FAQ for professionals
FAQ for professionals
Many people from a range of professions may find themselves working with people who have an eating disorder or disordered eating. Those who may be directly involved include GPs, nurses, therapists, counsellors and other mental health professionals in a range of settings. However, other professionals including teachers, support workers, social workers and many others may also work closely with people they know, or suspect, have an eating disorder.
SWEDA can offer support and advice to those working with people with eating disorders. This may be initiated through direct contact via a telephone call, email or social media. Please do contact us if you think we may be able to help you.
If you are a professional wanting to refer someone to us, you can use our professionals’ referral form. If you are unsure about whether to refer and you would like to talk it over, please contact us so someone can speak with you, answer any questions and discuss whether SWEDA can help.
SWEDA offers an Eating Disorders Training for Professionals course, delivered by our Deputy Clinical Lead Sarah Stevens. Sarah has expert knowledge of eating disorders, having worked with many clients and delivered a range of interventions to help them on the road to recovery.
SWEDA can also offer bespoke training for a wide range of needs.
The course is suitable for anyone working with people with eating disorders who does not already have specialist training in this field. It provides an introduction to eating disorders, looks at how they develop and what might cause them. It goes on to explore how best to help if you find yourself working with someone who has an eating problem, what is helpful and unhelpful and how to seek further help for someone who you feel may be developing an eating disorder. By the end of the course, you should have an understanding of what an eating disorder is and how to identify when there might be an issue. You should have some resources to offer initial support and a good idea of how to seek expert help for the person you are supporting.
Please note that this course does not enable you to work therapeutically to treat someone with an eating disorder as this is a specialist area and requires significant training to undertake safely.
The course is ideal for non-specialist healthcare professionals, counsellors, wellbeing staff, school and college staff and anyone who feels they want to know more about these illnesses.
Please check here for more detailed information about the course content.
The course runs as standard every three months. However, if we get a special request or a group booking, we may be able to organise additional dates.
Yes, we welcome group bookings from other organisations. While we will do our best to accommodate all group participants in a single booking, we may have to split them into smaller groups for separate workshops in order to best suit the needs of attendees and ensure everyone gets the most out of the course.
The training is interactive and participants are asked to reflect on their own thoughts, feelings and experiences and bring questions and input to the training. If there is something in particular you would like to know beforehand, or something you would like to be covered, please do get in touch.
Currently, we offer a place for £120 per person for a six-hour expert training session. However, we are open to organising special offers for group bookings. These should be discussed prior to booking and those interested in discussing options should get in touch.
Yes, we welcome requests for bespoke training and will do our best to design something suitable for your group. We have some experienced trainers who can write and deliver tailored training for a wide range of settings.
Examples of groups we have designed training for include:
- School support staff
- Other mental health charities
- Youth groups and youth leaders
- Colleges and universities
- HR professionals
- Other community groups
If you would like to talk to someone about some bespoke training, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
