For Parents of Children and Teens with Eating Disorders

​

• Around the Dinner Table is a support forum, run by Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T.), for parents and caregivers of anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorder patients.

• Brave Girl Eating, Harriet Brown (2010) is a book, which provides an excellent account of a family’s struggle with anorexia and treatment using Family-Based Treatment.

• Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T.) is an international nonprofit organization of and for parents and caregivers to help loved ones recover from eating disorders by providing information and mutual support, promoting evidence-based treatment, and advocating for research and education to reduce the suffering associated with eating disorders.

• Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder, Second Edition, James Lock, MD, Ph.D. and Daniel Le Grange, Ph.D. (2015) is a book for parents that includes a comprehensive overview of the Family-Based Treatment approach to treatment, which is written by the developers of the treatment.

• Helping parents to help their child eat and be well is a video and audio resource.  Parent Eva Musby has created video and audio resources for parents supporting children in recovery from an eating disorder.  She has a 7-minute audio guided compassion meditation for parents that is great to use for getting in a good space to support a child.  Check out her other offerings as well and her book, Anorexia and Other Disorders, which helps parents support their children in the most compassionate way. We highly recommend it!

• How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder: A Simple, Plate-by-Plate Approach To Rebuilding a Healthy Relationship With Food, Casey Crosbie, RD, CSSD and Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD is a book for parents to help aid treatment in all eating disorders that shifts focus away from numbers, counting, or measuring.  This can be used alongside Family-Based treatment and other treatment modalities. 

• International Eating Disorder Parent Support is a Facebook support group for adults who care or have cared for a loved one with an eating disorder.  They provide peer-to-peer sharing, support, education, guidance, encouragement, and to offer HOPE. They are moderated by an international collective of parents whose children have been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

• Maudsley Parents is a website for parents of eating disordered children that provides support and a great deal of information about Family-Based Treatment.

 

General Eating Disorder Resources

​

​

• Academy for Eating Disorders: The AED is the main international scientific body for the study and prevention of eating disorders. It provides professional training to therapists as well as education and information about eating disorders research, prevention, and clinical treatments.

• Gurze/Salucore Eating Disorders Resource Catalogue: Eating disorder books, articles, information, resources, and more.

• Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too, by Jenni Schaefer and Thom Rutledge. In her recovery, which is summarized in the book, Jenni Schaefer personified the eating disorder as “Ed,” an abusive boyfriend and explains how she broke up with him.

• National Eating Disorders Association: This non-profit organization specifically focuses on supporting individuals and families affected by eating disorders.

• Verywell Mind Eating Disorders: This site provides articles about eating disorders, many of which have been written by Dr. Muhlheim.