Mallary Tenore Tarpley argues for a middle place in eating disorder recovery
In a published account detailing the realities of eating-disorder recovery, Mallary Tenore Tarpley, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that the most critical phase of healing is neither the beginning nor the end, but a space she defines as the “middle place.” The author’s memoir is titled Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating-Disorder Recovery, examining how patients navigate a nonlinear process that lacks a definitive endpoint.
The Anatomy of a Relapse and the Search for Truth
Tarpley developed anorexia at age 12 following her mother’s death from breast cancer, enduring five hospitalizations and a year and a half in residential treatment. By age 16, she was delivering motivational talks across Massachusetts celebrating her full recovery. However, she relapsed into a cycle of binge-eating and restricting.
She kept the setbacks hidden to maintain the public perception that she was entirely cured. Searching for media coverage or books addressing the messy reality of setbacks, she found only narratives focused on the extremes of acute illness or complete recovery.
Survey Data and the Weight of Rigid Standards
This absence of middle-ground narratives inspired her to coin the term “the middle place,” a framework where hope and hardship coexist and slips are treated as opportunities for growth rather than absolute failures.
To test whether this experience resonated broadly, Tarpley surveyed more than 700 people with eating disorders. Over 85 percent of respondents reported that they could identify with the middle place, noting that they felt pressure to hide their ongoing struggles because the eating-disorder field historically pushes for a rigid standard of full and lasting recovery.
New E-Book Examines Eating Disorder Recovery Uncertainties
In the 2023 guide What does eating disorder recovery look like? : answers to your questions about therapy and recovery, authors Lucia Giombini and Sophie Nesbitt examine the structural uncertainties patients and families face during treatment. With a foreword by Cara Lisette, the London and Philadelphia-published E-Book addresses questions regarding the mechanics of therapy, the timeline of treatment endpoints, and the physiological importance of food and body image.
Redefining Progress in Daily Life
For Tarpley, embracing the middle place involved abandoning the pressure to be a poster child for absolute recovery.
Now a 41-year-old mother of two, she continues to experience moments where old behaviors surface, such as scrutinizing calorie counts on restaurant menus or feeling compelled to compensate for dessert with exercise. Rather than viewing these occurrences as proof of failure, she identifies them as active choices made while attempting to move forward in a society shaped by diet culture.