Hotlines:
Samaritans (suicide/crisis): 877-870-4673 (Available 24/7 – call or text)
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA): (800) 931-2237 (Available Monday-Thursday 9AM-9PM ET / Friday 9AM-5PM ET)
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 (Available 24/7)
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC): 800-841-8371 (Available 24/7)
New Hope, Inc. (Domestic & Sexual Violence Support): 1-800-323-4673 (Available 24/7)
Services:
Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA), Newton, MA: Provides clinical services, family & parent services, support groups, trainings, recovery speaker series, and more.
New Hope, Inc. – Attleboro, Milford, Taunton, MA: Provides survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence with 24-hour hotline, emergency shelter services, counseling, safety planning, medical advocacy, supervised visitation, housing stabilization, support groups, and more – free of charge and without using insurance.
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) – Boston & Cambridge, MA: Provides survivors of sexual abuse (and their support persons) with 24-hour hotline, medical advocacy, case management, legal advocacy, counseling, support groups, and more – free of charge and without using insurance.
Metrowest Nutrition – Framingham, Westborough, & Newton, MA: Provides Health At Every Size (HAES) and Intuitive Eating-informed nutrition counseling (using insurance where applicable), as well as group work, home-based family nutrition counseling, meal coaching, grocery shopping tours, kitchen makeovers, and cooking lessons.
Websites:
Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA)
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
Facebook: Eating Disorder Family Support Network – Mom2Mom (a closed, private group Facebook members can request to join for online support from other mothers of children with eating disorders).
National Alliance on Mental Illness – Massachusetts – Includes helpful resources for those facing mental illness, as well as for their support people.
Podcasts:
Anxiety in Schools – Rogers Behavioral Health. This is a six episode mini-series about anxiety in children & adolescents and how to provide support as a parent or educator. This podcast is a great psychoeducational resource even if your child’s anxiety does not manifest in a school setting.
Food Psych with Christy Harrison
The Mindful Dietitian with Fiona Sutherland
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Apps:
Headspace: This app offers a free 10-day meditation course for beginners. When I first downloaded the app, I reused these 10 free meditations over and over until I was ready to upgrade, and they didn’t get old. The free version is a great place to start (especially if you’ve ever said “Meditation/mindfulness isn’t really my thing” – you may find yourself surprised!). The paid version of the app offers seemingly endless options – meditation for stress, anxiety, sleep, pain, pregnancy, grief, regret, anger, acceptance, productivity, and also features special packs for students, athletes, and kids! Well worth the investment, in my opinion.
Recovery Record: If you are working toward recovery from an eating disorder, this (free!) app links with your therapist and/or dietitian so you can receive feedback, guidance, and support when you log your daily food intake. The creator of the app is very familiar with eating disorders and has been mindful of language that may be triggering, and strives to keep the language and options in RR different from diet/weight-loss focused apps, which many people struggling with eating disorders may have used in the past
Erika Vargas, LMHC 