Our History
In 2001, FINDINGbalance was founded by Constance Rhodes, a former music industry professional who had struggled with various forms of disordered eating throughout her late teens and twenties. As Constance began to break free, she became increasingly aware of the limited resources and information available to persons struggling with disordered eating, especially those who did not meet clinical criteria for typical eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Herself an "atypical" disordered eater, Constance was relieved to learn that there was actually a recognized category she fit into, referred to by mental health professionals as EDNOS. Standing for "Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified," the EDNOS category includes behaviors that can range from chronic dieting to obsessive exercising to bingeing and purging, but do not meet all criteria for other disorders. As she studied this area more, Constance was surprised to discover that there were millions of people who wrestled with EDNOS, as she had, and her passion for helping bring this issue to light is what led to the initial vision for FINDINGbalance.
In January of 2002, the first FINDINGbalance website was launched, consisting primarily of information and a few articles directed to those struggling with EDNOS. It was a small beginning, to be sure, but people responded, and the site grew quickly. Later that year, we launched "Ask Our Panel," an interactive feature which allowed site visitors to submit personal, detailed questions to be answered by qualified professionals who volunteered their time to support our mission. Some of these wonderful early supporters included Leanne Spencer, LPC, (who has many videos on this site), and Carla Garber, PhD, a renowned expert in the field of eating disorders. Today, with hundreds of questions now on file for easy viewing, the Ask Our Panel section remains one of our most popular offerings, and can be accessed in the "Interact" category of our site.
In 2003, Constance released her first book, Life Inside the Thin Cage: A Personal Look Into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter (Shaw/Random House). The first non-clinical book to focus on EDNOS, Life Inside the Thin Cage combines a personal look at the struggle of disordered eating with practical steps for breaking free. Upon release of the book, Constance hit the road, and since that time has become a favorite speaker on disordered eating, body image, and self-esteem.
Later that same year, Ann Capper, a registered dietitian with more than twenty years of experience joined Fb as principal nutrition editor, which allowed us to expand our offerings to include a comprehensive nutrition library called "Eat Well, Live Well" Ann also became a key fixture on our online panel, followed later by more professionals, including Tom Scales, MD, Nicole Bourquin, MS, Ralph Carson, PhD, RD, LD and Dave Muntsinger, chaplain.
As more and more questions came in, we began to realize that it was necessary to expand beyond EDNOS, to include resources and information on all forms of disordered eating, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and other issues. The site continued to evolve to accommodate the growing audience.
In 2004, Constance released her second book, The Art of Being: Reflections on the Beauty and the Risk of Embracing Who We Are (Shaw/Random House). Comprised of essays written by fifteen contemporary Christian artists, including Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, Gloria Gaither, Phil Keaggy, Sara Groves and others, this book encourages readers to look beyond what we "do" in life, toward who we are becoming. In addition to offering inspiring content, the book also serves to support our mission, as all artists graciously waived royalties to allow proceeds from the book to go back into the work of FINDINGbalance.
In 2005, Constance created and produced Making Peace with Imperfection, an original music and drama production that dealt artfully with the tricky subject of disordered eating. Co-creators Caroline Mitchell (theatrical director) and Missi Hale (musical director) joined Constance in writing all of the production's material. Featuring a cast of more than thirty-five actors, singers and professional musicians, the event was performed at Vanderbilt's Ingram Hall in Nashville, TN on April 21st. All proceeds were donated to the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee, a non-profit organization dedicated to eating disorders awareness and prevention.
Later in 2005, FINDINGbalance did its first track of workshops at SoulFest, New England's premier music and teaching festival in beautiful Gilford, New Hampshire. The event was a great success, and FINDINGbalance returned the following year on an even larger scale, combining workshops, music and teaching to produce the SoulConnected Women's Conference.
While much of the work of FINDINGbalance is directed to the layperson, 2005 was also important on a professional level, as Constance, along with Leanne Spencer, LPC and Carla Garber, PhD offered a groundbreaking presentation on EDNOS to professionals at the American Association of Christian Counselors' World Conference. It was the first time this issue had been tackled in that forum, and the response was enthusiastic.
Rounding out the year was the publication of Ann's first book, Big Thighs, Tight Jeans: Should Jan Go on a Diet? This book is geared to pre-teen and young teen girls, to help them get an early start on navigating body image, food and weight in a healthy and balanced way.
In 2006, FINDINGbalance entered into a partnership with the Church Communication Network (CCN), a California based company focused on using technology to impact culture and the church. This partnership made it possible for FINDINGbalance to dramatically expand our reach by becoming the world's first video-on-demand web site for eating and body image issues.
In March of 2007, the first version of the new video site was launched with more than 500 videos featuring eating disorder experts, psychologists, nutritionists, counselors, and pastors along with recovering disordered eaters and every day people who have been impacted by this issue in some way.
In 2008, we registered as a non-profit corporation in the state of Tennessee, and received our acceptance letter from the IRS naming us an official 501(c)(3) charitable organization. This means that we can now accept donations! We established a board of directors, board of advisors, and auxiliary board, and began to plug in volunteers for the first time on a regular basis. We partnered with Remuda Ranch to launch The True Campaign, which included a video running at every Women of Faith conference in 2008. Appearances at Remuda's "Hungry for Hope," Focus on the Family and other key events helped increase our ability to reach women who have eating issues, many of whom don't even realize it.
In 2009, we will release at least one curriculum for use on a local level, with plans underway to develop more in partnership with another faith-based organization. We will offer 50 Fb Gatherings for women in the Franklin, TN area with additional satellite groups planned by the end of the year. Look for us at AACC in September, and on the road this spring and fall hitting college campuses, churches, and women's organizations. And in response to many of your emails, we will revise the interface of our website to make it easier to find the information and resources you need, as well as to offer more personal touches throughout. And on the fun side, we'll begin assembling a team to travel to El Gade, Kenya in 2010, to do mission work at a village we've adopted through our work with the True Campaign. We can't wait to see what God will do as we continue serving him and you through this work!
and stay connected!
