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Celebrating
Philip Raymond Werdell

April 2, 1941 – September 9, 2023
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Philip Raymond Werdell, 82, of Sarasota, Florida passed away on September 9, 2023, after a brief illness. Phil was born on April 2, 1941, to Raymond and Dorothy Werdell (both deceased). Phil graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a degree in American Studies. He went on to receive his Master’s degree from Beacon College in Human Service and Higher Education in 1980 and post-grad work in Eating Disorders at the University of South Florida and post-grad work in adult education at Columbia University. Phil is survived by his wife Mary Foushi, two adult daughters, Maureen Freehill and Sheila Freehill-Hirt, a granddaughter Lily Hirt, and his former wife Donna Vanderheiden-Werdell. Phil is also survived by his beloved dog Ellie.
 

Phil was a jazz pianist, avid traveler, history buff, social activist, educator, food addiction therapist, author, lecturer, mentor, and guide. Phil co-founded ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services (currently SHiFT Recovery by Acorn) and was the visionary founder of the Food Addiction Institute. Phil's unwavering commitment and tireless efforts revolutionized the food addiction recovery landscape worldwide.
 

Please, share your memories, post a photo, or donate in Phil’s memory below.

Celebration of Life
Sunday, November 19, 2023
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

ROBERT TOALE AND SONS FUNERAL HOME AT PALMS MEMORIAL PARK
170 Honore Ave, Sarasota, FL 34232
*All guests attending in person, please RSVP Here

Two suggestions for local hotels near the Celebration are:

  • Homewood Suites by Hilton
    3470 Fruitville Road
    Sarasota, FL 34237
    (941-365-7300)
     Website

  • Americinn Hotel and Suites
    5931 Fruitville Road
    Sarasota, FL 34232
    (941-342-8778)

     

For assistance with air travel please call the Bereavement Travel Program at 1-800-224-4177 and provide code 4630.

Phil's Passion
In Loving Memory

Phil's enduring legacy lies in his relentless pursuit of understanding and addressing the complex nature of food addiction. His groundbreaking insights and expertise transformed the way the world approaches this pervasive issue, providing hope, guidance, and support to countless individuals trapped in the grips of food addiction. Phil's life was a testament to the boundless joy, abundant blessings, and fullness of life that recovery can bring. His generosity and service saved so many lives. His memory will forever be etched in our hearts, a reminder of the power of recovery, community, and the profound impact one individual can have on the lives of so many others. He will be deeply missed. Phil was a brilliant man as exemplified in his honors and awards including Yale University Scholarship, Scholar of the House; American Studies Honors; President, Torch Honor Society; Fulbright Fellowship for study in India; and the Corning Fellowship for study of international business. Phil recently wrote his biography to be placed in the Yale 60th Reunion Class Book for the Class of 1963. Here is Phil’s life story in his own words: In 1986, my life essentially stopped when I discovered I was a food addict. I had been an administrator and faculty member at a series of colleges and universities. I was nationally known as an innovator in higher education and had written many articles and books on this work. For the two years after my diagnosis, I worked full-time on my recovery from late-stage food addiction and took a recovery job at McDonald’s. In 1988, I was hired as a front-line therapist at Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa, Residential Food Addiction Treatment Center in Tampa, Florida. God took over a new direction of my life. As I became grounded in my own recovery, it turned out that professional work with food addicts fit me like a glove. I became a lead counselor at the hospital and one of the therapists who traveled the United States providing recharges for alumnae and workshops for professionals. In 1994, when the major health insurance companies stopped reimbursing for food addiction, my partner Mary Foushi and I cofounded ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services, based on the Glenbeigh model of residential treatment. ACORN’s central program was the Primary Intensive, a residential week for food addicts who were not being helped by eating disorder therapy or were insufficiently supported by the food Twelve Step organizations. Attendees went through rigorous detoxification, learned the skills of recovery, and participated in a structured challenge to their own food addiction denial. ACORN supported over 5,000 middle- and late-stage food addicts into recovery using this model. ACORN expanded internationally in Europe and the Middle East, and I put together a professional training program for those interested in following our path. In 2005, I founded the Food Addiction Institute with a website of authoritative information on food addiction treatment and a professional training program. I then began writing articles and books for food addicts and for professionals in the field. Because of the prejudice against food addiction, much of our work was under the radar. It is only recently that it has become clear that our model of treatment for food addicts had created a viable professional alternative to dieting, eating disorder therapy, and bariatric surgery. It is comparable to professionally facilitated treatment for alcohol and drug addiction and appears to be superior, innovative and more cost effective. I am convinced that food addiction treatment training for professionals is an essential piece in ending the obesity epidemic. In 2018, Mary and I sold ACORN to Amanda Leith and the business was renamed SHiFT – Recovery by Acorn and continues to provide effective treatment for food dependency. A few years later both Mary and I retired from our direct work with clients and attempted a more leisurely approach to life. Our passion for helping food addicts continued as part of the faculty of The International School for Food Addiction Counseling and Treatment (The INFACT School), directed by Esther H. Gudmundsdottir, MSc, in Iceland and with my writing. My two latest books, Food Addiction Denial and The Disease Concept of Food Addiction, offer a practical overview of this groundbreaking field of food addiction treatment. Phil was a prolific writer and was working on a new book at the time of his death. Mary Disanzo, Phil’s editor, Mark Cheren, his best friend, and Mary Foushi, his wife, are committed to completing Phil’s final book. A full list of Phil’s publications and presentations is presented in the following section. Phil was also a wonderful jazz pianist and often entertained friends and family with his playing. He was a member of the Arietta singers and accompanied them on occasion. He also enjoyed reading, cruises and car rides with Mary, resting with his beloved dog Ellie, intellectual conversation, politics, professional tennis, NCAA basketball, football, swimming, and long periods of prayer and meditation.

