reaching Out for Help
Conscious Eating vs. Intuitive Eating
Don't Get Stuck on the Why
Your Healthy Self vs. Your Eating Disorder Self
Write Before a Behavior
Food Logs
Set a Timer
It Often Gets Harder Before It Gets Better
Three Things Recovered People Know
Do the Harder Thing
The Eating Disorder Can't Be More Powerful Than You
Food Rules

You don't have to do this alone.

Find a CCI-certified coach who's walked the recovery road — or, if you feel called to help others, begin your own training.