Meet Jordan

“Recovery isn’t Supposed to Feel Like Another Job… Is It?”

Jordan is a 23-year-old nonbinary Taiwanese-American grad student and lab assistant. With purple highlights and a love for journaling and tea, they find comfort in creativity and community. But when it comes to food and body, recovery often feels like another box to check — one more place to aim for perfection.

Instead of freedom, Jordan finds themselves weighed down by body mistrust, food preoccupation, and the anxiety of social meals.

Jordan’s Journey

From Perfectionism to Empowered Eating

Jordan didn’t need another set of rigid food rules. What they wanted was safety and autonomy — a way to maintain recovery without it becoming another punishing “grindset.”

They’ve tried clinical settings before, but the focus on numbers and compliance felt judgmental. Jordan craved something different:

  • Consistency without perfectionism

  • A gentle way to expand “safe” foods

  • Support to ease the stress of eating with others

The Breakthrough

The Body-Trust Partnership

For Jordan, the turning point was working in a space that was trauma-informed and collaborative. Recovery shifted from a test to get an A in to a practice of self-compassion and consent-based action.

That looked like:

  • Setting a flexible meal structure to reduce food preoccupation

  • Using graded exposures — like trying dessert at home or meals out with friends — to rebuild trust with food

  • Practicing daily interoceptive awareness and self-compassion journaling

  • Creating scripts and meal plans with roommates to reduce social anxiety

Instead of chasing “perfect recovery,” Jordan began to experience what enough could feel like.

What Changed for Jordan

With this new approach, Jordan could:

  • Maintain a 14-day meal and snack rhythm streak

  • Successfully integrate two former “fear foods” into everyday eating

  • Complete five self-compassion practices that eased body image stress

The result? Recovery became less about control and more about trust — a process that gave Jordan back freedom in their daily life.

Note: These personas are fictional and created to represent patterns we see in our work. They are not drawn from any client’s personal health information. If parts of these stories feel familiar, please know it’s coincidence, not intention.