Lived Experience Peer Support Group The Peer Support Group is a new addition to EDQ’s lineup of support options and was created in January in response to the scarcity of existing options for clients to connect with other people who also had experience of the recovery process. Peer Support Group is made up entirely of people with lived experience of an eating disorder. People in the group have a whole range of eating disorders and range from the very beginning stages of seeking support for their eating disorder, all the way to long-term recovery.
Clients can choose to attend on a week-by-week basis, so there is no obligation to attend each session. The purpose of the group is to foster and support recovery and offer an opportunity to connect with others who are currently in recovery as well. We have created this group based on feedback from our existing clients that it would be nice to have a place to connect with peers, that provides a bit of a break from therapy but is still a supportive and safe environment. The group also provides a support option for those who are on a waitlist for individual counselling or other services, ensuring that motivation to recover is not lost due to lack of support.
The group can share their common experiences and resources and work together to build a safe and supportive community, where they feel comfortable exploring common areas of concern, difficulty, and triumph.
Building or rebuilding trust in others
Receiving practical information based on personal experience Feeling less isolated
Using your experience to help others
From (Charles Drebing, 2016)
Receiving emotional support
COMMON BENEFITS
Expanding or changing some of your social network Gaining a greater sense of control over the problem (leading to high rates of active coping and problem solving)
OF PEER SUPPORT GROUPS
Receiving practical support Gaining insight into how to deal with a common problem
Gaining broader insight into yourself and your life
From the program’s beginning as a fortnightly in-person group, we soon switched to a more frequent online meeting. This has proven to be a sustainable option, with Peer Support Group meeting 21 times in its first six months of existence (~ 37hours of contact time). The increased frequency of the groups has been helpful in allowing clients to maintain community connections during a period of forced social isolation. We are also able to run the weekly groups at alternating times in order to accommodate differing schedules.
28
Eating Disorders Queensland
