Name: Raya Connolly

Social Justice Group: 2023-2024, Beauty Standards and the Media

Date of Fieldwork: January 23, 2024

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Balance Eating Disorder Rehab Center

Type of Fieldwork: [69]

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?:

For our interview we met with the intake coordinator, as well as the third point of contact for Balance Eating Disorder Rehab Center, named Emily Pirro. Emily has a lot of tasks well working at Balance such as, picking up calls for people who have sought interest into going into rehab, she also sets people up into the care system, as well as give recommendations. Emily told us that a large cause to the people in this rehab center started with social media filters, and photo editing causing large body issue upon the patients.

This center not only provides body image support groups, but they also provide food safety and mood groups. Throughout the center they make sure that people eat, but not in a overwhelming manor, they do what is comfortable for the patients. A lot of people that attend Balance are younger, but Emily brought up that the older people that attend, go because they realize that they have struggled with their body their whole life and want to fix it. Balance is a place that people go to help their relationship with their body and food relationship, and 9/10 people come out feeling a lot more positive about themselves.