6. LIVED EXPERIENCE EDQ also employs peer support workers. These workers complement other therapies and offer a safe, compassionate space to connect with a peer who understands the struggle involved in overcoming an eating disorder. In addition to this, there are three peer-specific programs run at EDQ.
Peer Mentoring Program:
Peer Support Group:
The peer mentoring program supports people who are recovering from eating disorders by partnering mentees with mentors who have recovered from an eating disorder. Mentors must have been in stable recovery from their eating disorder for a minimum of two years and are provided with regular supervision to ensure their recovery is supported and maintained. Mentors are required to undertake thorough training through the EDQ program and must make a commitment to regular mentoring contact for a six-month period.
The peer support group aims to provide an opportunity for those in recovery to connect with other peers who have shared similar experiences. Groups are facilitated by EDQ practitioners who also have lived experience and who will work alongside group participants to find solutions to common problems and help to navigate the pathway to recovery.
The design and structure of the peer mentoring program is based on best practice national and international standards from other mentoring programs including the Walking Together, Learning Together Indigenous Mentoring Program, Queensland Government Community Services Skilling Plan, 2009.
Speaker Program: The EDQ speaker program began in 2016 and sits alongside the peer mentoring program. The speaker program recognises the power in hearing someone who is in recovery speak about their own recovery journey. Speaking events take place in a range of settings including within groups at EDQ and hospital services. EDQ provides speaker and storytelling training for all people who participate in the speaker program. Speakers are required to undertake mentor training and be in stable recovery for two years. We recognise that the telling of recovery stories can be triggering and our training provides safe guidelines for speakers and the audience79.
44. Workers bring a diversity of experiences to their role as practitioners. Many workers are motivated to work in areas such as eating disorders because of a personal experience, either their own or the experience of someone close to them. These experiences can be a positive contribution to their role as eating disorder practitioners. The NEDC80 acknowledged that people with personal experiences of eating disorders should be involved at all levels of service development. All workers must clearly articulate well-defined boundaries in client work, regardless of whether they have a lived experience of an eating disorder. Appropriately and purposefully sharing our lived experiences can assist client work in a range of ways, including by reducing power imbalances and by instilling a sense of hopefulness that recovery is possible. An emphasis on ongoing professional supervision and training is imperative for all workers to ensure that our practice remains focused on the client and their journey to recovery.
Training is based on the Mindframe guidelines. See https://mindframemedia.imgix.net/assets/src/uploads/NEDC-Mindframe-Reporting-Guidelines.pdf National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) (2012) An Integrated Response to Complexity: National Eating Disorders Framework, Report to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, March.
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Clinical Guidelines
