Shelter Dogs Help MFA Alumna Overcome Eating Disorder

When Shannon Kopp MFA ‘15 hit rock bottom in her struggle with bulimia, it took more than rehab, family or her own strength to find the path to recovery.

It also took dogs.

Through two years in the Pacific University Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program, Kopp developed a memoir about her journey to recovery, and the role that shelter dogs played in her healing.

Pound for Pound was published in October 2015 by HarperCollins.

Kopp was born in Hartford, Conn., where she grew up with her parents, younger sister and dog, Sugar. She was a book nerd and animal lover who struggled as her family tried to cope with her father’s alcoholism.

Although she doesn’t blame her eating disorder on her father’s addiction, she sees several contributing factors to her disease’s onset: her family falling apart, society’s ideals of thinness, and her own struggles with anxiety, perfectionism and depression. 

“Ultimately, the problem wasn’t my family or outside of me; it was me,” Kopp said. “I was binging and purging 10 to 15 times a night. I had lost who I was.”

One night, her sister hid in the bathroom cupboard and caught her in action.

“I promised her I would stop, but I did it a few hours later,” Kopp said. “The same way my dad couldn’t put the bottle down, I couldn’t put the food down.”

Up to 30 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, such as anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

Kopp fought bulimia through high school and college. It wasn’t until a few years later, working at the San Diego Humane Society, though, that she started to see the light.

The shelter wasn’t like the stereotypical image. Each room had a theme —Hollywood, Paris, New York — and the animals were well cared for. Kopp found herself drawn to the pit bulls in her care.

“When I talked to them, they would listen to me,” she said. “Pit bull mixes were so attentive, I felt like during a time lens when I didn’t know who I was, they knew who I was.”

One night, after binging and purging about 20 times, she found herself in a dog habitat with a dog named Buster.

“I could see with clarity, with that dog in my arms, that I needed serious help,” Kopp said. “It was my attitude. I became willing to listen and do things professionals and people that loved me were telling me to do. I couldn’t trust myself; I had to stop being the boss and really accept help.”

She finally sought treatment at the Rosewood Center for Eating Disorders, and this time, things were different.

She also applied to and was accepted in Pacific’s two-year low-residency MFA program.

“I quickly gravitated toward Pacific. It was more of a feeling that I just felt from pictures I saw and the communication from the first person that reached out to me,” she said.

“It felt like a soul decision.”

Kopp’s faculty advisor during her last two semesters at Pacific was Mike Magnuson.

“I try to do the same thing with everyone who I teach at Pacific: I try to force people to find themselves,” Magnuson said. “The thing about Shannon is that her story is so powerful; it’s going to help people.”

Kopp graduated in January 2015, but Magnuson continued working with her until she finished the book.

“She was a pet project of mine, which is ironic because she's a dog writer,” he said.

Kopp said Pacific was instrumental in helping her tell her story.

“I felt like the book was always in me but Pacific — the teachers and the students I met there — helped me bring it to life,” she said.

Today, Kopp is newly married, working as the director of marketing for Montecatini, an eating disorder treatment center, and continuing to volunteer her time with animal shelters.

She also wants to be a voice in her community, speaking out about the issue of eating disorders.“It’s important to me to share with other people that recovery is possible,” Kopp said. “I hope that in sharing my truth, it will inspire other people, encouraging them to find that soul medicine.”

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015