Phil & Mary
A Brief History of How Phil and Mary Met and Began Working Together

In the mid-1980s, Phil Werdell began working as a lead counselor in the food addiction unit at Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa. In January 1990, Mary Foushi entered treatment there for food addiction. Here Mary recaps how Phil and Mary met and – almost four years later – began working together. In January 1990, I entered the residential food addiction treatment program at Glenbeigh Hospital of Tampa. I was 37 years old, had been overweight from a young child, and had gained and lost 100 pounds five different times. Four years prior to Glenbeigh and weighing 340 pounds, I had attended a different inpatient treatment center for food addiction and spent seven weeks there. I worked hard during and after treatment and lost 140 pounds. Gradually, however, the food inched its way back into my life. By the end of 1989, and although I never got up to 340 pounds again, the disease had progressed; I could not stop eating sugar, and I was beaten and broken. At 256 pounds and at the lowest point of my life, I crawled my way into Glenbeigh. I always thought that the weight was my only problem. If I could only lose the weight – and keep it off – I would be just fine. However, as the disease progressed in me, I realized that there was something much bigger than my excess weight and that my willpower was of no defense against it. I often said if I could only cut off my head, I would be OK. Phil was a lead therapist at Glenbeigh. Although he was not my counselor, I attended his lectures and saw him around the halls. The treatment protocol included educational lectures on addiction, in general, and on food addiction, specifically. While all the lectures were of interest to me, Phil seemed to speak in a way that was different. His sessions were highly instructional, practical, easy to understand, and were interspersed with his personal experiences with recovery from food addiction. He related truths about food as an addiction that I had never heard of before. From his lectures, I began to see that I might be a real food addict; that there might be something beyond the weight. Something beyond my limited power of control. I was drawn in by Phil’s no-nonsense approach to addiction, abstinence, and recovery and by the seriousness with which he related to both his own disease and that of his clients. He had a manner about him that made it easy for me and others to be honest about our deepest struggles with food. Phil was intuitive, kind, non-judgmental, accepting, compassionate, and open whenever he interacted with food addicts. Food addicts like me who were filled with shame and self-hatred. The work done at Glenbeigh was intense, with powerful clinical interventions and personalized assignments. Some writing assignments were given to all clients, such as: write a list of all your binge foods, list all the ways you’ve tried to control the food, write specific examples of your powerlessness over food, etc. Written assignments were read during daily process groups, and there was a safe space for expression of deep feelings, should they come up. I saw deep healing take place in others and experienced the same in myself. I often equated it to a form of spiritual cleansing. There was something about Glenbeigh’s treatment model that was exactly what I needed. Even though I was abstinent, weighing and measuring my food, doing my assignments rigorously, doing whatever was suggested, I still thought there must have been something more that I could have done to stop bingeing. If I had just tried harder, I wouldn’t need to be in treatment. I could have lost the weight if I really wanted to. The reality that I might have to give up sugar was just too difficult for me to face. I thought seriously about leaving treatment and going back home. Yet I stayed. After several weeks, the clinical team, including Phil, determined that I was in serious denial about having an addiction over which I was powerless. They could see that I was convinced that I “should” be able to get control of my food and weight if only I tried harder. As part of their clinical intervention, they decided to do "Mary’s funeral" as a last-ditch intervention. They saw that I was a very “low-bottom” food addict and concluded that I might die of the disease no matter what they tried because of my unwillingness to admit complete defeat over certain foods and food behaviors. My “funeral” was held during a process group. It was deeply moving, and I became aware that I truly thought that I would rather die than live without sugar. But something happened, and a huge shift took place in me. I did deep rage work at everything the disease had robbed me of over the years. I began to get a little more awareness that perhaps I had been powerless in situations where I thought I had been “choosing” to binge. I became more honest, willing, and openminded to things the staff was sharing with me. The idea of personal powerlessness was slowly sinking in. I was making steady progress and was grateful that I had stayed. However, five weeks into treatment, my health insurance stopped covering my stay. Rather than transition home at a very vulnerable time, it was suggested that I continue treatment at a local halfway house. I agreed that I was not ready to go back to life in Chicago. So, taking one month at a time, I stayed for three months of extended treatment at a halfway house for food addicts called Turning Point of Tampa. Phil facilitated a Wednesday night process group at Turning Point on "how to put your abstinence and recovery first at work.” I loved that group. We focused on practical food situations that might come up at work. Phil continued to emphasize that, as recovering food addicts, our work environment needed to be a place where we could put our abstinence and recovery first, no matter what. Nothing else would work. I was highly motivated and participated fully in the group. As Phil tells it, he was impressed with me from a professional point of view right from the start. He saw me as competent, intelligent, and most importantly, someone with a deep commitment to her abstinence and recovery. Although I had no idea about this, apparently Phil had made a mental note of it. After three months in the halfway house, I returned to Chicago and continued my recovery on an outpatient basis. I attended daily twelve-step meetings, an outpatient support group two nights a week, and required three adjustments be made in my work environment before agreeing to return to my job. I had a sponsor, weighed and measured my food, and committed myself fully to putting my abstinence and recovery first. I had become convinced that if I didn’t continue to do these things, I would die of the disease of food addiction. Periodically I returned to Glenbeigh to attend alumni recharge weekends and relapse prevention programs. I started assisting a therapist in my local area who was leading a food addiction recovery group. Perhaps a year later (I can’t remember for sure), I heard that Phil was no longer at Glenbeigh and had relocated to the Seattle area. I tracked down his address and wrote him a letter inquiring about any speaking engagements he had scheduled. He responded almost immediately and told me of some upcoming presentations in the Midwest. A couple of times I packed up a group of program friends, and we drove for hours to hear him speak. Over the next few years, I continued to focus on my ongoing recovery, worked full time, assisted with the food addiction process group, and periodically corresponded with Phil, as we checked in about our individual recovery. In mid-1993, Phil mentioned