Multiple perspectives and dialogue in understanding experiences of living with eating disorders: Two narratives—four unpackings

BACKGROUND: This is a response to Conti et al.’s article, “Listening in the dark: why we need stories of people living with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa” (published in JED, 2016), and its call for relational metaphors and a relational approach to supplement the traditional medical/psychological diagnostic language used to describe the life experiences and complex emotions of people affected by an eating disorder. METHODS: Four authors with different backgrounds unpack two narratives, ‘The Prima Donna with the Green Dress’ and ‘Breaking down the Wall’, both narrated during fieldwork in multifamily therapy. The narratives are unpacked from the perspective of a therapist within multifamily therapy, a researcher who conducted the fieldwork, a researcher based in phenomenology and a researcher based in narrative inquiry. The authors enter into dialogue with the narratives, and with each other. RESULTS: The four authors focus on different elements within the narratives and understand them differently. One, focuses on strength and pride, and art expression as a different form of language for people living with an eating disorder. Another, on the experience of isolation, boundaries, and balancing openness and closedness. A third, sees the narratives as expressing a wish to see and be seen, and the fourth focuses on the absence of, and longing for, a shared space to explore. CONCLUSION: The aim is not to reach a correct or shared interpretation of the narratives but to explore how different perspectives may contribute to different insights, not only about one family in particular but about, more generally, the experiences of people living with an eating disorder. Our work shows the significance of engaging with multiple perspectives and dialogue as supplements to the traditional medical/psychiatric diagnostic language in both clinical practice and research.