'Ai Pono Hawaii provides a serene, homelike setting for those struggling with eating disorders to he
Hawaii's Premier Eating Disorder Treatment Center providing Residential and Partial-Hospitalization Treatment on Maui and Virtual IOP for Hawaii residents.
04/09/2025
“How long will this take?” is one of the first questions asked when entering eating disorder treatment, but what’s being asked isn’t always clear. Is the question about how many weeks or months of structured care there will be, or is it about how long recovery itself might take? The two are not the same, yet they are often treated as interchangeable. Discharge from treatment does not mean the illness is over, and understanding that distinction can help set more realistic expectations for what lies ahead. Read our blog to learn more.
There’s no one answer to how long eating disorder recovery takes. Discover key factors that impact recovery and why meaningful change is possible at any stage.
01/09/2025
✨ Exciting News ✨
Dr. Anita Johnston, founder of ʻAi Pono Hawaiʻi and internationally recognized author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, will be a featured speaker at the 21st Annual Renewed Eating Disorders Conference 🌿
Franklin, Tennessee
Friday, September 26, 2025
7:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Hosted at the Drury Plaza Hotel
This one-day event brings together leading professionals in the eating disorder field for connection, collaboration, and continuing education — with up to 7.5 CE credits available.
Dr. Johnston will share her unique insights on recovery, weaving together psychology, metaphor, and story to illuminate the deeper meaning beneath eating struggles.
Learn more & register at: renewedsupport.org/redc/
29/08/2025
🌺 Treatment doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Many people hesitate to seek care because they fear missing school, work, or time with loved ones. But often, it’s the eating disorder — not treatment — that disrupts life the most.
That’s where Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) come in. Structured support + flexibility, with the option to join virtually across Hawai‘i.
💻 From home, you can feel safe, stay connected, and practice recovery skills in real time.
Recovery isn’t about losing your life. It’s about regaining it. Learn more at aipono.com.
29/08/2025
Starting treatment for an eating disorder is rarely a simple decision. Even when symptoms are causing distress, the idea of entering into a more structured program can bring its own set of worries. How much will your daily life change? What will you have to give up? Will you have to pause school, scale back at work, or miss time with friends and family? Learn more on our blog.
Treatment barriers shouldn't delay recovery. Learn how Virtual IOP removes logistical and emotional obstacles while letting you maintain work, school, and family life in Hawaii.
25/08/2025
Starting eating disorder treatment can feel overwhelming. Many people wonder what really happens in a treatment program, from meals to therapy to movement. That uncertainty can make taking the first step even harder. One of the most common questions we hear is, “What does a day in residential treatment actually look like?” At ‘Ai Pono, we want to lift the curtain and provide a transparent look at what a typical day looks like in treatment. Read more on our blog!
Starting eating disorder treatment can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. Let's look at what happens in a day at a residential program.
15/08/2025
The language we use to describe struggles with body perception has become increasingly muddled, with terms like “body dysmorphia” thrown around casually to describe everything from occasional dissatisfaction with appearance to severe clinical conditions. This confusion isn’t just semantic, it affects how individuals understand their own experiences and seek appropriate help. Read more on our blog.
Understanding the difference between Body Image Distress, Body Dysmorphia, and Body Dysmorphic Disorder is important. Learn more here.
06/08/2025
You don’t owe your eating disorder a redemption arc.
Viktor Frankl wrote that even in suffering, we still have one freedom — to choose how we respond.
But choice doesn’t always feel simple. Especially when the pain wasn’t chosen.
You don’t have to romanticize the struggle.
You don’t have to turn it into a lesson.
Sometimes it just hurt.
And still, something else is possible.
What if healing isn’t about rewriting the past, but reclaiming your present?
Not about making sense of the pain, but learning to relate to yourself in a new way?
At ‘Ai Pono, we don’t hand you a script.
We listen for what’s already within you —
the parts that want to be heard, the parts that long to belong again, the parts still hoping to come home.
