“I’ve never been more motivated to change”
“The best thing is meeting someone who has actually recovered from an ED, seeing that it is possible to live a fulfilling life and have a good relationship with food”.
“Opportunities for practical support have been the best thing about being part of mentoring program, using our sessions to do things that can help focus on recovery”.
“The program is the best thing I ever did. Through my treatment I had only ever met other sufferers and wondered if anyone actually ever got better. The peer mentor program showed me that recovery is possible – and worth it.”
“Through the program I can safely express my feelings and emotions, challenge my fear foods in a safe environment, and be provided support and encouragement from someone who has recovered from an ED themselves.”
“An opportunity to see life after anorexia.”
“Someone where I didn’t feel the need to be fake, I could be me. I don’t need to censor what I say or put a brave face on when eating. I can cry, shake and panic and my mentor will be with me throughout it all and encourage me to strive to go that one step further.”
“My mentor showed me what it was like to live without a crippling mental illness, and installed many copying strategies in me that I still use to date. The program not only benefitted my life in so many ways, but it has helped my family too – as they saw the improvements in my mental health whilst participating in the program, and therefore were given confirmation that I was getting better.”
From Peer Mentors
“The program offered me a sense of purpose and the acknowledgement that a difficult time in my life could actually be of use to someone else. It took the sting out of ‘losing’ so much time and effort to the illness and recovery process. Nothing like this existed when I was struggling with my eating disorder, I had never met a person who had recovered until joining this program as a mentor.” – Peer Mentor
“My participants share openly with me about what they are going through and our sessions are rich with recovery focused conversations. This unique relationship which is not friendship, not clinical but somewhere in between makes recovery feel possible.” – Peer Mentor
“As someone who has previously had an eating disorder it would have been incredible to have a program such as this to exist. In the midst of illness it can feel like you will never be well, this program provides proof that people will and do become well.” – Peer Mentor