No one recovers alone. While professional treatment is critical for eating disorder recovery, peer and community support play an essential role in long-term healing. One increasingly powerful model of mutual support is the Eating Disorder Support Circle—a structured, intentional space where people can connect, share, and grow together through lived experience.

Unlike clinical therapy groups, a support circle is peer-led, community-driven, and grounded in safety, presence, and mutual respect. When thoughtfully designed, these circles can reduce isolation, challenge shame, promote body liberation, and serve as a lifeline through every stage of recovery.

This post outlines the step-by-step process of creating an effective and ethical eating disorder support circle, supported by research and trauma-informed practices.

Acts of service—volunteering, caregiving, mentoring, or simply showing up for someone else—can be more than kind gestures. They can be deeply therapeutic. While traditional therapy often focuses inward, service allows healing to emerge through outward action, community, and meaning-making.

In both clinical research and lived experience, serving others has been shown to reduce depression, anxiety, and loneliness, while increasing purpose, self-worth, and emotional regulation. For those navigating eating disorders, trauma, or mental health struggles, service can provide a path toward connection and restoration—when used intentionally and in balance.

My Not-Addiction by Sydney W.