How to Support Your Child in Eating Disorder Recovery
Parenting a child with an eating disorder is one of the hardest things you’ll ever face. You want to help, but it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or unsure where to start.
With the right resources and parent support, you can play a powerful role in your child’s recovery. Learning new skills helps you avoid burnout, reduce fear, and stay grounded during this challenging journey.
Below you’ll find trusted guidance and free tools designed to help parents who are navigating eating disorder recovery at home.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do if I’m concerned my child has an eating disorder?
Start by learning the signs and symptoms. Eating disorders can affect children of all genders, ages, and body sizes, and often don’t look the way they’re portrayed in the media.
Look for signs such as:
- Food restriction or avoidance Binge eating or secret eating
- Purging behaviors (vomiting or laxative use)
- Excessive exercise
- Distorted body image
- Persistent worry about weight or food
Once you recognize symptoms, seek professional help and educate yourself about treatment options. Parent involvement is essential. Your calm, consistent support helps your child feel safe enough to heal.
How should I talk to my child about my concerns?
Conversations about eating disorders require care and sensitivity. Speak from a place of compassion, not criticism. Focus on your child’s well-being, not their weight or appearance. Use open-ended questions and let them know you’re ready to listen and help.
If you’re unsure how to begin, consider guidance from a therapist or parent coach experienced in eating disorders. The way you approach these conversations can set the tone for recovery. Also check out our guide: How To Talk To Your Child If They Have An Eating Disorder
How do I set boundaries while supporting my child?
Boundaries are vital, but they can feel difficult to maintain when emotions run high. It’s normal for your child to react with anger, fear, or resistance when limits are set around disordered behaviors. The key is to hold boundaries calmly and consistently, while staying emotionally connected.
Parent support groups and coaching can help you practice these skills so you can remain steady and compassionate under pressure.
Free Parent Resources for Eating Disorder Recovery
Access a collection of free parent resources designed to help you support your child’s eating disorder recovery with confidence and compassion. From guides and logs to checklists and worksheets, these tools give practical strategies to navigate treatment, track progress, and strengthen your family’s support system.
- Free Download: How To Parent A Child With An Eating Disorder
- Log: Eating Disorder Symptoms and Treatment
- Checklist: Mental health for eating disorder recovery
- Worksheet: Evaluation Sheet For Eating Disorder Treatment Center
Parent Coaching & Therapy Resources
While your focus is naturally on your child’s healing, your growth as a parent matters too. Your emotional regulation, communication style, and boundaries shape your child’s recovery environment.
Working with a therapist or parent coach helps you:
- Understand eating disorders as biopsychosocial illnesses
- Stay grounded through emotional storms
- Model self-compassion and resilience
- Support recovery without reinforcing disordered patterns
When you strengthen yourself, you strengthen your child’s path to recovery. 👉 Learn more about parent coaching when your child has an eating disorder.
Some Of Our Resources
You don’t have to go through your child’s eating disorder alone. These parent guides give you the knowledge, language, and tools to support healing with confidence and compassion.
Get easy, gentle tools to help your child feel better about their body and food and build emotional regulation skills. Our worksheets make it easier for you to show up with steadiness and care.
Support your child’s independence and self-respect with our Don’t Weigh Me cards and other tools that promote body confidence and a weight-neutral approach that supports body autonomy.
Parent Training for Eating Disorder Recovery
Supporting your child requires advanced skills in connection, communication, and mealtime support. You’ll need to navigate fear, frustration, and sadness while staying steady and responsive.
Consider joining a parent training course (online or in person) to learn how to:
- Motivate change with compassion
- Respond to food and body image anxiety
- Handle meltdowns and shutdowns without losing your calm
These skills empower you to become a confident, consistent ally in your child’s healing process. 👉 Here are some online courses available to support parents who have kids with eating disorders.
Support Groups for Parents
You don’t have to do this alone. Parent support groups for eating disorders can offer understanding, hope, and community. Connect with other parents who truly “get it” and learn what helps in day-to-day life. Try:
- F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders)
- Local or online Facebook support groups for parents
Sharing your story can ease the isolation and strengthen your capacity to keep showing up with love.
Talking to Friends and Family
It’s common to feel unsure about how much to share or to worry about your child’s privacy. Still, you need emotional support too.
Tips for navigating these conversations:
- Focus on your feelings rather than your child’s details
- Avoid blame or shame language
- Share only with trusted people who can offer real help
Remember: secrecy can reinforce shame. Speaking carefully but openly helps build a stronger support network for both you and your child. 👉 Here’s a letter to family about your child’s anorexia (what to say/what not to say).
Science & Treatment Resources
Explore trusted science and treatment resources to guide you in supporting your child’s eating disorder recovery. From evidence-based research and professional directories to interactive quizzes, these tools help parents stay informed and confident every step of the way.
Recommended Books for Parents
These carefully selected books offer guidance and insight for parents supporting a child through eating disorder recovery and emotional development. Packed with practical strategies, research-backed advice, and compassionate approaches, they can help you feel more confident and informed every step of the way.
- When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Recover, by Lauren Muhlheim, Ph.D.
- How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder: A Simple, Plate-by-Plate Approach to Rebuilding a Healthy Relationship with Food, by Cassey Crosbie, RD & Wendy Sterling, RD
- Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
- Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
- Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids, by Mona Delahooke
- The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
- Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children by Lynn Lyons and Reid Wilson
- The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Elaine N. Aron