Launch of our NLP approach to eating disorders

You probably know someone living with an eating disorder – but you may not realise it.

Right now, at least 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. That’s more than 1 in 50 people – but the real number could be even higher. Eating disorders like ARFID, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and OSFED are complex mental health conditions which are often misunderstood, mislabelled or undiagnosed which can prevent people from reaching out for help.

Eating disorders don’t just affect the person with the condition, friends and family often become carers – feeling helpless and heartbroken, as they watch their loved one struggle. Eating disorders are one of the biggest mental health challenges of our time and they can affect anyone at any time.  

Eating disorders awareness week will run from the 24th February until the 2nd March. At Team NLP we have been developing a new initiative designed to support those with anorexia,  However, our approach will also help sufferers of many other EDs too.  

I am the mother of an amazing daughter who has lived on and off with anorexia for many years. As her supporter, I have been frustrated and disappointed by the lack of attention during her hospital stays paid to her ED mindset. The re-feeding is the easier part, because if you are made to eat and not move you will put on weight. Yet, an ED is not about food so what happens when sufferers return to their homes? That’s right, it is difficult for them to maintain the weight gain because the neural pathways and the voice remain mostly unchanged. They often feel worse because they have put on weight in treatment which leads to increased disturbed thoughts as the ED voice tells them it is bad to put on weight. This is one of the main reasons why relapse rates are so high.

After experiencing her battle first-hand and hearing similar feedback from other supporters, we decided to shape an approach to change the ED mindset using NLP. Thankfully, my daughter is now in recovery and doing well. Our ambition is to upskill supporters and sufferers to work together against the illness and to train other NLP’ers who want to work in this field. Our approach is called 'No Longer Petrified' and it will include lots of free resources including a podcast as well as a book, recovery coaching and courses for sufferers, supporters and health professionals.  

This article in the ANLP magazine Rapport, shares a snapshot of our developing approach.

https://tinyurl.com/nolongerpetrified

Let me know your thoughts.  And, please contact us if you'd like more information.