Eating Disorder Caregiver Resilience
re·sil·ience noun 1. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. "the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions" Why the topic of resilience today? A. November is National Caregivers Month and caregivers and their carees do much...
Eating Disorders Caregivers & Self-Forgiveness, by Becky Henry, CPCC
“Of all the factors that foreshorten our lives and erode its quality, emotional stress increasingly emerges as the biggest culprit. Mary Hayes Grieco’s book offers us engaging, story-driven science and a straightforward approach to relieving emotional pain—something...
Trusting our Gut as Parents of a Child with an Eating Disorder, by Becky Henry, CPCC
Last week I shared how Luminous Momma began to climb out of the dark, muddy, hopeless abyss by being; seen, heard, validated, having her pain honored, and having light shown on her worth. Today I’m sharing some of her individualized steps to continue the climb. As she...
Eating Disorders Caregiver Burnout – Steps to Survival, by Becky Henry, CPCC
Climbing the long, steep, muddy incline out of a dark, deep abyss first requires one to realize a few key concepts: 1. That one is in fact in an abyss. 2. That being there isn’t serving anyone. 3. That one is worthy of getting out. 4. That there is hope to get out. 5....
Nourishing Hope for Eating Disorders Recovery
Families with whom I’ve spoken over the 16+ years of coaching parents & other family caregivers of those with eating disorders have shared that it’s difficult during the journey to have hope. That’s an understatement. Some parents tell me they feel like running...
Eating Disorders Caregivers Effectiveness – Tools to Use Now, by Becky Henry
We often need to hear something several times to truly incorporate the knowledge. And when we are in a fear state due to a child having a life threatening illness, it can take hearing a message many times and many ways to really embrace a strong understanding. This...
Eating Disorder Caregivers Counting Chia Seeds, by Becky Henry
Many family caregivers and/or parents of a child with an eating disorder have shared with me over the past 16 years that there was a point at which they knew their life had to change. Often there are many small moments that have become eerily common and almost feel...
Shining the Light on Eating Disorders Recovery, by Becky Henry, CPCC
Being a Lighthouse for Loved One's in Recovery is not for sissies. This is the work of people who can do the emotional equivalent of an ironman marathon every day. Anna Westin died as a result of her eating disorder before I got to meet her. It was through her mom,...
Eating Disorders Caregiver Burnout, by Becky Henry
Parents and other family caregivers of those with eating disorders often want to give up and/or run away. Anxiety and fear are normal reactions to seeing your child/family member disappear before your eyes. The demands on a family caregiver are so profound I often...
Eating Disorders Caregivers; Hyper-Vigilance to Complacency – how Boundaries can Help Now
Happy Labor Day Weekend to my American readers! Happy regular day to my non-American readers. I’m practicing being gentle with myself - walking the talk doncha know (have to share a little Minnesotan dialect now and then). In service of taking a break from labor,...
Eating Disorders Caregivers – Support is Game Changing, by Becky Henry
August 23, 2019 Newsletter - Eating Disorders Caregivers - Support is Game Changing Yesterday I saw my friend Kitty Westin speak at the grand opening of another Anna Westin House location, the first in the City of Minneapolis so this is very exciting! The Mayor...
Eating Disorder Parent Coach – Becky Henry, CPCC
During what feels like a lifetime ago while trying to support a loved one in eating disorder treatment, I had almost no support. It was in the dark ages of treatment research in which parents (especially mothers) were seen as the cause. Not super helpful as you can...
Eating Disorder Parent Support – Self-Care is the Foundation, by Becky Henry
Regularly I hear from parents who have experienced any of my professional coaching services for eating disorders caregivers that they didn’t get it in the beginning why I was so focused on them practicing self-care. They’ll tell me after a year or two (or more) of...
10 Tips on Shame for Effective Eating Disorder Caregivers ~ by, Becky Henry
This blog was adapted from the webinar discussion presented by Clementine Briarcliff Manor Clinical Director, Danielle Small, MS, LMFT. Danielle Small is a licensed marriage and family therapist with extensive experience in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia...
Meant To Be Moments at Airports, by Becky Henry, CPCC
In the, “you can’t make this stuff up” category or as my friend and fellow author, Mary Treacy O’Keefe would call it, “a meant to be moment” I had an encounter at the Birmingham airport on the way home from presenting with Carlus Houston at the University of AL Eating...
Independence, Freedom, Boundaries & Eating Disorders Treatment
Every single parent with whom I’ve spoken over the past 16 years who has a child with an eating disorder would like for that child to have freedom and independence from that eating disorder. Hopefully your Independence Day weekend celebrations have allowed you some...
Family Caregiving of a Loved One with an Eating disorder, by Becky Henry
Family caregiver, your heart is soooo big and your instinct is to come from a place of love and service, wanting your loved one to have the easiest, quickest, least painful path to recovery. Today though, you’ll learn that putting their needs first, before your own,...
Eating Disorders Caregivers and Shame
Parenting kids who have a propensity to feel worthless and unlovable is not easy to say the least. Each week in the online group support that I facilitate we have a topic that we use to illuminate the challenges family caregivers of those with eating disorders are...
Self-Sacrifice in Caregiving
Speaking on the phone with a family caregiver the other day talking about their overwhelm and exhaustion, they were telling me that their self-sacrifice was draining. I asked them one of my favorite questions: “How much of your time is spent taking care of you?” They...
Walking the Talk of Self-care When It isn’t Convenient, by Becky Henry, CPCC
Irony amuses me. Promoting self-care for caregivers is what I do daily. And I give it a valiant effort to walk my talk. Well this past week I was told that even though the respiratory virus I had for two weeks had run its course and I was feeling better, I needed to...
Vigilance in Eating Disorders Caregiving- By, Becky Henry, CPCC
Many of us as family caregivers have lived this polarizing, highwire, balancing act of vacillating between hypervigilance and being complacent. For the first year or so of being a family caregiver of someone with an eating disorder, the vigilance to keep our loved one...
4 Tips for Eating Disorders Caregivers to Learn How to set Boundaries Now – by, Becky Henry, CPCC
When a family member is diagnosed with an eating disorder and we’re frantically trying to keep them alive and find a good fit for treatment, often the last thing on our minds is setting boundaries to keep them AND us, safe. Most families tell me that they’ve been...
Am I enabling my child’s eating disorder? By Becky Henry
Every day in the USA at least 23 people die from eating disorders. Full disclosure, I dislike the term “enabling” a lot. And it is the 8th topic in my HUG Kits because this is a real issue that families are facing. The line between being a supportive caregiver or...
Self-care Tips for Eating Disorders Caregivers to Use Now, by Becky Henry, CPCC
Your loved one is in a crisis and needs a parent/family caregiver who is in top form and ready to provide loving support without erasing your own dear self. It may feel greedy and selfish to do things for yourself. I get that-it seemed that way to me when I was in...
Residential Eating Disorders Treatment; 3 Tips for Family Caregivers
by, Becky Henry, CPCC Becky Henry Founder of Hope Network Eating Disorder Family Support Family caregivers of those with eating disorders have often told me that it broke their hearts to take a child or other loved one to a Residential Treatment Center (RTC). Often...