Coaching for Parents & Families

Understanding your Influence

Parent & Family Coaching

You have come here today because at least one of your family members is struggling with disorganized eating, which may or may not have a diagnostic label. Eating Difficulties are often complex and multi-faceted and seeking help from a professional can provide you with some guidance. The goal of coaching is to both empower the person struggling and help the other members of the family to navigate the recovery process together. While I recommend coaching for the complete family unit, I also offer coaching to parents.

My Approach

My approach follows a 7 pillars approach, which is designed to give you holistic and ongoing support for as long as needed:

1. Building Trust and Safety
Each family member plays an essential role in the recovery journey, thus establishing trust is the first pillar for effective family coaching. Families dealing with eating difficulties often face feelings of guilt, shame, and frustration, which can inhibit open communication. Therefore, we first need to create a non-judgmental space where all feel heard and valued. Together we will build up active listening and empathy skills.

2. Understanding the Difficulties
There is so much to learn about eating difficulties but many families are unaware of the complexities and often only focus on the food or appearance – but is only the visible part of the iceberg. Together we will demystify this condition and look at the complete picture: from psychological, physical, and emotional factors to underlying causes and triggers.

3. Assessing Family Dynamics
As we will learn from pillar two, an eating difficulty does not arise overnight and often the family’s dynamics, communication patterns, and unresolved previous issues influence it heavily. In pillar three, we will identify unhelpful patterns, foster a healthier emotional environment, and define each family member’s role in the recovery process.

4. Improving Communication
Miscommunication can exacerbate feelings of isolation or guilt in the person struggling with their eating. We will train to use “I” statements, and how to express concerns without blaming others. Further, we will create a culture of regular family check-ins where everyone can share their thoughts and feelings in a calm and respectful manner. It is important to emphasizing positive reinforcement and encouragement and overcome words of control or punishment born out of helplessness.

5. Creating Healthy Habits
We need to reverse the unhealthy behaviors around food and weight and foster a healthy environment for the whole family. This includes discussing balanced approaches to food, exercise, and body image and avoiding diet talk or body shaming. Involvement in meal planning and eating together can create a sense of normalcy and reduce the anxiety around food for the person in recovery.

6. Navigating Challenges and Setbacks
Recovery is rarely linear, and setbacks are common. I will prepare you to face these challenges with patience and persistence, as well as teaching you to recognize early warning signs and initiate a relapse prevention plan. Please be aware that setbacks are a part of the process, never a failure and I will be here for all of them.

7. Looking after Oneself
Finally, it is important to remember that each family member recognizes and looks after their own emotional needs and practice self-care throughout the process.