Practicing Self-Compassion through Dialogue

The Eating Disorder vs. Healthy Self Dialogues Worksheet help you recall the thoughts that have fueled your eating disorder behaviors. Write down eating disorder thoughts you have noticed in the past 24 hours.

This exercise invites self-awareness  and empowerment. Over time, this simple but powerful practice strengthens your ability to respond to intrusive thoughts with clarity, confidence, and care.

H2: Why This Practice Supports Recovery

Eating disorders often thrive on self-criticism, guilt, and distorted beliefs about worth and control. Practicing dialogue between your eating disorder self and healthy self helps you:

• Recognize automatic negative thoughts and patterns

• Build emotional distance from disordered thinking

• Strengthen self-compassion and resilience in challenging moments

• Reconnect with your authentic values, needs, and goals

• Reinforce the inner voice that supports healing, not harm

Through repetition, these written dialogues become a form of mental rehearsal, training your mind to respond to challenges with self-kindness instead of self-punishment.

What’s Inside the Worksheet

The Eating Disorder vs. Healthy Self Dialogues Worksheet includes a structured table with two guided columns:

• Eating Disorder Self Thought: Space to record recurring or intrusive thoughts that fuel disordered eating or self-criticism (e.g., “I don’t deserve to eat today.”).

• Healthy Self Response: Prompts you to reframe those thoughts with values guided thoughts and self-compassion (e.g., “My body deserves nourishment every day, regardless of how I feel.”).

Each section provides an opportunity to notice your inner dialogue, reflect on progress, and bring mindfulness to your recovery journey. You can use this worksheet daily, weekly, or whenever you notice the eating disorder voice getting louder.

How to Use This Worksheet

1. Identify a Thought: Write down a statement your eating disorder might say.

2. Pause and Reflect: Notice how it makes you feel and where it shows up (mealtimes, mirrors, overwhelm, etc.).

3. Respond with Compassion: Write what your healthy self - your truth - would say in response.

4. Review Regularly: Over time, track how your healthy self becomes stronger and more confident in these responses.

This worksheet can be used independently, in therapy, or alongside journaling and mindfulness exercises to reinforce positive, recovery-based thinking patterns.