A qualitative journey through the spiritual experiences of women during treatment for eating disorders

The purpose of this study was to understand and gain insight into the role of spirituality in women as they work toward recovery in a Christ centered treatment program for eating disorders. An additional purpose was to explore the milieu in which the spiritual process of recovery takes place for women with eating disorders in a Biblically-based multi-treatment program. Ethnographic centered fieldwork techniques along with analysis of journals, field notes and staff caregiver interview notes resulted in the procurement of core spiritual themes: prayer, faith, unconditional love, spirituality as a therapeutic force, sin versus forgiveness, peace and identity in Christ or spiritual identity. These core themes were further analyzed into sub-themes as derived from data sources. The study's exploration of data sources indicated that the spiritual process patients went through in their treatment experiences in the Bible based milieu of the facility was an important element in their recovery.