Parent/Caregiver, Spouse and Family Support
We provide support for family members (parents, caregivers, siblings, spouses etc) because we know that eating disorders impact the entire family unit.
Parents, caregivers, and siblings are often confused by the eating disorder and the actions or attitudes their loved one may be conveying. We offer families information to help understand their loved ones’ struggles more clearly.
We also know that all families want to help but often feel unsure how. Our team meets with family members to provide skills training and supportive resources to help them feel confident and capable supporting their loved one’s recovery.
Lastly, our team provides families with empathic, non-judgement support as we know it is a scary, confusing, and exhausting journey for everyone involved.
Types of Caregiver Support
Counselling for Parents and Spouses
Counselling for Parents and Spouses
Counselling for Parents and Spouses
The clinicians on our team are trained in emotion-focused family therapy and can help you and your family work through challenges with emotion regulation, boundary setting, meal support and symptom interruption, healing past wounds, and communication. These sessions can be solely for parents/caregivers on their own or they can be dyadic sessions that include the parent(s) and child (of any age) together.
Groups for Supporters
Counselling for Parents and Spouses
Counselling for Parents and Spouses
We offer groups that aim to provide supporters (parents, partners, and other family members) with a safe environment to ask questions, learn valuable skills to assist their loved one's recovery, and seek support and connection from others who are going through similar experiences. These multi-week or monthly groups are facilitated by someone has extensive experience (both lived and professional) and is trained to support others and offer guidance, information, resources and skill development.
Educational Workshops
Mentoring and Coaching for Parents and Spouses
Mentoring and Coaching for Parents and Spouses
Workshops provide specific skill training, practice, or education about eating disorders. These are open to anyone who wishes to learn more. Teachers, coaches, aunties, uncles, neighbours, and others can benefit from improving their understanding of eating disorders and ways to provide meaningful support to the entire family.
Mentoring and Coaching for Parents and Spouses
Mentoring and Coaching for Parents and Spouses
Mentoring and Coaching for Parents and Spouses
We offer individual one-on-one sessions for supporters who wish to receive skills coaching, education, and support from a professional who has lived experience of supporting a child to recovery from an eating disorder. These individual sessions focus on providing supporters with skills that have been identified as key in the recovery from eating disorders (emotion coaching, emotional regulation, boundary setting, meal support). Our mentor/coach has a wealth of information about eating disorders, navigating the system, repairing relationships, and has first-hand knowledge of the unique and challenging journey supporters experience.
Friends and Family Webinar
When?
First Sunday of every month from 10:00am-12:00pm MST
2022 Dates:
August 7th
September 4th
October 2nd
November 6th
Dec 4th
Where?
Run virtually through Zoom
What will we talk about?
Topics Covered:
- Types of eating disorders
- What causes eating disorders
- Why can't they just eat or just stop?
- The brain science of eating disorders
- Myths about eating disorders
- What to say and what not to say
- How do they get better? How long will it take?
- How can I provide support
- + reliable resources for more information about eating disorders.
Who will lead the webinar?
Sue Huff is a trained caregiver coach, mentor and educator who has lived experience as a parent of a child in recovery from Anorexia. She is also the former Executive Director and a founding member of the Eating Disorder Support Network of Alberta and the author of a book on families overcoming eating disorders. Sue is trained in emotion focused family therapy and found this skill to be enormously helpful as a parent. Sue understands the rollercoaster of emotions parents face when their child has an eating disorder, because she has "been there, done that." Sue says she feels honoured to walk beside other parents on this journey.
How much does it cost?
This webinar costs $25.00 for the first support person per and $15 for each additional friend/family member.
How long is it?
The webinar is 2 hours long.