Compass – Coaching Support for carers of young people

Compass

What is Compass?

Compass is a coaching programme for carers of young people (aged 12-17) who have been displaying disordered eating behaviours.

Support will be delivered over zoom. As carers you will receive a fifty-minute video call every week for ten weeks, facilitated by one of our trained Programme Officers. Compass has been developed to complement our other carer programmes as part of a supportive pathway or when utilised on its own begin your carers journey through your loved one’s recovery.

The aim of Compass is for yourself as a carer to gain a stronger insight into your loved ones eating disorder and to understand your role within your young person’s journey to recovery.

Who is Compass open to?

Compass is open to you if:

• Your young person is aged between 12 and 17 at the time of programme commencement.
• Your young person is within the first two years of becoming unwell and has not started treatment for their eating disorder at the time of programme commencement.
• Your young person is displaying disordered eating behaviours (formal diagnosis of an eating disorder is not essential) and must have at minimum reached out to their GP for advice and plans for next steps.

Compass is not suitable for carers of those with ARFID.

Your carer / family group can include up to four people of your choice. Attendees must be able to commit to the sessions as session times cannot change regularly throughout the programme.

Please note that as carers you must:

• Be committed to completing the required homework each week.
• Be committed to completing the evaluation surveys that we send to you at the beginning, middle and end of the programme. This helps us to monitor the progression within your sessions and supports us when we evaluate the programme, so we can go onto help other families in the future.
• Remain responsible for the young person's physical and mental health throughout the duration of the programme. Our team can cease the sessions if they feel there is a risk to the young person at any point during the programme.

How do I refer my young person to Compass?

If you live in Scotland, East of England, Essex or Central and North West London and meet the referral criteria above and think Compass would be supportive for you and your young person, you can self refer using our self-referrals form.

If you live in the Gloucestershire or Sussex areas, you can gain a referral for Compass from a GP.

We advise you speak to your GP or eating disorder team to discuss this.