What is GLOW?

GLOW is a weekly group therapy program for people who have been diagnosed with an Eating Disorder (ED). The group will be based on interpersonal group therapy and nutritional rehabilitation, with the primary goal of promoting recovery.

Program Overview

GLOW is built upon the principals of recovery from the holistic perspective of

• A healthy body and mind
• Being able to experience and sit with emotional distress
• Engaging in life through school, work and fun
• A healthy relationship with food
• Finding out who we are
• Working on relationships with others
• Communication skills
• Dealing with trauma, grief and loss
• Improving body image

Who can participate in the program?

People with a diagnosed ED (all diagnoses included) are eligible to join the group, aged from 14 and upwards.

How does this group differ from other groups?

Other therapy groups are often based on Psycho-education focussing on educating group members about what constitutes a diagnosis for an Eating Disorder (ED). Interpersonal therapy is centred on the group members supporting each other through their relationship. Anyone who has an ED will have a general understanding of the diagnosis, and this is very important in seeking appropriate treatment. What we have found to be important when you have sought treatment is a readiness to undertake the recovery journey. This state of readiness is paramount for recovery, and is better gained by being able to hear another’s perspective and experience of recovery.
In other words, the focus of this group wont be about telling you what an ED is,it is a group about people with an ED, at different stages of recovery, supporting each other to recover through shared experiences.

How long does it go for?

Group members will be able to start the program at any time in their recovery. An open-ended program means that there is not a start nor end date, thus allowing people to stay in the program until they feel that they are ready to leave it.

What happens if I have my own treatment team, do I still need to see them? What happens if I am not currently seeing anyone to support my recovery?

The group will support any individual work that you are currently undertaking with your treatment team and we would encourage you to talk with them about how you can use the group to support your recovery.
It is not a requirement of this group that you have to be engaged currently in treatment for your ED.

What is the role of the facilitators?

Although primarily based on interpersonal group therapy, Group Facilitators will guide the group using strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Family Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, Experiential Therapy, Animal Assisted Therapy, Art Therapy and Behavioural Therapy.

What is nutritional rehabilitation and why is it part of the group?

A nutrition-focused group will run on the third week of the month to offer participants the opportunity of developing a healthy relationship with food. We refer to this component of the group as Nutritional Rehabilitation, or the ‘relearning of nutrition’. We know that EDs strip away what knowledge there is about food and replace it with disordered thoughts and behaviours, and thus recovery is directed at finding out

• What does my body need to eat to physically sustain it?
• How do I sit with hunger, fullness again?
• How to eat without compensating for it?
• How can I stop bingeing, or purging
• How do I eat socially?
• How can I stop thinking about food?
• How can I stop feeling guilt and shame around food?
• What is normal, what is healthy?

Members will be able to drive this collective group experience with nutrition, and will actively support each other and empower their own recovery. We understand that this will be anxiety provoking for all members, as it is challenges the relationship that food and emotion have in an ED.
We have designed the program to enable the group to choose from

• Nutritional Education
• Cooking and eating together at Pebbles
• Going out to eat as a group in a social context.

This will provide an opportunity to challenge relationships with food in a supportive and empathetic space.

Animal Assisted Psychotherapy

Animal Assisted Psychotherapy is part of treatment offerings at Pebbles as a way of helping people to relax and develop healthy relationships. A therapy dog may often be invited to attend group therapy sessions, dependent on members’ agreement. 

The Facilitator

Julie Wilson MAP, BSc (App. Psych)M                                         
Principal Owner of The Pebbles Centre for Wellbeing
Psychologist & Family Therapist
Julie has extensive experience educating and working with people who have EDs and their families.

• ED 101 A Parent and Carer Group. Program Developer and facilitator of a 6 week psycho-educative group for Carers, Parents and Partners
• School Program Presenter. Body Image and Nutrition in Yr10
• The Butterfly ED Day Program. Group Facilitator and Key Support Worker
• Private Practitioner. The Pebbles Centre for Wellbeing and Manningham Consulting Suites
• St Vincent’s Body Image and ED Service. Day Program Facilitator, Program Developer and Facilitator of a 6 week psycho-educative program for Carers and Psychologist
• The Bronte Centre. Day Program Developer and Coordinator

Program Details

Venue:
The Pebbles Centre for Wellbeing
9 Patterson St.  Nunawading VIC 3109
                       

• Tuesday, weekly with the exception of public holidays. Initially the program will run in the mornings, however if we have enough numbers we will be able to run the group in the evenings.
• Mornings from 11.30 – 1pm
• Evenings from 6.30pm to 8.00pm

• Group Size is a maximum of 10 members

Costs

• Eligibility for Medicare rebated group sessions
• $ 55 per session
• pay up front to receive discount (7 sessions for $320)   

More information

Please contact Julie Wilson juie@thepebbles.com.au or 0421 236 233 to register your interest and to book in for an information session on Tuesday 21st October to discuss individual readiness, program outline and group membership.