Strong Foundations is a 6 week online only course designed to answer parents' and carers' questions about assessment and management of eating disorders. The focus of the course is to empower parents with skills and knowledge to support the young person in their treatment and recovery.
Who can access this course?
Parents and carers who have a young person aged 5-17 open to a local Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS) across Queensland.
How can I access this course?
A referral by a local clinician.
Course overview
Duration: 6 weeks
Delivery: Online, Microsoft Teams
Time: Wednesday 9am–10am
Facilitators: Presenters are members of the multi-disciplinary team of the Children's Health Queensland (CHQ) CYMHS Eating Disorders Program.
Week 1: Introduction to eating disorder treatment
- What are eating disorders and what are the early signs of an eating disorder?
- How does starvation affect the body and the mind?
- What to expect once adequate nutrition is provided
- How the GP and the eating disorders team monitor medical stability
Week 2: Nutrition concepts for recovery
- Dieting and eating disorders
- Growth expectations in adolescence
- How do teens usually eat and meet nutrition requirements?
- How food needs change during eating disorder treatment and how to increase energy density
- Different dietary choices, food allergies/intolerances and eating within the family context
- Changes to expect during the renourishing phase
Week 3: Meal support
- What is meal support?
- What is externalisation in eating disorders treatment and how can it be used?
- What are some ways of providing effective meal support when considering the time before the meal, during the meal and after the meal?
Week 4: Distress tolerance and communication
- What is distress tolerance and how does it relate to eating disorder treatment?
- Communication skills specific to eating disorder recovery
- Emotional regulation and skills to support this including mindfulness and distraction
- Additional practical skills to support and manage distress
- Crisis management plan
Week 5: Parent/carer information and resources
- Discuss and share resources and supports available for parents and carers
- Outline and discussion of services offered to carers and young people
- Session is jointly presented by the Consumer Carer Coordinator of the CYMHS Eating Disorder Program and Eating Disorders Queensland to provide a lived experience perspective
Week 6: Treatment of eating disorders
- Who is involved in the treatment of eating disorders?
- What type of medical monitoring is required?
- Eating disorder myths
- What types of therapies can be used and how are they decided?
- Outline of treatments available including Family Based Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (FBT-AN), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – Enhanced (CBT-E), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR) and Family Based Treatment for ARFID (FBT-ARFID).
Get in touch
For more information about this course contact CHQ-CYMHS-EatingDisorders@health.qld.gov.au or phone 07 33979077. To explore similar services, visit our eating disorder page.