in a letter that he had opened a small private practice for people struggling with food and was leading a group of women who were having trouble staying abstinent for any period of time. One evening a week, Phil would prepare an abstinent meal for the group; and after eating, they would process what had happened. While everyone was doing their best to attain and maintain abstinence, the members continued to struggle. Phil could tell that these women might benefit greatly from a deeper level of structure and support like what was offered at Glenbeigh. Unfortunately, none of these women had health insurance that would cover inpatient treatment. Phil, however, had an idea. Always an innovative thinker, he asked, “Why not find a place to meet and recreate the experience of inpatient treatment in a residential setting?” He suggested the group could gather in one of the members’ homes for seven days. One woman offered her home and made arrangements for her husband and child to stay elsewhere. All group members, except one, were on board. Phil’s idea was that he would buy the food, and everyone would cook and eat together. They would peer sponsor each other by committing their food and reporting back after eating. Phil would facilitate process groups and give the same lectures as those at Glenbeigh. “Let’s do it,” they said. Phil discussed his vision with his clinical supervisor, who told him that he needed to have someone assist him … and that it needed to be a woman, since the group was composed of women. His idea was simply to find a woman with strong abstinence to assist him. Phil’s first call was to someone who had been in treatment and at the halfway house with me in 1990. She had gone back to school and was then working as a counselor at Glenbeigh. Phil knew her well and trusted her professional counseling skills and her recovery. When she was unable to accept his invitation, the next person Phil thought of was me. He had some remembrance of me from Glenbeigh, but mostly from the halfway house and our recent correspondence. Phil also recalled something Marge Porter, his supervisor and clinical director, had said about me when they worked together at Glenbeigh. Marge had been my therapist in 1986 at my first treatment center, and we had stayed in touch over the years. It was Marge whom I called in January 1990 when I was bingeing out of control. As it turns out, Marge had once told Phil that if he ever wanted to work with someone, it should be Mary Foushi. Phil remembered this, and when his first choice wasn’t available, he called me and left a voicemail message. After listening to his message, I immediately knew I wanted to go. I took a week of paid vacation from my job and flew to Seattle in September 1993. Phil and I prepared handouts; bought a carload of food; drove to Marysville, Washington; and recreated an experience of inpatient treatment for eight women struggling to get abstinent. The week was amazing. Each of us was abstinent for the entire seven days. As a community, we cooked together, weighed and measured our meals, washed the dishes, cleaned the bathrooms, and emptied the trash. We laughed. We cried. We were rigorously honest about all our thoughts and feelings. Phil and I supported these brave women through some very deep emotional work. During the week, Phil and I realized that we enjoyed working together. Phil had more professional experience with group work than I did, but he assured me repeatedly by telling me to just trust my gut. You’re doing fine, Mary. On our drive back from Marysville, Phil realized that something quite amazing had just happened. We had discovered a way to recreate inpatient treatment in a residential setting for food addicts. After my return to Chicago, Phil and I started talking about how we might do more professional work together. Phil had a lot of exciting ideas that piqued my interest. No surprise there! Within a few months I resigned from my longtime job with a publishing company. I went to Glenbeigh and volunteered my time to get professional training and experience working directly with food addicts. I shared my story at an alumni event at the hospital, I sat in on process groups and lectures, I hung out with clients at meals, I attended twelve-step meetings with them. It was an exciting time of learning for me. It wasn’t long after this that Glenbeigh hospital closed. For years, Phil and another colleague had been leading Glenbeigh alumni recharge weekends up and down the East Coast, and the administration of the hospital asked if they would fulfill the hospital’s commitment to the alumni by continuing these free weekends. When alumni arrived at the retreat in relapse, it became painfully obvious that, with the hospital closed, there was no longer a place to send those who relapsed and needed the structure and support of inpatient treatment. Phil, another colleague, and I brainstormed about how we could offer a deeper level of support on an outpatient basis. In one of our discussions, we decided to form a professional organization that would attempt to offer support in addition to the weekend retreats. We called the new organization ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services. We chose the name ACORN because Glenbeigh alumni could relate to it. You see, the food plan at Glenbeigh was called the A.C.O.R.N. food plan and stood for the Addictive Concept for Overeater Recovery Needs. We started small, with the first ACORN events held in the Spring of 1994. The following years consisted of frequent alumni recharge weekends and our signature week-long Primary Intensive in a variety of locations. Alumni often offered their homes and/or volunteered to find a location and organize these events. It was a very busy and exciting time. With ACORN’s professional support many food addicts were helped as we grew, mostly by one recovering food addict sharing with another food addict about their experience at events. Phil’s innovative ideas and passion to help food addicts has served thousands of food addicts worldwide. Phil and I worked side by side for over 25 years. In the early years, I often felt insecure and told my sponsor that Phil was so much better than I was and could do things that I could never do. My loving and wise sponsor said to me, “Mary, there are things that Phil can do that you can’t do. And there are things that you can do that Phil can’t do. And together, you make beautiful music for God.” I never forgot that. Our work together was a great blessing in my life. Each time I worked with Phil I learned something new. His skills as a group leader are unequaled. At first, Phil and I were work colleagues. Then we became strong recovery support for one another. This eventually grew into a deep friendship, which eventually grew into a deep love. At last, we were married on March 1, 2014. It was a glorious day of celebration. In 2018, Amanda Leith purchased ACORN. It was Amanda’s desire to carry on the ACORN model of professional support along with her dynamic vision to increase and improve services for food addicts that enabled Phil and me to move forward with this important decision. The name of the business was changed to SHiFT – Recovery by Acorn. With Amanda’s leadership and Raynea’s steadfast support, SHiFT continues to provide effective treatment for food dependency recovery through a variety of programs that meet the needs of those new to recovery (The Acorn Primary Intensive) and alumni seeking to deepen their spiritual and emotional recovery. In 2021, Phil retired, and I followed in 2022. While we no longer worked directly with food addicts, our passion and desire to be of service to food addicts continues to this day.

