Friday, August 7, 2009

hi everyone!!
i am struggling with an eating dissorder, my parents did and do anything in order to help me. we went to many doctors and organizations, a year ago we heard of magen avraham- an organization that deals with eating disorders that say they are confidential. we started dealing with them, and there charges were very very expensive and we dont have money for it. when we tryed reaching them we could never speak to a person only to a voice mail- it takes about a week to ask a question wile as long as u r by them they charge u no matter if they spoke to u or not u get charged by the week a huge amount.
as known us eating disorders suffer from a trust problem- the first time i had met with the head of the organization he told me everything i will tell him is strictly between us, as time went by i learned nothing and really nothing was kept by him everything was explored if it was a medication for anxiety he told everyone i was taking, if it was about my boy friend and about my cutting i was telling him about he told everyone, anything i did he as if hung it out in a big poster.
now i begun therapy by a great therapist who does not tell that organization anything, they are not willing to work with me anymore cause we don't let them advertise my struggles with the world, i thank god everyday for making me do the rite thing of leaving the organizational,

i don't suggest anyone to get help from them cause you wont get help, the opposite u will feel even worse.
if anyone has anymore questions u could e mail me at: shiranm86@gmail.com
thanks
shiran

13 comments:

  1. hey that is so true i myself had delt with them and felt the same way they take upon them self so many cases and dont follow up on them, and yup i felt the same i dont get along with my parents and am an only chiled so i have no one really to talk to and by them everything i do they tell my parents,
    it sucks i cant stand them they should be closed doun this is so not far

    ReplyDelete
  2. I understand that you are suffering and it comes along with alot of pain but this is a severe distortion of the truth. This description is NOTHING at all what Magen Avraham is like or about. I got connected with them a few years ago and they have been a HUGE part of my recovery from my eating disorder ever since. I know very personally that they are not at all out for money and they go way above and beyond in order to help people who are struggling in any way they can. The head of the organization is the most selfless and devoted person I know and if anyone could possibly think of anything negative to say, it is unfortunately coming from their own suffering and struggles that is causing them to see things in a clouded way. Besides for myself, I have seen them work with other people in amazing ways with amazing outcomes despite the cases being extremely difficult. Recovery from an eating disorder is extremely difficult and painful, and it takes an incredible amount of effort, but Magen Avraham makes it POSSIBLE and they bring hope and light to strugglers of eating disorders.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. my experience with magen avraham was similar to Shira's. i thought i was reading a biography of myself. i had a very bad experience with Magen Avraham. They totally messed me up. They stopped caring for me from one second to the next because of some politics within the organization. When i tried to call Rabbi Dovid Dewick he didnt talk a straight word. does not seem to me like their intentions are clean. they are very not proffessional or have any proffessional backing.they disclosed private information about me to just about anyone they wanted to, making me feel like a total psycho.i am still struggling with an eating disorder and feel more messed up than ever before. i wouldn't reccommend anyone to get involved with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  7. I normally dont have internet access because my parents restrict it but im in camp now nad they have for staff memebers. Ive also dealt with rabbi dweck and had a really bad experience. He makes you feel like a complete case-load and is degrading. He doesnt talk a straight word and when you ask him a question, hell give you some roundabout answer and never answer directly. From what I heard, he was a failure in his childhood and is seeking to establish some kind of compensation to the world. He should know it isnt working because everyone knows what hes all about. Clearly he couldn't have gotten a better job and how ironic it is indeed that an really fat man is trying to help teenage girls to manage their weights. His story keeps changing of how he went into what he does. First he told me he asked someone how he can help the world and was given this as a response and then a different time he said someone said thats his mission in life. The politics in the organization are insane. They are always changing their minds about things. It's funny how he tries to intervene in kids getting along with their parents if he could use a lecture or two on keeping piece himself. Overall, if you want a really bad expeience, go there. If you want to get over your anorexia, magen avraham wont help you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had only great experience working with Magen Avrohom. Rabbi Dewik is a really special person and I don't understand why it would be ironic for him to be working with the population he does. He understands eating disorder and as all of us posting know it is an emotional disorder and not merely about weight. I think it's more ironic when an underweight nutritionist or therapist tries to get us to eat. I have never met an individual more knowledgeable than him about ED nor more giving and dedicated.
    I have also seen them change their mind about things but as I've seen, it's because they are constantly thinking of ways to improve their services and help more people. Sometimes I don't like their new policies but that doesn't change my opinion of the organization.
    I certainly feel sorry for you about what you said that information was shared about you that you didn't approve. I can't comment on it because I didn't have the same experience. I did have experience with other professionals that i thought were leaking information about me and later discovered the information was being leaked by someone else I trusted.
    During my course of treatment the organization consistenly sent me to an Endocrynologist, a nutritionist, and a psychologist. They seemed to have longstanding relationships with them. I don't know why someone would say that they don't have professional backing.

    I'd strongly recommend the organization to anyone that can afford to pay for real help (the amount of time I got for my money was definately underpriced). They are really the difference between recovery and merely patch work. My friends spent tens of thousands of dollars over many years with numerous therapists and inpatient care facilities to be right back where they started. I'd much rather spend just a few thousand for a year or so and know and feel that i am on the road to RECOVERY.

    I wish all of you, as well as all out there, a speedy easy recovery.

    Just my thoughts.

    BTW: a cousin of mind told me that he knew Rabbi Dewik before he started the organization and he was running a successful, profitable business which he sold to put all of his efforts into Magen Avrohom.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete