Group Therapy- Facilitated by Experienced Eating Issues Counsellors
Held at the Isis Centre, our group therapy is a safe and supportive environment.
Our group therapy sessions are facilitated by qualified therapists, and are designed especially for those with eating issues.
There are many reasons to join one of our groups:
- reduce feelings of isolation
- receive support and understanding
- explore personal issues that contribute to your eating issues
- find a sense of self and sense of control in your life
Sharing stories – real information
Before attending the group, many have experienced misinformation about eating behaviour and body image.
Listening to someone’s story shared in the group, however, can often help to bring some clarity about what is really going on for many others.
Feedback
Many of those who have participated in our group work have described it as a safe and supportive environment in which to:
- gain more information and understanding about their eating issue
- confront issues they have long been avoiding
- find alternative coping strategies and develop ongoing support
“ I am now able to talk freely about my issue with others, I feel I’m not alone in my challenges or behaviours and now know how to seek support from others…”
Designed for your recovery
The groups are generally designed from what the needs and interests of everyone participating.
By offering a range of different activities and resources, the ultimate aim is to give choices and assistance in the process of a sustainable recovery.
About counselling
Group work is only one part of the recovery process. Groups don’t allow the time or context for processing all issues in depth. So individual counselling is encouraged in conjunction with group work so issues can be followed up outside the group - and possibly bring issues back into the group to be addressed in new ways.
Our range of therapeutic groups
1. “Live it!” 10 week therapeutic group (open to anyone)
2. 18 week therapeutic group (women only)
3. Reconnect Healthy Body Image and Eating Issues Recovery Workshops (open to anyone)
1. “Live it” 10 Week Therapeutic Group (open to anyone)
Isis’ “Live it!” therapeutic group is based on the ‘The Don’t Diet – Live it! Workbook - Healing food weight and body issues’ (authors: Andrea LoBue and Marsea Marcus).
In 2008 Isis trialled a 9 week “Live it” group. The groups are process orientated and are designed to raise awareness, encouraging participants to get in touch with what is happening for them in the moment, as well as discussing content of the book and completing homework between each group.
Group evaluations indicated that women found the group useful as a way of exploring the practical things they could do to assist themselves in recovery, in reaching out for support, and in supporting others in their recovery journeys.
Feedback
“I am now able to talk freely about my issue with others, I feel I’m not alone in my challenges or behaviours and now know how to seek support from others....I am able to look at certain new ways of living, I feel better empowered to change things….. I now know that I can beat this!”
“Group has allowed me to see issues of ‘trust’ and by raising my awareness of this (in group) I can start doing something about it.”
“I like that we were learning about ourselves and each other and connectedness. I now have a much better understanding of why I was eating excessively. And in that awareness [I] have “allowed” myself to experiment and listen to my body's needs a lot more."
“The warm acceptance and encouragement of facilitator was beneficial and been very supportive. I have learnt a great deal. ...I am able to look at certain new ways of living, I feel better empowered to change things and I now know that I can beat this (eating issue)."
Registration
$200/$150 Concession for the total 10 weeks
Includes food and your own copy of the ‘Don’t Diet Live It’ workbook.
Like to express your interest?
If you are interested in joining the next 9 Week Group please let us know.
2. 18 week therapeutic group (women only)
The Next 18 Week Group is scheduled to begin 28 February 2012. Contact Isis to express your interest.
For women aged 17 onwards, this group is designed around the needs and interests of those in the group.
With a maximum of 12 participants, the aim is to give women the opportunity to:
- gain valuable insight into their own and others' experiences
- provide support to one another
This group’s format is based on feminist principles combined with a range of different processes - including creative arts, symbolic and cognitive - these are used to enable participants to explore and understand their experiences, to express themselves in different ways and to connect with feelings.
This group uses creative group work processes to assist women to therapeutically explore the purpose and meaning of eating issues as well as topics such as boundaries, self esteem, alternative ways of coping and developing healthier relationships with self and others.
Membership is closed which means the same women participate each week, encouraging safety and continuity.
Feedback
The most resounding comment from women is that they are able to cope better by knowing they are not alone.
“Hearing the stories and perspectives of other women often mirrored my own experience. This provided greater insight into the multi-causal nature of an eating issue. I am now able to take care of myself and believe that it is important and worthwhile. I feel stronger, and with more freedom
to enjoy life and make healthy choices…”
“It’s given me a vocabulary about something that previously went unspoken about and the confidence to share more because I no longer feel I am isolated in my experiences of an eating issue. I am now able to think of myself as a more ‘normal’ person, I feel understood and a sense of solidarity with other women and I know there are some ways I can set about changing the way I am. I have a better understanding of the eating issue and factors leading to it…”
Sessions
3 hours x 1 week for 18 weeks (usually Tuesday evenings: 5.30pm- 8.30pm)
Membership is closed - this means the same women participate each week, encouraging safety and continuity.
Registration
$300/$250 Concession
Includes cost of creative art therapy materials and Isis membership.
Limited subsidised places are also available per group - please contact us for more details.
3. Reconnect Healthy Body Image and Eating Issues Recovery Workshops (open to anyone)
Isis also runs 2 Reconnect Workshops per year. These are open to anyone who is interested in meeting others who have shared similar experiences with body image and eating. Workshops include speakers sharing their insights on recovery and or exercises that assist participants to reconnect with health body image and eating issue recovery goals. These workshops also provide those who have completed Isis groups with an opportunity to reconnect with a supportive community and connections they have made through groups. We hold one event during Body Image and Eating Disorders Awareness Week and another before Christmas each year. Dates for 2011 are 6th September and 21st December 2011 5.30-8.00 pm. RSVPs are essential and workshops are $20 or $15 concession.