Words for Phil from his brother Mark

Phil and I met 56 years ago. We had come to a conference in Cleveland, to be part of a team of organizers piloting a new way to match people up so that they could learn from and with one another. It was quite successful, generating a widely adopted interview that would be employed on campuses across the nation for some time to come. This set the stage for us to become very close friends. For a great many years, up until the present time, we talked by phone most mornings. So it was that each of us came to think of the other not just as a best friend, but as an “adopted brother,” as well. In the early years, we were colleagues in the higher education reform movement, promoting all sorts of student-initiated change at colleges and universities. Phil was one of the leaders in that movement, delighting in going from campus to campus to “stir up trouble.” Then, incredibly, we were able to help each other in major ways with two substantial undertakings. First, I became very involved with Campus-Free College, an unusually flexible, rigorous and dramatically experimental nation-wide college. Phil joined me and its original founder, Larry Lemmel, in a successful effort to achieve candidacy for accreditation, clean up its finances and triple its student body. Phil did most of the writing on the “self-study,” drawing on similar work he had done at other institutions. At the same time, Phil became one of Campus-Free College’s top faculty members. He had a special ability to help a broad range of students plan and implement completely individualized degree programs and achieve life-changing success. And his gift for helping people in life-changing ways continued in his passion for helping people with food addiction. Following his and Mary’s success with the ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Program, Phil founded the Food Addiction Institute (FAI). The Institute was a pioneering organization in an entirely new field, one still struggling to be fully recognized. As the Chairman of the Board of Directors, we worked together hand in glove for many years, doing our best to strengthen and grow the organization, collaborating closely with an extraordinary group of people, the other members of the FAI Board. Phil recruited recognized leaders in the treatment of food addiction recovery from around the world onto the FAI Board, many of whom he had previously mentored. He challenged this group to work together to consolidate what was known about the challenging work of supporting food addiction recovery and to do everything in our power to enhance acknowledgement of this condition and the urgent need for specialized treatment. It was amazing to become lifelong friends and to be privileged to work so closely and so well with one another in these significant undertakings. Not to mention that throughout the years we were able to support each other’s professional writing. In his recent visit to our home, only weeks before he died, we chuckled when we could only remember two arguments in all those years. ​From time to time we enjoyed making music together, he on piano, and me (much less skillfully) on the drums. ​Phil was a particularly sweet and gentle man. He was a beautiful man, possessed of abundant kindness and generosity. Those who knew him felt it fortunate to be part of his world and felt grateful he was part of their world. ​He was modest about the revolution he had helped launch, always focusing on what remained to be done. Yet to have touched so many people in such an important way was clearly extraordinary. His writing, an important part of his identity and his legacy, betrayed his delight in starting things, creating things and generating fresh insights that others failed to see. Reading through his numerous drafts revealed a host of precious nuggets, gems of ideas that deserve further exploration for many years to come. ​Phil long envisioned an ever-growing number of programs preparing people to deal with food addiction recovery professionally. Esther Gudmundsdottir’s INFACT program, a food addiction professional certification course based in Iceland, is the current prototype. Phil hoped that ultimately a great many colleges and universities on multiple continents would come to offer programs that prepare people to do this important work. He hoped, as well, that most would include strong experiential components. In his view, people needed to experience this arduous work in order to effectively facilitate the journey for others. ​People who knew Phil well came to realize that while he strongly advocated complete abstinence from the foods that trigger an individual’s food addiction, his work with those struggling with food addiction was characterized by infinite patience and an abundance of compassion. His patience and compassion were demonstrated, among other ways, by a stand-alone workbook dealing with “food slips” and an entire text that dared to explore the many facets of food addiction denial. ​Phil was a servant leader. For many years he prepared and supervised countless abstinent meals for those participating in food addiction recovery intensives. And as often as not, he would sleep on a couch during those programs. The times he waived fees and worked without pay were legend. I loved Phil with all my heart. I will miss him ever so much. And I will cherish the memory of his laughter. But mostly I will treasure all that I learned from him year after year and the blessing of being brothers. Mark Cheren Shaker Heights, Ohio

