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What is the Eating Disorders Team (EDT)?
This is a specialist service who work with groups of young people (aged between 0-18 years) who have an Eating Disorder, and their families.
An Eating Disorder is a mental health condition where you use the control of food to cope with feelings or other situations. The most common eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder (which is also known as BED).
The role of the team is to support you to help you recover from your eating disorder. Because the Eating Disorders Team work with children and young people with a varied range of eating disorders, each patient will be offered support that is tailored just for them and their family.
Who can refer to the Eating Disorders Team?
To be seen by the Eating Disorders (ED) Team, you can talk to your GP or school nurse. You might also be referred by a paediatrician or the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) if they feel you could benefit from the support of the ED team.
Who works in the Eating Disorders team?
The Eating Disorders team is a group of healthcare professionals who are specialists in assessing and treating eating disorders.  You might see a Psychologist, Nurse, Family Therapist, Psychotherapist, Occupational Therapist or Medic.  We also have specialist ED practitioners. In addition, you may have contact with our dedicated admin team.
Where are the Eating Disorders Team based?
The team are based at Mawson House which is in Braunstone on the west of Leicester City.
What will happen once I’ve been referred to the EDT?
Your referral will be looked at by a nurse in the team. In most cases, they will make contact with you and your family to gather more information about your difficulties to think about why you have been referred. Following this, you may be invited to an assessment, referred to another mental health service that is better placed to help you with your difficulties or signposted to other support services.
What will happen if I’m offered an assessment by EDT?
An assessment simply means that a member of the team will talk to you and listen to you to gather information about your psychological wellbeing and behaviours. This usually takes a whole morning and your family will be invited to join in this conversation. You and your family will also complete some questionnaires either before or during the initial appointment.
If after assessment it is felt you need treatment, then a member of the Eating Disorders team will be allocated to you, they are called a Lead Professional. They will meet with you and your family to discuss your difficulties and listen to your concerns. With that clinician, you will decide what the best way forward is for you, what the right therapeutic approach is and create a plan. Another option may be referring you onto a different specialist mental health service that we feel might be helpful for you.
Your plan might include working with you and your family in family therapy sessions where the whole family work to support you in your challenges with your eating disorder. You might be offered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: this is focussed on changing thoughts and beliefs about eating, body shape and weight. If the team feel you could benefit, you might be offered Adolescent Focussed Therapy which helps you to understand how your eating disorder has developed and how managing emotions and relationships can work in helping you recover from your eating disorder. Your care and treatment plan will very much depend on these ongoing conversations and exploring what you and the team think would work best for you, your psychological and physical wellbeing and your family.
If you need urgent mental health support, you can call NHS 111 and press option 2 or visit https://111.nhs.uk/ and follow the on screen instructions. This service is totally free and confidential. Families can call NHS 111 and choose Option 2, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and speak to a qualified call handler if they require advice around urgent mental health concerns for children and young people. Please note however that the NHS 111 line is not an emergency service. Where there is an immediate, serious and life-threatening emergency, call 999 or attend A and E. You can also
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