What is an eating disorder recovery coach?
As an eating disorder recovery coach, I focus on the HOW to support my clients to make behavioural changes and move towards their vision of recovery.
Clients are supported to identify, set and achieve specific yet flexible goals; flexibility helps to challenge black and white thinking, which fuels disordered eating.
Text support is provided outside of sessions, allowing clients to access in-the-moment support when they are struggling. While also teaching the skill of reaching out to others instead of relying on the eating disorder.
Exposure and response prevention are necessary when recovering from disordered eating or an eating disorder. I offer a safe and supported environment where clients can be exposed to challenging situations and learn to respond without disordered behaviours.
I take an individualised approach with clients to meet their specific needs, meaning the focus of my work with clients varies. Some clients need support to identify and challenge diet culture, stop counting calories and ditch their scale, while others need help following their meal plan and reducing exercise. I’ve worked with clients who initially were not ready to make any changes, so our focus was around increasing motivation, hope and readiness to change.
Find an accredited eating disorder coach
As important as I believe recovery coaching to be, unfortunately, the whole coaching field is unregulated. So, ensure that any coach you work with has received creditable training. I am an accredited Eating Disorder Recovery Coach through the Carolyn Costin Institute (CCI), an internationally recognised provider of the leading eating disorder recovery coaching training.
The course consists of 12 individually assessed modules and ends with a clinically supervised internship.
Ongoing professional development and supervision are required to maintain certification. In addition, I have a Master of Social Work and professional experience working in the mental health sector in Western Australia as a Social Worker.
How can an Eating Disorder Recovery Coach help in your recovery?
The Eating Disorder Recovery Coach's role is a valuable addition to an individual’s treatment team. While other services may focus on understanding the underlying causes of an eating disorder or processing past trauma, recovery coaching supports clients in implementing practical recovery skills to achieve their goals.
As an Eating Disorder Recovery Coach, I support clients to challenge and change their eating disorder thoughts and behaviours in the here and now. My work with clients is goal orientated and present-focused. Practical support can include support with identifying and challenging food rules, social eating, grocery shopping, cooking and clothes shopping. I also provided the valuable service of text support outside of sessions, which allows clients to reach out in the moment when they are struggling.
As a coach with lived experience of recovering from an eating disorder, I aim to provide an aspect of support that I felt was missing from my treatment. I incorporate peer mentoring into my work with clients, and this shared experience helps clients to feel understood. I demonstrate living a recovered life and share aspects of my recovery journey to provide hope that recovery is possible and strategies to support recovery.
What I offer as a 1:1 recovery coach
Working in collaboration with the client’s treatment team.
Setting goals in collaboration with the client and their treatment team and assisting clients to identify and overcome obstacles to achieve their treatment goals.
Support to improve body image.
I practice from a weight inclusive framework to support clients to implement strategies to help then in their body acceptance journey.
Support to challenge fear foods and food rules
I provide guidance and support to identify and challenge fear foods and food rules or increasing frequency of food challenges alongside treatment team.
Model full recovery
Provide hope that recovery is possible, aiding to increase motivation to recover. Exploring any ambivalence and working with the client's stage of change.
Challenge diet culture
Disrupt and help question the normalisation of disordered behaviours that people who are in recovery may be struggling to separate from.
Meal support and snack sessions
Eating with clients in a variety of settings. This supports clients to stay accountable to their meal plan, and build effective strategies for before, during and after eating.
Support to access literature and educational materials
I provide clients with resources to support them to continue to work towards recovery in-between sessions.
Text support outside of sessions
Clients can access support in-the-moments when they are struggling with eating disorder thoughts or urges. Supports clients to learn strategies for reaching out to others instead of relying on the eating disorder.
But I don’t have a formal eating disorder diagnosis
Not meeting full diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder is not a reason to delay getting support.
Clients of Your Nourished Mind do not need to have an eating disorder diagnosis to access support from an Eating Disorder Recovery Coach. I work with people all along the disordered eating spectrum and recognise the detrimental impact that disordered eating can have on someone’s life.
You deserve help regardless of where you fall on the disordered eating spectrum.
Fee structure
Please reach out to ensure you receive the most up-to-date pricing. I charge per one-hour session, and text support outside of sessions is included at no additional charge. There is no lock-in period. I encourage you to schedule sessions at a frequency that works for you and best supports your recovery.