Loving Family Memories - 1975 to Present
Donna Vanderheiden - Phil's Wife 1975 to 1996 |  Sheila Freehill - Phil's Daughter

Donna Vanderheiden - Phil's Wife 1975 - 1996

Many warm and beautiful thoughts and memories flood to mind as I remember Phil and the 20-plus years of adventures we shared.  Maureen and Sheila, my daughters, feel loving gratitude for the years Phil shared his life with ours.   He was there as my daughters grew from young girls to college-bound women. ...making those transitions and my graduate studies more healthy and doable for all of us.  Besides supporting each others growth and formal education; Phil and I educated each other further by traveling around the world together from January 1986 to Spring 1987.  Phil was the impetus for this trip; he always had wanted to travel in India.  This desire flowed perfectly because he met and befriended a fellow educator who invited us to visit her and her family in Madra Pradesh. During our multi-country travels, Phil and I wrote "Sharing in the World" describing our adventures to 40 friends and families back in the USA. During our partnership, we continually promoted each others Spiritual and emotional health by attending many trainings and workshops.  I realize now that when I chose Phil, I had no idea how much I and my daughters would benefit from knowing and loving him.  He was the best of teachers, the best of friends, a wonderfully capable traveling guide, and such a terrific jazz piano man. I know his Spirit continues his joyful existence lovingly guiding us even now.

Sheila Freehill - Phil's Daughter

Thinking back on my life with Phil reminds me of what a supportive, generous, and kind soul Phil was. Phil has been an important person in my life since I was around 8 years old. I will deeply miss talking with him as we have done for most of my life. Phil became my stepfather during a formative time in my life. He was a wise sage and often one of my greatest cheerleaders as I embraced many of life's difficult decisions. Phil was a wonderful life coach and often was a great reflective listener as I wrestled with career and life choices. I always felt he was encouraging and supportive of my choices, yet he would ask me questions that helped guide me to come to my own decisions while I still felt supported and guided. Phil was a gifted professor and guided me along with countless other students he had worked with to become more self-directed and engaged in one's life paths. I loved watching him teach as he was so passionate about his topics while being clear and creative in his delivery. I admired his love of teaching and he may have influenced my choice to become a teacher over 25 years ago. My mom met Phil while we were living in New Haven, Connecticut. At that time, I was not so sure about this man who moved into my mom's house, but I came to love Phil as a second father and admire his passion for what he believed in. When we moved to Hamden, Connecticut my mom and Phil bought a house together where we lived until I was 19. Phil had a passion for many things; gardening, cooking, writing, nature, music, travel, education, social justice, and politics. We shared many discussions around the Sunday New York Times and the What Color is Your Parachute book about finding your life's passion. While I was growing up, Phil was often away in New York working or deeply engaged in one of his writing projects, but when he was home and present, I enjoyed our time when he shared his stories with me. Phil was a wise and interesting person who would discuss many different topics with me around the table as we shared meals he loved to prepare. He often talked about when he had gotten a Fulbright and traveled to Africa. He longed to travel and as soon as I left for college leaving my mom as an empty nester; my mom and Phil embarked on a year-long trip of a lifetime around the world. I, too, had a strong travel lust, and soon I was following in his footsteps studying and living abroad. While that year when they were away forced me to grow up, it also opened the world to me through the monthly travel letters they sent long before email was an option. He was truly a lifelong learner and teacher. He loved helping people. Not long before my parents left on their year-long trip, Phil began to attend OA. His whole life changed when he embraced his food addiction and began to heal and help others. Our lives we not as close as I was a young adult and we did not live close together, but whenever I came to visit, we would enjoy time together walking in nature and sharing about our lives. The years passed and I rarely saw Phil in person, but he was always very supportive of Lily, my daughter. A few times since Lily was born we traveled to Sarasota and visited Mary and Phil. Once, we spent Christmas with them and it was a magical time. While it was the year Lily realized Santa was really us, we all enjoyed the magic that Christmas can offer. Those are treasured memories. Phil's love of music, especially jazz piano, also had a strong impression on me. He often played his baby grand piano while we relaxed around the house. I was amazed that he could just play any song that he knew the tune for. I was a bit intimidated by how talented he was musically as I struggled to learn to play the flute. I admired his passion for the piano as he could lose himself in the creation of music. I am grateful to have shared much of my life with Phil in my life. He lived his beliefs and followed his heart. The last time I saw Phil was about 2 years ago. I flew to Sarasota as COVID was lessening. We shared wonderful talks and walks in nature together. Phil, Mary and I went and saw a reggae band and we danced together. These are precious memories for me. I am deeply grateful that I took the time to visit him. His health had been declining and I wanted to hear him play the piano one more time. Phil played a few songs for me. It was a magical moment. While his memory was not as strong, when he sat down to play, he was a natural. That is how I will remember him along with his joyous laughter.

