This episode features Jennifer Hope Longenecker (https://jenniferhopelongenecker.com/), who discusses supporting her daughter, Heather, through an eating disorder, multiple treatment stays, and a suicide attempt. Jennifer shares how Heather’s struggle began at age 14 or 15 with anxiety and covert behaviors, such as skipping family dinners and running three to five miles multiple times a day on top of cross-country training. Over a non-linear recovery journey that spanned five treatment stays, Jennifer learned firsthand how to navigate a fragmented healthcare system—including an initial residential stay cut short by insurance, which forced her to build a local care team starting with a dietitian. Moving past clinical confusion and a harmful counseling experience, Jennifer outlines how to vet true eating-disorder specialists, why families should avoid programs promising a "cure," and how to seek secular treatment while requesting a Christian therapist if faith-based alignment matters. Throughout this crisis, Jennifer relied on faith, prayer, and journaling, and she urges parents to act as fierce advocates for their minor children without framing them as "broken" or falling into parental isolation. To help other families find their way, Jennifer and Heather co-wrote the book Held in the Dark: Finding Light and Hope While Supporting Your Teen Through an Eating Disorder, which uniquely features both parent and teen perspectives in every chapter. Listeners can also access support groups, a specialized quiz, and bonus recordings for parents and teens on her website:
https://jenniferhopelongenecker.com/bonuses/
https://www.amazon.com/Held-Dark-Finding-Supporting-Disorder/dp/B0H5NRQHQB
