This ten-week workshop and support series presented by business and life coaches is designed specifically with you, the family, in mind. During these 90-minute workshops you’ll learn more about eating disorders, documentation and organization skills necessary to navigate the medical and insurance system and you’ll find resources available to you and your family members. During the group coaching portion of the evening you’ll acquire valuable skills for taking care of yourself, building connections with other families, learning and sharing support with one another.

Workshops will benefit anyone who wants to increase their emotional resources while coping with a family member’s eating disorder. These sessions are educational, and designed to enhance treatment effectiveness by educating and supporting parents of children with eating disorders. These workshops supplement but are NOT intended to substitute treatment.

Workshops are being held every week during the evening. Participants can start at any time: you do not need to wait for 'Week 1' in order to join. Contact us for more detailed workshop dates.

Workshop topics include:

Week 1: Introduction to Eating Disorders. Participants will:

• discuss what is (and is not) an eating disorder.
• understand the difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating.
• discover how common eating disorders are.
• learn to separate the problem from the person.
• focus on their own needs for the workshop series.
• develop ‘ground rules’ for the workshop series community.
• discuss basic self-care techniques.

Week 2: Introduction to Eating Disorders (continued). Participants will:

• learn to manage the stress that accompanies a family illness.
• receive information about available resources, including books, web sites, organizations and care providers.
• share information with one another, creating a bigger community pool of information.

Week 3: Unlocking the Gold Mine: Resources for Families and Others Coping with Eating Disorders. Participants will:

• share information with one another, creating a bigger community pool of information (continued).
• learn about the HOPE Network ‘Buddy Program’ offering a free, confidential way to ‘blow off steam’ and share ideas with other family members who also cope with eating disorders.
• learn one family member’s successful and time-saving system for organizing insurance and care provider paperwork.

Week 4: Unlocking the Gold Mine: Resources for Families and Others Coping with Eating Disorders (continued). Participants will:

• share successful tips and experiences working with insurance companies and care providers.
• learn pitfalls to avoid when communicating with insurance companies and care providers.
• develop a personalized list of support and education resources.

Week 5: Unlocking the Gold Mine (continued). Participants will:

• share successful tips and experiences working with insurance companies and care providers (continued).
• organize their own paperwork for easy efficiency.
• discuss and learn from specific insurance and care provider experiences.

Week 6: Taking care of YOU. Participants will:

• recognize typical stress triggers for families coping with eating disorders.
• learn about the family’s impact on the eating disorder, and the eating disorder’s impact on the family.
• recognize personal stress triggers, and share success stories for handling stress.
• learn to recognize and cope with emotional ‘dumping’.

Week 7: From 'Crisis' to 'Calm': Building Stress Management Skills for the Long Haul. Participants will:

• build stress management skills for both ‘crisis’ and ‘long-term’ stress.
• build their own skills toolkit for recognizing stress triggers.
• learn Emotional Freedom Technique, a clinically effective way to "reprogram" the body to eliminate stress.

Week 8: Parenting a Child with an Eating Disorder: What's "Normal"? Participants will:

• discuss typical eating disorder parenting challenges, and how those challenges differ from "normal" parenting challenges.
• discuss appropriate parenting responses to inappropriate behavior.
• understand how the patient’s and the family’s readiness for change impacts the situation.
• recognize and celebrate the "wins" along the journey.

Week 9: Managing the Process. Participants will:

• determine their ongoing emotional, educational and other needs as they continue to support their loved ones in the battle against the eating disorder.
• solidify their resource and support network for ongoing success.

Week 10: Celebrating the Progress. Participants will:

• revisit their original objectives from the beginning of the six-week workshop series.
• review what has been learned, and what's next.
• celebrate their own, their families and the workshop community’s progress.

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Note: By reviewing this information you are agreeing that the information provided on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be medical advice or to be used for diagnosis or treatment. None of the information should be used as a substitute for evaluation and treatment by a qualified medical or mental health professional. If you have, or suspect you have a health problem, you should immediately contact a physician or other health care professional in your area.