As in so many things, it all began quite harmlessly.
My dentist asked me to stop chewing candy for the sake of my teeth and let it melt in my mouth instead. Since I couldn't do that, I gave them up altogether. "Too much sugar isn't good anyway", or so I thought a few weeks before my 13th birthday. Such a harmless entry into a downward spiral is typical.
The sugar issue quickly spilled over to fatty and carbohydrate-rich foods. With the firm conviction that I was protecting my body, the feeling of hunger gradually disappeared. Instead of fear, it triggered a deep fascination and curiosity about my physical limits.
Without realizing it, the subject took on an ever greater significance in my life, I lost a massive amount of weight and my thoughts became increasingly auto-aggressive. The topics of control and perfection became the focus of my life.
Part of claiming perfection was to have no problems whatsoever and maintaining the appearance of a strong, confident young woman. Consequently,So I lied through my teeth to hide the fact that control was increasingly being taken over by anorexia. Until it could no longer be hidden.
Soon, I started therapy and over the years I learned to control my eating behaviour and returned to a normal weight. Yet, the terror in my mind didn’t stop.
On top of that, I had a deep identity crisis at the age of 19. I became highly suicidal.
By chance I learned about the “Klinik am Korso” in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. I decided to give myself one last chance. The option to end my life could still be revisited afterwards.
At the clinic, I laid the foundation for my full recovery. About 7 years of work on my own psyche were still necessary until I could proudly consider this chapter of my life as a closed episode of my past.
Various courses in the field of communication, personality development and emotion management and last but not least my training as a coach have enabled me to open my eyes to the position of the relatives. Helping them is a very personal concern of mine.
My name is Ricarda Gerlinghaus. I was born in Germany in 1989.
My childhood dream was to become a professional stage dancer. I started my dance education at the age of 4 and was accepted into the Bachelor program "Modern Dance" at the “Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität” in Vienna, Austria, at the age of 17.
After 2 years, I dropped out of the program for health reasons and switched to the law degree program at the University of Vienna, Austria.
During my studies, I discovered the human need for sociability and left Austria to study Hotel Management at the Swiss Hotel Management School in Lucerne, Switzerland. I successfully completed this education in March 2018.
Especially after my recovery from anorexia nervosa, I constantly continued my psychological education. Lately, I completed a 2-year training as a "Personal and Business Coach" at ILS and now work as a self-employed personal and business coach.
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