Maureen Freehill - Phil's Daughter

Dearest Beloved PhilDad, I write this in Tribute of you, to YOU — and all your beloveds too! I am grateful for the written remembrances offered by my beloved Mother Donna and Sister Sheila, and many others too. They express my own shared memories, feelings of gratitude and honor. I’ll add to those with this tribute to what is present and alive of you dear Phil, right here, right now, today. As time draws near to share words about the love and this experience of living and dying you and I share, I find myself mired in a writer’s block, paralyzed with anxiety around the grandness of this act. Writing has always been your happy place! I struggle to compose something to convey such a grand experience of father-daughter relationship with a clarity and simplicity that make a difference. Echoes of the years we lived together day to day ripple through my awareness as I recall how you supported me (and so many others) to bring our thoughts and voices out from a complex interior tangle into a lasting clarity of spoken and written word. This support was not only a means to the goals of good grades, matriculation, acceptance into colleges, jobs and so on. It is your nature to directly empower us — commonly women and people of color — to discover, build confidence, sovereignty, and value with our own unique beings, expressions, and ways of contributing to the whole. We are the people you drew closest, you faithfully supported, you guided and chose to collaborate with in our times of strife. We are your mutually chosen family of wives, daughters, brothers, and sisters, friends slowly feeling our way toward the capacity for confidence, powerful action, self-care, and love in the brilliance of our true natures. Today I unveiled one of your precious postcards mysteriously tucked among my belongings. It is a picture of an elder Samoan man and a small boy on a beach. The man is passing on teaching to the boy about how to weave an exquisite fishing basket. You’d sent it from Pago Pago, Samoa to your dad Ray in 1986! In so few words you honored, thanked, and deeply appreciated how your dad was akin to this image for you. This is how I now know you too PhilDad, truly caring to share the teachings that matter the most, with so much respect for our earthly and spiritual lineages. Another photo shows you praying at the altar of a Buddhist shrine in China. Your reverence is so palpable and on the back you write with a smile: “Someone asked if I was a Buddhist.” Although you may not have been officially a Buddhist, your spiritual devotion and presence remains palpable now — as a field you cultivated so well, one day at a time. This remains, the eternal place where we, your family and friends can so readily continue to meet you right here and now, “out beyond ideas.” I am new to this thundering experience of the death of a beloved such as you. In turn, I now seek and draw solace from elders, teachers, poets I respect. I draw from the deep well of my tender broken heart. I enter this field of connection with you and take your hand, feeling your encouraging smile as we step through this sorrow into the eternal. I draw out that proverbial lined pad of paper and pen that you always had close at hand. These “ritual instruments” connect me to you, much like the Keith Jarrett and boogie boogie jazz piano music I play to relax my mind and lubricate the flow. I allow the fleeting, happy, and sometimes painful memories of my body, mind, and spirit to spill forth through these instruments, that seem impossibly narrow to channel the vastness of our lives and love. Funny enough, this block in my self-expression is ironic; and that humor is not lost on you. I hear you laughing as you affirm my skills and worth. Your reminder that I’ve obviously grown to be self-confident in situations of public performance, writing, speaking, and the like. However, some deeply tender, vulnerable, and childlike introverted part of me still feels buried by the weight of this particular task. We gently offer her patience, loving kindness; all such encouragement you’ve consistently modeled. Thoughts come in fits and starts. I watch and wait feeling time’s pressure build, I renew with you self-imposed deadlines for completion. My belly aches with you about terrible world situations. My heart longs with you for some kind of panacea, an ideal solution. We crumble in waves of guilt and shame about our “only human” responsibility and inadequacy in the face of it all. I oscillate between the burden of I HAVE to write this and the honorable gift of I GET to write this! On this bright November day, you imbue a long-awaited spark of JOY and extra OOPH as I find myself musing upon some most wonderful facets of YOU in my life: ~~ I love your impulsive, energetic, Aries solar powered, leaping spontaneity and laughing, fun pulse! This expressed so generously through your passionate boogie-woogie piano playing. You could be the fire starter of any project, conversation, gathering, or piece of writing. Your call of “Let’s get this party started!” Rings on. Ooops! We left a mess behind, ha, no matter. Let’s (maybe) just clean it up and start again! ;-) ~~ I invoke your ever-ready willingness to go “ALL IN” for fresh adventures and new enterprises. I respond to your impulse to engage with warm hearted joviality and total enjoyment in spirited fun, festivity, family, friends, flowers, food, music, and dance along with the laughter, smiles and unabashed silliness! ~~ I recognize I’ve assumed a posture I saw you in so many times as I hunch into this writing, oblivious of my body while I devote undivided attention and energy to the task at hand. ~~ I know you would appreciate me not editing the toughest saudade around your death. The hardest is having been so physically distant through these pandemic years. My primary, and maybe only, remaining longing or incompletion is about wanting more time and space to be with you, physically. This has echoes of how we felt when we were young too. This grief is simply a function of knowing how sweet each living opportunity for a phone call had been — so instantly connected and deep. Each rare time we shared together physically has been so nourishing, rich, and wonderful, exceedingly precious! Thus, what gives me solace now is a felt sense of knowing without a doubt that — with the single exception of your physical form — you are always here right now, fully present in my daily life. Memory and sorrow naturally interweave as they blossom through my heart into loving compassion. Now. when I look to you dearest beloved PhilDad, I recognize you shining in my pure awareness and heart, as our Shared Being, as pure LOVE. In so many ways I feel you closer, more vivid, and present now than ever. In those years when you and I addressed the daily grief and healing of our respective addictions one day at a time, we always resonated most coherently on levels of creativity and spirituality. No wonder writing can be tough, as words can only point to the communion we all know lays at the heart of your blessed Soul. Ultimately it is not about anything you did, how many books you finished, classes you taught, days you were abstinent, people you guided, lives you saved or games your team won. Of course, these are all amazing and true accomplishments of your uniquely brilliant and profoundly loving human life. We bow with great veneration at these gifts you shared with massive generosity and devotion! At the core, I pay the greatest tribute to YOU dad, Philip Ray Werdell, for nothing measurable, comparable, or even particularly memorable, it’s simply the love we are and share, now and forever. As your middle name so aptly expresses how you and your father before radiate as RAYS — we all now shine as RAYS of your love too. In honor of that I’ll close with this simple Prayer of the Chalice attributed to Saint Athanasius: God, to you I raise my whole being, a vessel emptied of self. Accept dear Lord, this my emptiness, and so fill me with yourself, your Light, your Love, your Life, that these precious gifts may radiate through me and over-flow the chalice of my heart into the hearts of all with whom I come in contact with this day, revealing unto them the beauty of your Joy and Wholeness and the Serenity of your Peace, which nothing can destroy. Amen. With Love Always, Your Daughter, Maureen Momo Freehill

