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Anorexia and other Eating Disorders: how to help your child eat well and be well: Practical solutions, compassionate communication tools and emotional support for parents of children and teenagers
Librarian Note: Alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780993059803
Parents are best placed to help their teenager or young child beat an eating disorder, yet most struggle to know what to do and how to do it.
In Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders, Eva Musby draws on her family’s successful use of evidence-based treatment to empower you to support your child through recovery.
. Learn practical and effective mealtime skills
. Help your child to eat well and be free of fears and compulsions
. Know what to say and what not to say in highly charged situations
. Recognise the treatments that work and the ones that don’t
. Develop your own emotional resources
However difficult your situation, this book gives you the tools you need to care for your child, your family and yourself. Using compassionate presence, Nonviolent Communication, mindfulness and acceptance, Eva Musby plots out a path towards well-being.
With a wealth of guidance and practical examples, Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders is an invaluable guide to coping with and overcoming an eating disorder in the family.
"Finally! I have read anything and everything on anorexia and this is the most helpful by far"
CONTENTS
1. How this book can help you
2. How does an eating disorder affect you and your child?
3. Your part in diagnosis
4. Treatment: the essentials
5. What parents need to know about the causes of eating disorders
6. Practical steps to help your child beat the eating disorder
7. How do you get your child to eat in spite of the eating disorder?
8. See the tools in action: mealtime scenarios
9. How to free your child of fears and rules: exposure therapy
10. The road to full recovery
11. Partners, friends, family and work: help or hindrance?
12. How to make treatment and therapy work for your child and for you
13. Powerful tools for well-being and compassionate connection
14. Love, no matter what: how to support your child with compassionate communication
15. How to build up your own resilience and well-being
Appendix: Compassionate or Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
Note: If you are dealing with an eating disorder other than anorexia, some of the practical tools might not apply to you. Most of the emotional ones will.
"Your book is packed with helpful information for parents and has been brilliant for my patients and for our team. The book and video can help to sustain the family until we meet them again. I also show the video in multi-family groups and in teaching the Maudsley approach to other professionals around the country."
Esther Blessitt, Senior Systemic Psychotherapist, writing on behalf of the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders Service (CAMHS), Maudsley Hospital, London.
Parents are best placed to help their teenager or young child beat an eating disorder, yet most struggle to know what to do and how to do it.
In Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders, Eva Musby draws on her family’s successful use of evidence-based treatment to empower you to support your child through recovery.
. Learn practical and effective mealtime skills
. Help your child to eat well and be free of fears and compulsions
. Know what to say and what not to say in highly charged situations
. Recognise the treatments that work and the ones that don’t
. Develop your own emotional resources
However difficult your situation, this book gives you the tools you need to care for your child, your family and yourself. Using compassionate presence, Nonviolent Communication, mindfulness and acceptance, Eva Musby plots out a path towards well-being.
With a wealth of guidance and practical examples, Anorexia and Other Eating Disorders is an invaluable guide to coping with and overcoming an eating disorder in the family.
"Finally! I have read anything and everything on anorexia and this is the most helpful by far"
CONTENTS
1. How this book can help you
2. How does an eating disorder affect you and your child?
3. Your part in diagnosis
4. Treatment: the essentials
5. What parents need to know about the causes of eating disorders
6. Practical steps to help your child beat the eating disorder
7. How do you get your child to eat in spite of the eating disorder?
8. See the tools in action: mealtime scenarios
9. How to free your child of fears and rules: exposure therapy
10. The road to full recovery
11. Partners, friends, family and work: help or hindrance?
12. How to make treatment and therapy work for your child and for you
13. Powerful tools for well-being and compassionate connection
14. Love, no matter what: how to support your child with compassionate communication
15. How to build up your own resilience and well-being
Appendix: Compassionate or Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
Note: If you are dealing with an eating disorder other than anorexia, some of the practical tools might not apply to you. Most of the emotional ones will.
