June L. Alexander

Biography

When I developed Anorexia Nervosa, at age 11, diary-writing became a survival tool. Since recovering self at age 55 in 2006, I have written seven books, combining life experience and professional skills to disseminate evidence-based research for health practitioners and mainstream readers. A global mental health advocate, her website supports this work and she presents workshops on writing as therapy. I am a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at CQUniversity, exploring how diary writing can be therapeutically applied in healing from eating disorders. My writing passion is balanced with love of nature, family and friends.
www.junealexander.com

Education

PhD candidate in Creative Writing CQUniversity, Australia

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Grants/scholarships awarded and ongoing
• 2010 Recipient international scholarship, Academy of Eating Disorders Conference, Salzburg, Austria; recognition of writing to raise eating disorder awareness.
• 2015 AED Patient Carer Committee travel award recipient, for attendance at ICED, Boston.
• 2015-ongoing: APA Scholarship Award to help meet living costs while undertaking PhD.

Esteem factors
2016 Appointed to global steering committee organising inaugural World Eating Disorder Action Day, June 2
2014 Nominated to serve on Academy of Eating Disorders Advisory Board (3 year term)
2013 Appointed to Advisory Panel of F.E.A.S.T. Board and AED Patient Carer Committee (ongoing)
2009    Appointed Consumer-Carer representative on National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) Reference    Committee (ongoing)

Engagement
International
• 2013: Invited to represent Consumers at International launch of ANGI in Brisbane Professor Cynthia Bulik, at the UNC, is lead investigator. Australian investigators include Professor Nick Martin from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) at Royal Brisbane Hospital and Professor Tracey Wade, Flinders University (South Australia).  https://angi.qimr.edu.au#sthash.8XWVVyvD.dpuf
• 2013 Two months research in UK, USA, Canada, interviewing researchers at Maudsley Hospital London, UCSD in San Diego, and Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Also 17 families, including children with eating disorders, as research for book on multi-family-based therapy (co-author, Prof. Ivan Eisler). Funding for trip provided by The Butterfly Foundation.
• 2011 Presenter on Hope at Every Age - National Eating Disorders Association annual conf., Hollywood with co-presenter Renee Rienecke Hoste, Ph.D., (formerly University Chicago Eating Disorder Program, now assistant professor and Director of Clinical Services and Research of the U-M Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program).
• 2010 Address to National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) conference, NYC, and eating disorder research teams at University of Chicago and University of California (San Diego).


National Committees
• 2012-2013 At Home with Eating Disorders - On main committee and co-chair of program committee for Australia’s inaugural national conference for families/carers and sufferers of eating disorders, Brisbane, May 23-25, 2013.
Other Activities
• Life-writing mentor for Gippsland residents affected by Black Saturday bush fires, producing two social history books 'I Remember When' - at Yarram and Gormandale.
• 2010: Life-writing mentor for Gippsland residents affected by Black Saturday bushfires, producing Down Memory Lane in Yarram.
• 2006:  Editor of Tucker ‘n’ Tales, social history of women who settled in the Latrobe Valley region of Victoria.
• 2002: Author of Australian Yarn Art, Knitting Stories and Designs, published by Crown Content, Melbourne. Launched at Bendigo Sheep Show.
• 2001 Author of Heartbeat of the Country a social history of rural Australia, 1931 to 2001.  HWT publication.

Publications (Books)
• Getting Better Bite by Bite, A Survival Kit for Sufferers of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorders, 2nd Edition. 2015. Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure, June Alexander
• A Clinician’s Guide to Binge Eating Disorder. Co-editors Andrea Goldschmidt, Daniel Le Grange. Routledge 2013.
• Anorexia Nervosa: A Recovery Guide for Sufferers, Families and Friends. Co-author Janet Treasure. 2nd edition: Routledge 2013.
• Ed Says U Said – Eating Disorder Translator. Co-author Cate Sangster. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, UK, 2013.
• A Collaborative Approach to Eating Disorders. Co-editor Prof. Janet Treasure, Routledge. 2012.
• Memoir A Girl Called Tim, Escape from an Eating Disorder Hell, NH Publishers 2010.
• My Kid is Back - Empowering Parents to Beat Anorexia Nervosa. Co-author Prof. Daniel Le Grange. Routledge. 2010.
• Current work: Multi-Family Therapy for Eating Disorders – My Family is Back, co-author Prof. Ivan Eisler, King’s College, London. Routledge (UK) due for publication 2016. (Two months research 2013 in UK, USA, Canada).
• Using Writing as a Therapy for Eating Disorders – The Diary Healer. Routledge (UK) 2016.
• Textbook contributor (invited to write chapter from patient’s perspective): Managing Severe and Enduring Anorexia Nervosa: A Clinician' Guide. Editors: Stephen Touyz, Daniel Le Grange, Phillipa Hay and Hubert Lacey
                Publisher: Routledge (New York). Publication Date: 2016. I was given this chapter title: A life wasted: a patient’s perspective.