Phil Werdell Publications and Presentations

Werdell, P. (2023, Forthcoming). Outcome Research on Food Addiction Treatment: Self-Help, Twelve Step, and Professional. Werdell, P. (2022). Food Addiction Denial: False Information and Irrational Thinking. Available on Amazon. ​Werdell, P. (2021). The Disease Concept of Food Addiction: A Story for People Interested in Recovery, 2nd Ed. Available on amazon.com. Werdell, P. and Rocchio, B. (2017). Treating Food Addiction, The Basics—Nature, Assessment, and Principles of Treatment. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. Werdell, P. (2016). Inventorying Food Slips, Physically, Mentally and Spiritually—A Practical Tool for Food Addiction Recovery. (Preface by Beth Rocchio, MD). Sarasota, Florida: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. ​Werdell, P. (2016). ”Toolkit for Food Addiction Assessment and Treatment: The Basics from A-Z -for Physicians, Dieticians, Therapists, and Allied Health Professionals,” with Dr. Mark Cheren, et al., at the Second Annual National Conference on Food Addiction, Worcester, Massachusetts. Werdell, P. (2015). “Challenging Food Addiction Denial: In-depth Writing as Spiritual Practice – The Glenbeigh/ACORN First Step Process,” in Foushi, M., and Leith, A. (2019). Handbook for SHiFT, Recovery by ACORN, Primary Intensive. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available only to participants in the residential food addiction recovery workshop. It is a rigorous description of the Incident of Powerlessness treatment protocol. Werdell, P. with Tarman, V. (2014). Food Junkies: The Truth about Food Addiction. Toronto: Dundurn. Available at amazon.com Werdell, P. (2014). Food Addiction Treatment: An Important Piece in the Obesity Epidemic Puzzle. Keynote address, First National Conference on Treatment of Food Addiction sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, and the Food Addiction Institute. (October 22, 2014.) Werdell, P. (2012). “From the Front Lines: Food Addiction Treatment,” Chapter 53 of Brownell and Gold (eds.), Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Manual. NY: Oxford University Press. Werdell, P. and Foushi, M. (2012), Food Plans for Food Addiction Recovery: A Physical and Spiritual Tool. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon Werdell, P. in Brownell, K. & Gold, M. (Eds.) (2012). Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Manual. Chapter 53, “From the Front Lines: A Clinical Approach to Food Addiction.” New York: Oxford University Press. Werdell, P. (2009). Bariatric Surgery & Food Addiction: Preoperative Considerations. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. Werdell, P.; Cheren, M.; Foushi, M.; Guðmundsdóttir, E. H.; Hillock, C.; Lerner, M.; Prager, M.; Rice, M.; & Walsh, L.; (2009). Physical Craving and Food Addiction: A Review of the Science. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available at amazon.com Werdell, P., Hillock, H. & Prager, M. (2009). “Survey of Long-Term Treatment Outcomes for One-Week Residential Acorn Primary Intensive.” Promising Practices Conference of International Society of Food Addiction Professionals, Houston, TX. Werdell, P., Foushi, M., Weldon, C. (2007). The ACORN Primary Intensive: A New Model of Professional Support for Food Addiction Recovery. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available at amazon.com. ​Werdell, P. (1998). What Convinces Some Recovered Compulsive Overeaters That They Are Food Addicted?” Presented at the First International Conference on Food Addiction at Rutgers University, School of Social Work. Werdell, P. (1996). The Disease Concept of Food Addiction. Tampa, FL: Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa. Werdell, P. (1994). “Beyond Traditional Eating Disorders: Food Addiction.” Clinical Forum of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP). Werdell, P. (2023, Forthcoming). Outcome Research on Food Addiction Treatment: Self-Help, Twelve Step, and Professional. Werdell, P. (2022). Food Addiction Denial: False Information and Irrational Thinking. Available on Amazon. Werdell, P. (2021). The Disease Concept of Food Addiction: A Story for People Interested in Recovery, 2nd Ed. Available on amazon.com. Werdell, P. and Rocchio, B. (2017). Treating Food Addiction, The Basics—Nature, Assessment, and Principles of Treatment. