- Jul 24, 2025
In this episode, I sit down with Mallary Tenore—journalist, professor, and author of Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery—to explore the nuanced, often-overlooked reality of what it means to live in ongoing recovery from an eating disorder.
Diagnosed with anorexia as a child and having spent decades in treatment, Mallary knows the truth: recovery isn’t linear, and for many, it doesn’t end with a “happily ever after.” Instead, it exists in what she calls the middle place—the messy, in-between space where healing happens, but perfection is never the goal.
Here’s what we cover in the episode:
- What the “middle place” really is—and why most recovery stories leave it out
- Why Mallary describes her book as a restorative narrative (not a redemptive one)
- The danger of perfectionism in healing, and how letting go helped Mallary make real progress
- How language like “full recovery” and “quasi-recovery” can do more harm than good
- The role of shame and secrecy in keeping people stuck—and how to break the silence
- The cultural and clinical blind spots that prevent many from getting diagnosed or treated
Mallary’s work challenges conventional recovery narratives and opens the door to a more compassionate, realistic, and inclusive view of healing.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re “not sick enough” or “not recovered enough,” this conversation is for you.
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