Publications (Papers)
• Alexander. J., McAllister, M., Brien, D.L. (2015-2016). Can diary writing facilitate recovery: an auto-ethnography analysis. Journal of Eating Disorders 11/2015; 3(Suppl 1):O29. DOI:10.1186/2050-2974-3-S1-O29
• Alexander. J., McAllister, M., Brien, D.L.  (2015). Exploring the diary as a recovery-oriented therapeutic tool (November 2015 online: DOI: 10.1111/inm.12179) International Journal of Mental Health Nursing (In Press).
• Alexander. J., Brien, D.L., McAllister, M. (2015). Diaries are ‘better than novels, more accurate than histories, and even at times more dramatic than plays’: Revisiting the diary for creative writers TEXT (19-1). http://www.textjournal.com.au/april15/alexander_brien_mcallister.htm
• McAllister, M., Brien, D. L., Alexander, J., & Flynn, T. (2014). Exploring the educative potential of eating disorder memoirs. Journal of Mental Health Training, Education & Practice, 9(2), 69-78.
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17111679&ini=aob
• McAllister, M., Brien, D. L., Flynn, T., & Alexander, J. (2014). Things you can learn from books: Exploring the therapeutic potential of eating disorder memoirs. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.

Conferences 2016
1. 2016: Workshop presentation with Timothy Brewerton and Jenni Schaefer at Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) ICED, San Francisco, May 4-7. Workshop title: Trauma, PTSD and Eating Disorders: Integrating Personal and Professional Perspectives.
Conferences 2015
1.            Presentation of half-day This is Your Story workshop on diary writing benefits for carers, at Australia’s second national carer conference for parents and partners of loved ones with eating disorders. May 2015, Melbourne.    
2. 15 minute oral presentation at the ANZAED 2015 Conference: Gold Coast. August 2015. Presentation topic:
Can diary writing facilitate recovery: an auto-ethnography. Alexander et al. Journal of Eating Disorders 2015, 3(Suppl 1):O29 http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/3/S1/O29

Conferences 2014
1. Attended Academy of Eating Disorders annual conference (ICED) in New York, March 26-30th. Attended 19   meetings/conducted interviews relating to book research.

Conferences 2013
1. Co-presenter with Prof. Janet Treasure (King’s College, Maudsley Hospital) on Working with Carers with a Brain-based Approach to Eating Disorders. At Home with Eating Disorders Conference, Brisbane. May 25th.
2. Co-presenter with Prof. Cynthia Bulik (University North Carolina) on Midlife Eating Disorders: The Recovery Journey for Adults and their Partners. At Home with Eating Disorder Conference, Brisbane, May 24th.
3. Alexander, J., Paxton S (2013, April) Co-presenters, address on ‘Reflux and related diseases’ at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 35th Australian Dental Congress, theme ‘Facts, Fiction and Fantasy’. Melbourne.


Media and Reviews

1. Book review: AED Forum Newsletter January 2016  Peter Doyle, AED Book Reviewer
Getting Better Bite by Bite: A Survival Kit for Sufferers of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorders (Second Edition)
by Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure, and June Alexander (Routledge, 2016, 168 pages). https://www.facebook.com/AcademyforEatingDisorders/posts/10153084953456653


2. Book interview: Gürze/Salucore Eating Disorders Resource Catalogue, January e-newsletter on Getting Better Bite by Bite: A Survival Kit for Sufferers of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorders (Second Edition)
by Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure, and June Alexander http://www.edcatalogue.com/getting-better-bite-by-bite-interview/

3. Book review: A Collaborative Approach to Eating Disorders, edited by June Alexander and Janet Treasure. London: Routledge, 2011, 344 pages.
       Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention
        (Feb. 2012)

4. Book review: A Clinician’s Guide to Binge Eating Disorder - edited by June Alexander, Andrea B. Goldschmidt & Daniel Le Grange
International Journal of Eating Disorders 2013, 1:24
http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/1/1/24

Websites

• June Alexander

Books