Group Therapy Program

This is a two-hour session that is a prerequisite for patients entering the program. The dietitian provides education on Canada’s Food Guide and portion sizes using food replicas. A meal plan accounting for various activity levels is provided and will help guide food goals in upcoming groups.

This is an open group where clients have an opportunity to ask questions about their specific meal plans and/or about general meals. This is also the time to receive help completing a one-week menu plan based on the dietitian’s individualized meal plan. This is a one-hour weekly session where clients come with the agenda.

ACT is a novel therapy for eating disorders that focuses on changing our current actions to be more in line with our values. Group content focuses on identifying core ideals and committing to valued action. Participants will learn strategies for taking a step back from distressing thoughts and feelings, being in the present moment, and changing their relationship with unwanted thoughts and feelings that can accompany the eating disorder. Throughout this group you will enhance motivation for recovery, valued living, acceptance, and a reconnection with the bigger picture of things that are most important to you. This group is open to all patients as soon as they complete their initial assessment; it is weekly and ongoing. 

CRT is an interactive treatment that uses practical cognitive exercises and group process to enhance one’s level of cognitive flexibility. Participants learn about their own thinking style(s), how it is affected by the eating disorder, how it affects day-to-day routines, and how developing cognitive flexibility can enhance both day-to-day life and the ability to get the most out of the other group treatments in our program. This group is open to all patients as soon as they complete their initial assessment and is weekly and ongoing.

Coping and Living Mindfully (CALM) is an interactive adjunct therapy group focusing on learning to cope with life’s stresses and challenges in a healthier way. In this group patients learn skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance and relaxation/anxiety management, and how to apply these skills in treatment and recovery. 

Cognitive Remediation and Emotion Skills Training (CREST) is a group developed to help you to identify your thinking styles, recognize and tolerate emotions and incorporate the skills learned in the therapy session to everyday life. This is accomplished by the use of visual material, simple exercises, and homework. It is meant to be a collaborative exploration of your thinking and emotional processing style, with the goal of giving you the basic language and skills to understand, manage and express your emotions.

The Core Therapy Group is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) group based on current best practices in the treatment of adult eating disorders. The group is offered over 13-16 sessions. Content of the group includes psychoeducation, self-monitoring of eating disorder thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, goal setting for food and behavioural changes, development of healthy coping skills, and use of CBT strategies and tools in order to challenge eating disorder thoughts and behaviours, and move forward in recovery. There is a meal planning component involved with this group. The Normalized Eating Group session is a prerequisite for individuals wishing to participate in the Core Group. 

CBT for Body Satisfaction is an eight-session treatment group (with booster sessions) based on current best practices in the treatment of negative body image. Participants will have completed the Core Therapy Group prior to entering this group. Content of the group includes, psychoeducation, self-monitoring negative body image behavior, link between thoughts, feelings, and behavior, graduated exposure with response prevention (ERP), common negative body image cognitive distortions, and thought challenging and cognitive restructuring. Special topics include the role of the media and ideal images, our areas of self-evaluation, and lapse and relapse prevention planning. Completion of the Core Group Therapy for Eating Disorders is a prerequisite for participating in this group. 

This evening meeting is designed to provide education and information to family and friends of individuals with eating disorders served by the clinic. It is an opportunity to increase support, ask questions, discuss concerns and learn helpful ways of coping while they assist a loved one in her/his efforts to recover. It is offered four times throughout the calendar year.