Season 3, Ep 08: Inspiring Hope: Cheryl Marron's Mission to Break the Stigma of Eating Disorders

“I had to remove the mother aspect and remove the emotion, which was really hard in the beginning,” says Cheryl Marron, founder of Flutters of Hope, whose mission is to spread hope, compassion and understanding and to break the stigma surrounding eating disorders. She joins the Women Igniting Change podcast to tell the story of her daughter, who at the age of 11 began displaying symptoms of disordered eating. She shares the complicated and often frustrating process of finding help for her daughter, how her own background in counseling influenced that process, and some of the telltale signs and symptoms that something might be going on with your child. 

 

Eating disorder recovery is an ongoing and often isolating process. Flutters of Hope provides baskets full of care items, resources as well as financial support and personalized notes assuring those afflicted–as well as their families–with a message that they are not alone. Cheryl details the staggering cost of recovery, and as a deeply spiritual person, the signs she received along the journey telling her to continue building Flutters of Hope. 

 

What should a caretaker’s first concern be when caring for someone with an eating disorder, and what would she do differently if she could go back? Find out on today’s episode. 

 

Quotes

• “We just utilized what little was available to us. We had a counselor, we had a nutritionist, we had what would be called a behavioralist, but really wasn’t. We had the endocrinologist and we had the primary, all of which was unfortunate because they weren’t cohesive, they were not communicating. So each person, each therapy, was very different, different modalities, so we struggled with ‘Who do we listen to?’ Meanwhile, the eating disorder was getting extremely worse. She wasn’t making any progress.” (3:21 | Cheryl Marron) 
• At one point, I said, ‘All right, I’m not a mom. What would I tell my clients? How would I tell my clients to help her?’ So, I had to remove the mother aspect and remove the emotion, which was really hard in the beginning, and say, ‘No, this is what we’re doing, being very matter-of-fact, being very structured.” (7:00 | Cheryl Marron) 
• “You’re fluttering. You’re up and down. That’s where the flutter comes from. You’re never going to be in a straight line. With an eating disorder, there’s no, ‘I take a pill and I’m better.’ It doesn’t work that way. It’s ongoing.” (9:30 | Cheryl Marron)
• “This illness costs a lot of money. It’s not something you budget. It’s long term, it’s ongoing and it does add up.” (15:00 | Cheryl Marron)
• “Our words are powerful, and it only takes one comment or one situation to make that lightbulb go off. So, it’s really important that we try to educate as many people as we can.” (16:29 | Cheryl Marron)

 

Links

Connect with Cheryl Marron:

Website: https://www.fluttersofhopeinc.org

 

Connect with Robbin Jorgensen (She/Her):

Website: https://womenignitingchange.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-igniting-change/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robbin.jorgensen/

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm