. . .show kindness and gratitude towards it - like saying/thinking something along the lines of *to the eating disorder* "I'd like to thank you for being there when I needed you, and I didn't know any other way to cope. I know you were just trying to help, but now I've learnt/am learning new and better ways of dealing with things, so I don't need you anymore and that's a good thing." Sort of like even though certain behaviours or thought processes might be negative they can still be acknowledged as positives in a way, because it was still a part of you that was trying to help or be protective it's just that that part of you didn't know how to go about it in a healthy way at that time.

I am so not explaining this properly. Does anyone else know what I mean?