Stephanie Covington ArmstrongNot All Black Girls Know How to Eat: A Story of Bulimia

This book came per the recommendation from a participant during a private practice presentation I gave a few months back at Johns Hopkins and purchased shortly thereafter. I'm a licensed mental health therapist and assigned this book to one of my interns for case application. It has been a phenomenal addition to my library as a teaching tool. The anecdotal and real-world reference points to the thoughts has been helpful in my/our approach to cases for people who look like me/us. Thank you for sharing with us.

This book was required to read for my Sociology class. I'm usually not one of those students that thinks, "Great. Another book to read. I'd rather not" however, sick with a sinus infection those thoughts were definitely my initial ones.Stephanie's story is one of heart break and pain but ultimately triumph and courage. I found her story intriguing and easy to read. In fact, I read her book in 4 hours. I hope that this book is available in high schools because I feel as though a lot of youth could relate and use as a self help book.Stephanie, you are such a strong woman. I'm glad you're still with us today to tell your story. I'm a white woman and I can definitely imagine how you felt in those Los Angelos programs.

This book is as much a coming of age novel as it is about eating disorders. It's such an important memoir as the intersection of eating disorders and race has been constantly and dangerously overlooked. My only wish is that the "After" section or the recovery section was filled with more of the rich details that the other portions of the books had. Warning: this book is an emotionally hard read. Trigger warnings for food insecurity, child molestation, rape, and eating disorders (obviously, but there are a lot of details, FYI).

A loved this book. For a black girl who has also struggled with binges I could of relate to some of the feelings of overeating and feeling too full. The reasons for not giving a perfect score was because a lot of the story was repeated to often.

Wonderful story of addiction recovery - Stephanie's story of isolation, withdrawal from love and use of food to manage feelings kept me turning pages. Her recovery through community and twelve steps can remind many of us that it is possible to heal.

As a black woman who suffers from anorexia who doesn't often see people like myself in treatment, I was glad to finally hear about a black woman's struggles with an eating disorder. I understand that this book represents her path through recovery. 12-Step models don't work for me but I do respect that this was her path. I wish she would have spent more time in this book on her journey of recovery. How did she tackle her intimacy issues? How did she meet her first husband and did pregnancy reawaken her bulimia? Has she had relapses? These are a few questions I needed her to answer.

An honest look at how ED can grip anyone, anywhere, anytime. It's not just a 'white girl' disorder.

Honest and frank account of living with bulimia. A tough read in parts but I would definitely recommend it as a source of inspiration to those not yet recovered.