Recent posts from Eva Musby: Help your child with an eating disorder

Recent posts

Eating disorders guidance for schools: it’s all here

The main menu page for schools: your portal to everything a school needs to know about eating disorders, disordered eating, health promotion and obesity. How to spot issues, what to do about them, and how prevention works.
What’s the best eating disorder treatment for children and young people? The very latest guideline from NICE

What is the best treatment for anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating or OSFED? Answers from NICE, the organisation that reviews the evidence world-wide and publishes guidance for the health service in England. The findings are relevant to all countries.
Eating disorders in Scotland

How are eating disorders treated in Scotland, what are the standards and where can people with an eating disorder and parents get help?
Waiting times for children and young people with an eating disorder: England’s standard shows us the way

The first results following England’s standard on the maximum allowed waiting time for treating a child or young person with an eating disorder.
Expect full recovery (not just ‘remission’) from an eating disorder

Holding hope; talking of ‘recovery’, not ‘remission’; pseudo-recovery; statistics and inflated treatment claims.
‘OK’: two letters for two steps to mindfulness and compassion

Just two letters to help you with compassion
Suicide and eating disorders: some statistics

Today, I am summarising some statistics for you. Each of these statistics represents someone who might be enjoying a full life right now if they had received early diagnosis and evidence-based treatment. I sincerely hope that in ten years’ time the statistics will be very different. The suicide risk is several times higher among those…
England’s eating-disorder treatment standard: a model for the rest of the world?

A fair share of the horror stories I hear come from England. So how wonderful is it that NHS England has issued the most well-informed, high-standard instructions we could wish for. And no wonder. It was written by some of our top experts. And it is actually now government policy! It’s all in a 102-page…
Books & Links on Mindfulness

My review of helpful books for parents on mindfulness, acceptance and letting go.
Help with compassion, self-compassion and sleep

Video resources I have found very helpful to build me up fast when I’ve been knocked down. Later I developed my own resources (available on this website), especially for parents in our situation.
Thank you

Thanks to the many contributors to my book.
Treatment for anorexia and other eating disorders: the essentials for parents

The essentials for a parent who wants immediate answers: what are the main principles of the treatments covered in this book, and how long before you can expect some relief? This is Chapter 4 of my book.
School support: a checklist for parents of a child with an eating disorder

Teamwork between parents and teachers helps children with eating disorders benefit from school. I imagine that staff in schools all over the world have a desire to contribute to a child and a family’s wellbeing. If this is not what you’re seeing, the key to removing obstacles is communication. Engage key teachers in understanding the…
Some statistics: how common are the various types of eating disorder?

How common are eating disorders? I haven’t put this in my book, but I’ll give you some figures here in case you need it to convince your school or other authorities that eating disorders are anything but rare and that resources need to be allocated to them.
Mending the relationship after a bust-up

Does your child act totally out of character when he or she is worried about food? Have you been screamed at, or kicked? Have you had a plate of pasta tipped onto your lap in a restaurant? Has your child run away? After a highly charged event when your child (and perhaps yourself) have been…
Psychotherapy approaches: which might help?

There are a huge number of psychotherapy methods out there. It’s helpful for us parents to know a little about them, both so we can assess what’s being offered to our kids and so we can find something for ourselves. In my book I explain how psychotherapy is not a first line of treatment for…
Eating disorders: understand where psychotherapists are coming from

Psychotherapists, if they’re not specialised in the latest on eating disorders, may waste time on “insight” into “underlying” psychological “causes”.
Don’t beat up your child (or yourself) for failing in spite of therapy

Anyone who engages with psychotherapy is showing courage and willingness to make changes and take risks. The greater the changes, the more we’re likely to stumble and fail for a while. It takes time to use new tools. I make a plea to all families to be patient with the process and to resist criticising…