Supports & Services

Click each of the headings below to see a list of eating disorder supports & services in Waterloo-Wellington. If you would like to add, remove, or edit your service on this list, please email us.

Last updated May 30, 2024

Please note that some services may be limited due to COVID-19.

For a comprehensive list of virtual eating disorder supports & services, please visit the NEDIC COVID-19 webpage.

Urgent care resources↓

**If you are feeling unsafe, please go to your local emergency department or call 911.**The following links are to crisis phone lines and chats, and can offer support on an urgent basis.

Here 24/7
Kids Help Phone
National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) Helpline
Good2Talk
Together All

Agencies↓

Canadian Mental Health Association - Waterloo/Wellington/Dufferin
Homewood Health Centre - Guelph
Body Brave - Virtual programming

WDG Public Health - Food Neutral Initiative – more to come Fall 2023

A food neutral approach is in development for Ontario modelled after BC’s ‘Teach Food First’. This psychoeducational program will be offered to schools based on the following three pillars:

  1. Positive, inclusive approach to food (no bad/good, healthy/unhealthy)
  2. Roles of adults and children in feeding and eating (teachers- when and where to eat (not what); parents- responsibility to select what to pack, kids- determine what and how much)
  3. Connecting students to lived experience – e.g., how foods are grown and cultivated.

NEDIC Outreach and Education NEDIC offers community educational programing for parents, educators, classrooms (high school, elementary, post secondary). They can be booked for presentations.

Post-secondary institutions - Please note that these services are only available to registered students.

Therapists↓

Cambridge

Guelph

 

Kitchener-Waterloo

Virtual Only

Dietitians↓

Guelph

Kitchener-Waterloo

Support groups↓

Body Brave - Hamilton & virtual
Danielle’s Place Eating Disorder Support and Resource Group - Burlington
Family and Friends Education and Support Group - Kitchener-Waterloo
Hope's Garden - London
Sheena's Place - Toronto

For coaches and trainers↓

In 2015, a subcommittee was formed, targeting awareness, treatment and prevention of eating disorders in athletes. A survey was sent out to local trainers and coaches with the intent of learning what supports were needed when working with athletes. From there, we created a brochure, power-point presentation and booklet with information to address this need. To access the booklet, click here. If you would like to have a member from the Waterloo-Welligton Eating Disorders Coalition come and do a presentation, email us at wwedcoalition@gmail.com!

For health care professionals↓

In 2015, a subcommittee of the Waterloo-Wellington Eating Disorders Coalition, along with support from CMHA, was formed to help increase resources for healthcare professionals. As a result, an eating disorders screening questionnaire was created. Please feel free to print this screening questionnaire to use with your clients.To access the eating disorders screening questionnaire created by the Waterloo-Wellington Eating Disorders Coalition, click here. If you would prefer a hardcopy, please contact us.

Additional Resources

Academy for Eating Disorders guide to medical management for eating disordersRainbow Health Ontario - Health in Focus: Eating disorders in LGBT2SQ adults and adolescents

Books and websites↓

Books

  • ANTI-DIET - Christy Harrison
  • Belly of the Beast - Da'Shaun L. Harrison
  • Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out - And Never Say Diet Again - Rebecca Scritchfield
  • Goodbye Ed, Hello Me - Jenni Schaefer
  • Fat Activist: A Radical Social Movement - Dr. Charlotte Cooper
  • Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia - Sabrina Strings
  • Feeling Good About the Way You Look: A Program for Overcoming Body Image Problems - S. Wilhelm
  • Flora the Flamingo - Molly Idle
  • Hunger - Roxane Gay
  • Shrill - Lindy West
  • Skills-based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder: The New Maudsley Method - Janet Treasure, Gráinne Smith, Anna Crane
  • The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love - Sonya Renee Taylor
  • What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat - Aubrey Gordon
  • wiTHIN - Karen McGratten and Emily McGratten

Relevant websites
About Face

  • About-Face means a reversal of direction, attitude, or point of view. They aim to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem and body image.

Association for Size Diversity and Health

  • An international professional organization composed of individuals committed to the Health At Every Size principles. ASDH’s mission is to promote education, research, and the provision of services which enhanced health and well-being, and which are free from weight-based assumptions and weight discrimination.

Body Brave

  • Located in Hamilton Ontario, this organization offers individual psychotherapy, workshops, and support groups for those struggling with eating disorders, disordered eating, and/or body image, as well as their friends, family and caregivers. The website provides further details about these services as well as a blog and online store.

Centre for Clinical Interventions (Australia)

  • A collection of free workbooks and worksheets on overcoming disordered eating for individuals and clinicians.

Ellyn Satter Institute

  • Helping adults and children be joyful and confident with eating.

F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders)

  • An international organization of and for caregivers of eating disorder patients. F.E.A.S.T. serves families by providing information and mutual support, promoting evidence-based treatment, and advocating for research and education to reduce the suffering associated with eating disorders.

Food for Life Program

  • A school-based nutrition program developed by Kelly Forster, Registered Dietitian Eating Disorders Program, Canadian Mental Health Association, kforster@cmhawwd.ca

Gürze Books

  • Trade book publisher specializing in eating disorders since 1980.

Health At Every Size (H.A.E.S.)

  • Lindo Bacon created the HAES pledge, Registry, and Resource List with support and advice from members of the HAES community. The intent is to strengthen the HAES movement: to help support people in adopting HAES and to help those in the HAES community get better connected and develop ideas.

Kelty Meal Support for Families

  • This video provides strategies to help parents and families provide structure and support to youth with eating disorders before, during and after meals.

Karen McGratten

  • A website with information regarding the eating continuum (healthy eating, distorted eating and eating disorders), as well as blog containing various topics one may deal with during recovery.

Maudsley Parents

  • A volunteer organization of parents who have helped their children recover from anorexia and bulimia through the use of Family-Based Treatment, also known as the Maudsley approach, an evidence-based therapy for eating disorders.

Mirror Mirror

  • A resource page providing up to date information on eating disorders including treatment options and eating disorders statistics.

National Initiative for Eating Disorders (NIED)

  • A not-for-profit coalition of health care professionals, counsellors and parents with children suffering from Eating Disorders. NIED aims to increase the awareness and education of Eating Disorders to sow the seeds for change in the understanding, treatment and funding of the disease in Canada.

National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC)

  • A Canadian non-profit providing resources on eating disorders and weight preoccupation

Science of Eating Disorders

  • A site striving to make sense of the latest findings in eating disorders research

What's Eating You?

  • A site managed by Candy MacNeil, an Individual and Family therapist in Guelph, Ontario and dedicated to providing accurate information about the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

Social media accounts↓

Canadian organizations

Organizations outside of Canada

Webinars↓

Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation

National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC)