A Phenomenological Psychological Analysis

This book offers us entry into the lives of 3 bulimic women. It leaves us with a greater understanding and compassion for what it is like to live with this very complex and transformational experience. We see movement from symptom-related to life-related, noting that the general structure, or the essence of the lived experience, remains the same, but the individual experiences vary as these women live out their unique lives. In understanding the totality of the phenomenon of bulimia, it is important to remember that although each key constituent (diminished self, consciousness and anonymity, life partially lived, mastery and control, priority of the phenomenal, multiple realities) is described separately, in the life-world all the constituents merge together as they interact with each other and with the whole of the experience. This book will be especially useful to all professionals working with bulimic clients and to anyone who wants to understand the structure of bulimia and how it is lived in a woman’s life.