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How We Experience Eating Disorders: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Elise Hummel

USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

There is very little existing qualitative research about the lived experience of individuals with eating disorders (ED) from the lens of a researcher who also identifies as a member of that community. To that end, this project asks: “What is the lived experience of having an ED? And how does my perspective as someone who identifies as having an ED inform my research process and findings?” In this thesis, I draw on feminist practices that recognize participants as collaborators and co-researchers, and I conduct open-ended interviews with four women who were diagnosed with, and sought treatment for, an ED. I …