Seeking the Body Electric: The Role of Embodied Affective Experience in the Process of Recovery From Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is presently defined by restriction of energy intake, low body weight, fear of gaining weight, and disturbances in body image (American Psychological Association, 2013). Absent from the current framework of AN is the acknowledgement of embodied and lived experience. Alternatively, the Developmental Theory of Embodiment (DTE), founded on Merleau-Ponty’s conceptualization of embodiment, proposed that AN develops from complex interactions between the embodied female self and the sociocultural context in which it is situated (Piran & Teall, 2012). Extending from the framework of the DTE, the purpose of the study was to explore the role of embodied and affective experience in women with AN through the process of recovery using body-centered poetic discourse as a method of inquiry. Six women diagnosed with AN reflected on three time points of their recovery journey: at the worst of the eating disorder, in recovery, and towards unified body-self. Thematic analysis of poetic discourse resulted in the identification of eleven embodiment and three affective themes. Moreover, three body-self patterns emerged from the AN recovery process: bifurcated, recovered, and unified body-self. With recovery from AN, poetic discourse displayed a pattern of shifting from negative embodied experience to positive embodied experience. The change in the affective experience was intertwined with that in the embodied experience, likewise shifting from negative or absent to positive. Findings illustrated recovery from AN as parallel to the restoration of embodied lived experience. The clinical and societal implications of these findings are discussed in terms of reforming conceptualization and prevention of AN.