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. Werdell, P. (2016). Inventorying Food Slips, Physically, Mentally and Spiritually—A Practical Tool for Food Addiction Recovery. (Preface by Beth Rocchio, MD). Sarasota, Florida: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. Werdell, P. (2016). ”Toolkit for Food Addiction Assessment and Treatment: The Basics from A-Z -for Physicians, Dieticians, Therapists, and Allied Health Professionals,” with Dr. Mark Cheren, et al., at the Second Annual National Conference on Food Addiction, Worcester, Massachusetts. ​Werdell, P. (2015). “Challenging Food Addiction Denial: In-depth Writing as Spiritual Practice – The Glenbeigh/ACORN First Step Process,” in Foushi, M., and Leith, A. (2019). Handbook for SHiFT, Recovery by ACORN, Primary Intensive. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available only to participants in the residential food addiction recovery workshop. It is a rigorous description of the Incident of Powerlessness treatment protocol. Werdell, P. with Tarman, V. (2014). Food Junkies: The Truth about Food Addiction. Toronto: Dundurn. Available at amazon.com ​Werdell, P. (2014). Food Addiction Treatment: An Important Piece in the Obesity Epidemic Puzzle. Keynote address, First National Conference on Treatment of Food Addiction sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, and the Food Addiction Institute. (October 22, 2014.) ​Werdell, P. (2012). “From the Front Lines: Food Addiction Treatment,” Chapter 53 of Brownell and Gold (eds.), Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Manual. NY: Oxford University Press. ​Werdell, P. and Foushi, M. (2012), Food Plans for Food Addiction Recovery: A Physical and Spiritual Tool. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon ​Werdell, P. in Brownell, K. & Gold, M. (Eds.) (2012). Food and Addiction: A Comprehensive Manual. Chapter 53, “From the Front Lines: A Clinical Approach to Food Addiction.” New York: Oxford University Press. ​Werdell, P. (2009). Bariatric Surgery & Food Addiction: Preoperative Considerations. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available on Amazon. ​Werdell, P.; Cheren, M.; Foushi, M.; Guðmundsdóttir, E. H.; Hillock, C.; Lerner, M.; Prager, M.; Rice, M.; & Walsh, L.; (2009). Physical Craving and Food Addiction: A Review of the Science. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available at amazon.com ​Werdell, P., Hillock, H. & Prager, M. (2009). “Survey of Long-Term Treatment Outcomes for One-Week Residential Acorn Primary Intensive.” Promising Practices Conference of International Society of Food Addiction Professionals, Houston, TX. Werdell, P., Foushi, M., Weldon, C. (2007). The ACORN Primary Intensive: A New Model of Professional Support for Food Addiction Recovery. Sarasota, FL: Evergreen. Available at amazon.com. ​Werdell, P. (1998). What Convinces Some Recovered Compulsive Overeaters That They Are Food Addicted?” Presented at the First International Conference on Food Addiction at Rutgers University, School of Social Work. Werdell, P. (1996). The Disease Concept of Food Addiction. Tampa, FL: Glenbeigh Psychiatric Hospital of Tampa. ​Werdell, P. (1994). “Beyond Traditional Eating Disorders: Food Addiction.” Clinical Forum of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP).

Memories

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Phil's Album

Donations

Donations

In lieu of flowers, please honor Phil with donations to two organizations dear to his heart:  The Food Addiction Institute and SHiFT Recovery by Acorn. 

These donations will help others facing food addiction and are a beautiful way to memorialize Phil's life and legacy.

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The Phil Werdell Scholarship Fund

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