Resources for Families and Carers

Educating yourself about the illness and learning about other people’s experiences can help you feel empowered to help support your loved one with an eating disorder in their recovery. Eating disorders affects not just the person, but their loved ones, so this list includes resources for both the person and their support system. Here are some resources that you may find useful:

Websites:

• SupportED (InsideOut Institute): a free online skills program for anyone supporting someone with an eating disorder, co-designed with carers and people with lived experience. eclinic.insideoutinstitute.org.au/supported

• Maudsley Parents: www.maudsleyparents.org

• F.E.A.S.T: www.feast-ed.org

• Beat Eating Disorders (UK): www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

• Treating Eating Disorders: www.treatingeatingdisorders.com

• Mental Health Carers NSW: www.mentalhealthcarersnsw.org

• Feed Your Instinct: www.feedyourinstinct.com.au

• Headspace: www.headspace.org.au

• Recovery Resources: www.recoveryresources.com.au

• Centre for Clinical Interventions: www.cci.health.wa.gov.au

• National Eating Disorders Collaboration: www.nedc.com.au

• National Eating Disorders Association - NEDA (USA): www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

• Eating Disorder Hope (US): www.eatingdisorderhope.com

• Eating Disorder Families Australia (EDFA): www.edfa.org.au

• The Butterfly Foundation: https://butterfly.org.au/

• Eating Disorders Victoria: www.eatingdisorders.org.au

• Eating Disorders Queensland: https://eatingdisordersqueensland.org.au/

• BRIDGES. Eating Disorders Association of Western Australia: www.bridges.net.au

• Child and Adolescent Health Service (WA): https://www.pch.health.wa.gov.au/Our-services/Mental-Health/Eating-Disorders-Service

• Reaching Out (Australia): www.au.reachout.com

• Bodywhys - The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland: www.bodywhys.ie

• Beyond Blue: www.beyondblue.org.au

• Eva Musby - Helping You Support Your Child to Recover from an Eating Disorder, Anywhere in the World: www.anorexiafamily.com

Online Support for Families & Carers

SupportED (InsideOut Institute):

A free online skills program for anyone supporting someone with an eating disorder, co-designed with carers and people with lived experience. eclinic.insideoutinstitute.org.au/supported

The Butterfly Foundation:

Online and face-to-face support groups for parents, carers and siblings who support someone with an eating disorder. Available online at set times to enable people to share experiences with others in similar situations. https://butterfly.org.au/

Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders:

Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T) is an international organisation of and for caregivers of people with eating disorders. F.E.A.S.T information and online forums available. https://www.feast-ed.org/around-the-dinner-table-forum/

Closed Facebook groups:

www.edfa.org.au/family-and-carer-wellbeing/family-and-carer-support-organisations/international/

Books

• Skills-Based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder: The New Maudsley Method

• By Janet Treasure, Grainne Smith and Anna Crane

• Talking to Eating Disorders: Simple Ways to Support Someone who has Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating or Other Eating Disorders By Jeanne Heaton and Claudia Strauss

• Conquering Eating Disorders: How Family Communications Heals By Sue Cooper and Peggy Norton

• If Your Adolescent has an Eating Disorder: An Essential Resource for Parents By Timothy Walsh and V. L. Cameron

• Surviving an Eating Disorder: Strategies for Families and Friends By Michelle Siegel, Judith Brisman, MargotWeinshel

• Anorexia Nervosa: A Survival Guide for Families, Friends and Sufferers By Janet Treasure

• Eating Disorders: The Facts By Suzanne Abraham

• A Collaborative Approach to Eating Disorders By June Alexander and Janet Treasure

• Within, Part One By Karen McGratten

• Everybody’s Different: A Positive Approach to Teaching about Health, Puberty, Body Image, Nutrition, Self-Esteem and Obesity Prevention By Jenny O’Dea

• Eating Disorders By Stephen Touyz, Janet Polivy and Phillipa Hay

• Interventions for Body Image and Eating Disorders: Evidence and Practice By Susan Paxton and Phillipa Hay

• Eating with your Anorexic By Laura Collins

• Boys Get Anorexia Too: Coping with Male Eating Disorders in the Family By Jenny Langley

• Your Dieting Daughter: Antidotes Parents can Provide for Body Dissatisfaction, Excessive Dieting, and Disordered Eating By Carolyn Costin

• Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder By James Lock and Daniel le Grange

• The Boy Who Loved Apples: A Mother’s Battle with Her Son’s Anorexia By Amanda Webster

• Overcoming Binge Eating (2nd Edition) By Christopher Fairburn

• Survive FBT: Skills Manual for Parents Undertaking Family Based Treatment (FBT) for Child and Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa By Maria Ganc