Family Nutrition and Family Meal Planning with a Dietitian
Navigating nutrition while raising a family can be very overwhelming to parents and caregivers.
Understanding how to best feed your family often brings up a lot of challenges. The dietitians at Courage to Nourish understand this, and are here to help guide you. There is a plethora of nutrition information available to families, whether it be online, from their pediatrician, from friends and family, or from their own health care provider(s). As well-meaning as this information is, it can cause more harm than good, leaving parents and caregivers feeling even more confused and alone.
How Do We Help Families?
At Courage to Nourish, our dietitians work one on one with our clients and their treatment team. We value trusting and compassionate relationships between our dietitians and clients. We value safety and a non-judgmental space so our clients are able to process their relationship with food and body in a way that is met with understanding and empathy. Not only do we work with you or your loved one in individual sessions, but we also collaborate with various members of the treatment team. We also provide text and email support and keep our caseloads small. This can assure you are getting the highest quality of care.
Your dietitian will listen to your individual family’s needs, and help you navigate the specific feeding struggles you are facing. Individual families present with a wide range of concerns from “picky eating” to undereating to lack of structure for meals and snacks. Below are some ways we can help you and your family:
- Meal Planning
- Division of Responsibility (DOR). This involves educating families on what roles the caregivers play in feeding their children versus what needs to be left up to the specific child
- Preventing Eating Disorders
- Work with picky eating
- Helping moms and other caregivers, build confidence in family meal planning
- Working through past trauma related to family food experiences
- Address concerns parents have about their child’s relationship with food
- Help raise intuitive eaters
- Managing different family member’s eating patterns, growth and food preferences
- Meal and snack ideas, grocery lists and navigating the grocery store
Family Nutrition Services We Offer
One on One Nutrition Counseling Sessions
Consistent, specialized care is paramount when treating an eating disorder. Courage to Nourish provides individualized care specific to each person. We will explore your relationship with food, provide accurate, gentle nutrition education, and provide personalized meal planning guidance.
Virtual Support Group for Families
Eating disorders can be lonely and isolating, leaving you oftentimes feeling misunderstood and alone in this journey. We offer a free, weekly support group to provide a safe space to be around other recovery-focused individuals who are learning to prioritize recovery and find meaning outside of their eating disorder.
Virtual Support Group
for Family and Loved Ones
Supporting a loved one in their recovery can often leave you feeling exhausted and hopeless. We offer a monthly free support group to allow family and loved ones to discuss the ups and downs of being in a supportive, caregiving role, learning how to take care of yourself along the way, and find comfort that you are not alone.
FAQs About Our Services for Families
How do I know if my family would benefit from nutrition counseling services from Courage to Nourish?
- Are mealtimes as a family stressful and chaotic?
- Do you struggle with meeting each individual family member’s nutritional needs at meal times?
- Do you dread thinking about feeding your family for the week ahead?
- Do you want to help prevent eating disorders in your children?
What are typical individual sessions with the dietitian like for families?
We Offer In-Person and Online Services
for Families at These Locations
About Courage to Nourish
Courage to Nourish is a group of eating disorder specialized dietitians. We have in person locations in Alexandria, Virginia, Columbia, Maryland, and College Park, Maryland. We offer virtual services across the state of Maryland. Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. We offer individual nutrition therapy. As well as support groups. We would love to guide you in building a better relationship with food.
Interested in finding out more?
Tell us more about how we can help you.
