Looking Back on 4 Years with Project HEAL..
by Colleen Werner
When I first found Project HEAL in the summer of 2016, I was in the depths of my eating disorder, scrolling through Instagram, and looking for hope and relief anywhere and everywhere.
Project HEAL’s account popped up on my feed, and I followed the page immediately. I still didn’t believe I had an eating disorder; however, some part of me felt like I needed to see their posts.
Seeing Project HEAL’s posts that summer, along with other recovery accounts, plus the encouragement from caring friends, led me to finally seek therapy when I returned to college in the fall.
Flash forward to today, and I’ve been an official member of the Project HEAL team in one form or another for four years!
FOUR. YEARS.
When I joined the family as a Project HEAL Ambassador back in June 2017, I was very early in my recovery. I had just started gaining media attention for my Instagram account and I was eager to help others access eating disorder healing.
Early on in my Ambassador journey, I had the honor of meeting Kristina and Liana, Project HEAL’s fearless co-founders and now badass board members.
As soon as I joined the team, I felt welcomed and important. I could tell that I was part of something bigger than myself in a way that I had never been before.
A few months later, I decided to apply for an internship with Project HEAL. After some interviews, I was accepted into the role of ‘Communities of HEALing Intern’. Communities of HEALing (a program that was transferred to ANAD in mid-2020) was in its infancy, and I was able to help the program grow from the ground up.
As an intern, I gained new skills, I furthered ones I already had (social media marketing & management), and I built important relationships. Overall it was a positive experience, but there were days that were difficult — as evidence by my inability to look at another Excel spreadsheet for nearly a year post-internship!
After that, the team was looking for someone to take over the role of volunteer social media manager after the then-volunteer had stepped away. I was beyond excited to continue staying involved with the team and to put my social media management skills to use for such an important cause.
I had suddenly come full circle. People messaged the Project HEAL Instagram account and commented on our posts to say that our work had helped them find recovery. I was no longer the scared, sick girl who once stumbled onto Project HEAL’s Instagram, desperate for support. I was now helping others who were struggling to find support by spreading the word about Project HEAL’s mission, vision, values, and programs.
I am now helping people in the Project HEAL community the same way that Project HEAL had helped me.
To this day, I am still Project HEAL’s volunteer social media manager. I find it so fulfilling and rewarding to give back to an organization that has changed my life in more ways than I can count. I get to work closely with Rebecca Eyre, Project HEAL’s incredible CEO, which has honestly been one of the best supervisor relationships I’ve ever had.
Thanks to my work with Project HEAL, I’ve been able to become a freelance social media manager for mental health professionals, a rewarding job that has also allowed me the flexibility to pursue my Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
I started my clinical internship last August, providing low-cost individual and group therapy to people primarily struggling with eating disorders, trauma, anxiety, and/or depression. Shortly after, I was able to join the HEALers Circle in order to donate care to marginalized individuals struggling with eating disorders. I will graduate in December 2021 and become a provisionally-licensed therapist. My hope is to eventually create an eating disorder treatment program for dancers.
Just like how Project HEAL has evolved over the years, so have I. I’m in strong, steady recovery from my eating disorder (some days I like the word “recovered” and some days I don’t). My life is no longer defined by numbers and compensation. I certainly have hard days — days where being in my body is a major struggle. At the same time, I’m free from the chains that once held me back.
To be a part of this organization that is tirelessly breaking down systemic, healthcare, and financial barriers to eating disorder treatment is an honor and a privilege.
I’m so lucky to be part of the Project HEAL team, and I can’t wait to continue seeing how the impactful work we do unfolds.
Read more about Colleen here… or follow her on Instagram.
