15 Oct iaedp Voices | Episode 8: What Recovery Means Beyond Symptom Reduction with Heather Hower, DSW, LICSW
Hosted by Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC | Guest: Heather Hower, DSW, LICSW, ACSW, QCSW, Faculty Associate Specialist, UC San Diego Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research; Faculty Research Associate, Brown University
About This Episode
Medical stability and changes in eating behaviors are meaningful markers of progress. But what does recovery actually look like in a person’s relationships, their sense of self, and their ability to move through everyday life? In this episode of iaedp Voices, host Kyle Woodson, MA, LPC, speaks with Dr. Heather Hower, clinical social worker and researcher, about the dimensions of recovery that don’t always show up in the metrics we measure.
Dr. Hower’s work centers on defining recovery and understanding how temperament and personal strengths can shape the treatment experience. The conversation opens with a question the field continues to wrestle with: what are we missing when someone’s eating behaviors are improving, but they’re still spending much of their day preoccupied with food or their body? She explores how clinicians can help patients articulate what recovery would actually look like in their own lives — and what questions open that kind of conversation.
The discussion also turns to the practical: what signs of progress in relationships, work, school, or daily life can patients, families, and treatment teams look for beyond eating disorder symptoms? And for someone who says they don’t know who they are without their eating disorder, where does a clinician begin?
Dr. Hower brings her research on temperament into the conversation as well — explaining what it means, why it matters in treatment, and how traits that may have contributed to an eating disorder can become genuine strengths in recovery when channeled differently.
The episode closes with a concrete question every clinician can bring to their next appointment — one that shifts the focus from symptom status to the fuller picture of how someone is living.
iaedp Voices is sponsored by Alsana, Equip, and the Laureate Eating Disorders Program. New episodes are available at iaedpfoundation.com/resources and on PodBean. Subscribe today.
Sponsored by:
Sponsorships do not imply endorsement by iaedp Foundation.