The question of how anorexia nervosa is treated remains one of the most frequently asked by patients, families, and even healthcare providers navigating this complex terrain. While the fundamental pillars of care maintain their importance, anorexia treatment has evolved significantly in recent years, incorporating new understandings of trauma, body image, harm reduction, and individualized care. Understanding these developments helps illuminate both what remains essential and what has transformed in our approach to healing. Read more on our blog.
Discover how anorexia treatment has evolved beyond weight restoration to include trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and embodied healing approaches that honor the full complexity of recovery
30/07/2025
Binge eating disorder (BED) is one of the most misunderstood diagnoses in the eating disorder spectrum. It’s often framed as an issue of emotional regulation, willpower, or addiction. The behaviors don’t match the stereotype: there’s no sharp weight loss, no obvious physical decline. In someone who isn’t visibly underweight, chronic dieting and food anxiety are often misread as normal. Many people, including professionals, fail to see it for what it truly is: a restrictive eating disorder. Read more on our blog!
Binge eating is often misunderstood. Get clear on the roots, triggers, and recovery path that honors both physical and emotional needs.
20/07/2025
Not all eating disorders look like dramatic weight loss or refusal to eat.
Often, they show up quietly:
– Baking for others but rarely eating
– Exercising through pain or guilt
– Feeling “good” for skipping meals
– Obsessing over food, even while restricting it
– Getting praised for weight loss that feels anything but healthy
These can be symptoms of something bigger.
They’re signs of distress. And they deserve to be met with understanding — not overlooked because they don’t match a stereotype.
At ‘Ai Pono, we honor the complexity of eating disorders — especially the ones that don’t “look the part.”
✨ You can read more about these subtle signs in our latest blog post: The Warning Signs of Eating Disorders You Might Be Overlooking.
🌊 And if any part of this feels familiar — to you or someone you love — know that support is available. Recovery is possible. Check out aipono.com or the link in our bio for more information.
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Ai meaning “to eat, nourish” and Pono meaning “with ease, naturally, in perfect order and wholeness.”
At the ‘Ai Pono Eating Disorder Program, we recognize that eating disorders are complex problems with psychological, emotional, nutritional, and biochemical components, but we do not view women who struggle with these problems as irreparably damaged. Rather, we see them as highly intuitive, sensitive beings who have developed an obsession with food, fat, and dieting as a way of coping with social and psychological stress.
“When a woman enters the labyrinth of recovery, she follows a twisting, winding path to her center. Finding a sense of who she is as a woman, she exits with a new way of being in the world.”
– Eating in the Light of the Moon
We see the recovery process as a journey towards self-awareness. Through this journey, a woman can learn to nourish herself physically, as well as emotionally, and restore a sense of balance to her life. We believe that eating disorders can be successfully treated and overcome. A life of struggle and conflict can become one that is rich, meaningful, and fulfilling.
We provide a serene, nurturing setting in which women can be given a temporary reprieve from the stressors of their everyday life that may hinder the discovery of the deeper meaning embedded in their eating disorder symptoms. We believe that recognizing and identifying the adaptive function of the eating disorder can point one towards the development of life-skills necessary for resolving the eating disorder.
Our program offers tools to help identify, accept, and express our needs and feelings directly, rather than through our relationship with food and eating.
“Don’t get stuck looking at the finger pointing towards the moon. Look at the moon.”
– Zen saying
At ‘Ai Pono, we strive to provide an essential connection to one’s inner wisdom, or internal guidance system. We believe that this connection can provide women with a lifelong solution to specific struggles with eating, rather than a temporary fix. We believe complete recovery is possible.
“An eating disorder is like a w**d: if you cut it off at the top, given the right circumstances, it can grow back. But if you go down and clear out its roots, it can be eradicated.”
– Anita Johnston, Ph.D.
By developing better skills for dealing with their bodies, their feelings, and their relationships, women who suffer with eating disorders can reclaim their lives and health.
‘Ai Pono Programs were built upon a philosophical foundation that stems from a belief that there is deep meaning to be found in the struggle with an eating disorder. This meaning, however, remains a mystery — buried beneath a myriad of painful symptoms — until those who struggle choose to resolve their specific eating problems and embark on the journey to recovery.
