My Young Person Has an Eating Disorder – Who Should Be On Our Treating Team?
5 Tips For Parents Of Children Struggling With an Eating Disorder
Receiving a diagnosis that your child is struggling with an eating disorder is a very scary time for a parent/carer. Of course, you’re overwhelmed by worry for their health and wellbeing. But then there is also immense pressure on you to get everything sorted for treatment. And for most parents this is an entirely new journey, so knowing where to begin is tricky.
To help out, we’ve put together some top tips for parents starting out on this journey. Please remember this is *general advice* and should be treated as such!
1. Make sure you’ve got your young person engaged with a General Practitioner (GP), whom you feel comfortable working with. The GP is the head of your treating team, meaning they coordinate everything and ensure the young person’s health (physical and mental) is well managed. You’ll likely be seeing the GP regularly for the next six months, so may as well try and start with someone you trust.
2. Find yourself a psychologist who is well experienced in working with adolescent eating disorders. Always start by asking your GP for a recommendation – they should know local clinicians who work in this area. Alternatively, The Butterfly Foundation website has a wonderful clinician database you can search if needed. Remember, the psychologist’s primary job is behaviour change. In the early stages, sessions should be weekly/fortnightly (unless otherwise reasoned), carers/parents should be included in the sessions and the focus should be on weight gain or establishing regular eating. Figuring out the “why” of an eating disorder, comes after safety is established.
3. Consider seeking input from a dietician. A dietician’s primary job is food education and nutritional expertise. They help a family to increase food/nutritional intake, challenge food rules and expand the diet. When it comes to dietetic support, consideration should be given to the age of the child. In young adolescents (12 – 16yrs), parents should oversee the child’s intake and therefore, food education should reinforce this hierarchy. In other words, for young teens, parents only. For older teens, discuss with your GP the utility of this knowledge.
4. Inform the school that treatment is happening. The school’s primary job is facilitating normal life. Schools need to know what is happening for the adolescent (within reason & consider the teenagers privacy too), but the primary intervention should be outside of school. School counsellors are for as-needed support only. Year advisors oversee any in school needs i.e., half day attendance, changes to timetables and/or excusal from assessments or sport classes.
5. Finally, get online and access information. In this space, knowledge is power and there is SO. MUCH. CONTENT. online in relation to eating disorder treatment and support. Start with the big guys – The Butterfly Foundation, InsideOut.
Until next time,
Courtney