"Your book is packed with helpful information for parents and has been brilliant for my patients and for our team. The book and video can help to sustain the family until we meet them again. I also show the video in multi-family groups and in teaching the Maudsley approach to other professionals around the country."
Esther Blessitt, Senior Systemic Psychotherapist, writing on behalf of the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders Service (CAMHS), Maudsley Hospital, London.
450 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 18, 2015
I wrote this book to give parents help with a multitude of practical and emotional challenges when supporting their child.
See also my YouTube videos and if you're looking for something that is more of a memoir, see my Goodreads reviews of other books on the subject.
(Note that the book now has a new cover)
Eva Musby (www.evamusby.co.uk)
See also my YouTube videos and if you're looking for something that is more of a memoir, see my Goodreads reviews of other books on the subject.
(Note that the book now has a new cover)
Eva Musby (www.evamusby.co.uk)
November 12, 2017
This is one of the most comprehensive and useful resources for parents of young people with eating disorders. It's a long read, but covers so many topics that parents need, and which are not otherwise available for parents (especially parents of young people with eating disorders!) in a single volume. It goes beyond merely providing information and a framework for parents to work within, but also provides valuable skills and specific examples to increase parent's resources.
August 18, 2015
I wrote this book to give parents help with a multitude of practical and emotional challenges when supporting their child.
See also my YouTube videos and if you're looking for something that is more of a memoir, see my Goodreads reviews of other books on the subject.
Eva Musby (www.evamusby.co.uk)
See also my YouTube videos and if you're looking for something that is more of a memoir, see my Goodreads reviews of other books on the subject.
Eva Musby (www.evamusby.co.uk)
July 24, 2016
Lots of practical and positive advice for parents of children with eating disorders. This was the first book I'd come across written by a parent rather than by an eating disorders specialist. Importantly, it offers lots of great ways of making connections with your own child in their suffering and has lots of ideas for keeping well and emotionally strong oneself.
January 28, 2026
Overall I found this book helpful and reassuring. It's really good to feel a little less alone during very difficult times. I'm confident that having read through this I'll be able to make use of much of the advice given.
Whilst it is focused on providing helpful tips and techniques for parents of minors, a good portion of it could also be applied to young adults.
The only thing stopping me from giving it a full 5 stars is that it frequently suggests that there is no best answer to given scenarios (e.g. insist on providing appropriate meals without input vs allow your loved one to participate in meal planning and preparation). Whilst it is undoubtedly true that there is no one answer and that you will need to resolve each challenge and dilemma in your own way, it does feel unhelpful in a book of this type to offer the full range of options but no indication of what works best. If there's literally no best solution, why include the options at all?
Whilst it is focused on providing helpful tips and techniques for parents of minors, a good portion of it could also be applied to young adults.
The only thing stopping me from giving it a full 5 stars is that it frequently suggests that there is no best answer to given scenarios (e.g. insist on providing appropriate meals without input vs allow your loved one to participate in meal planning and preparation). Whilst it is undoubtedly true that there is no one answer and that you will need to resolve each challenge and dilemma in your own way, it does feel unhelpful in a book of this type to offer the full range of options but no indication of what works best. If there's literally no best solution, why include the options at all?
February 24, 2026
My 15 year old is in the depths of anorexia right now.
This book was given to me by another parent who had walked this path with her child. Reading it felt like I was having coffee and crying with a friend who just understood where I am at and how hopeless it all feels.
This book was given to me by another parent who had walked this path with her child. Reading it felt like I was having coffee and crying with a friend who just understood where I am at and how hopeless it all feels.
August 4, 2020
One of my Top 10 books for parents to read when learning to cope and care for a child with an eating disorder.
February 18, 2021
A must read for parents and carers of a young person with disordered eating.
February 1, 2023
Very helpful insight from a parent on how they helped their child recovery. Recommend for all therapists who make work with a teen with an eating disorder and recommend to their parents as well!
January 16, 2024
It was good but there were lots of spelling mistakes that made it kind of annoying to read at times.
January 14, 2026
This is the most helpful book for connecting with a loved one that has anorexia. All caregivers should read this book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews