Yoga for Eating Disorder Recovery

Informed Consent & Release

Overview

Eat Breathe Thrive is a nonprofit organization that aims to prevent and help individuals overcome eating disorders. Yoga for Eating Disorder Recovery is a four-week online course, offered by trained facilitators via the video conference software, Zoom. Your facilitator may be a yoga teacher, mental health practitioner, or educator. This course includes four two-hour sessions. Each session includes lecture and group discussion, plus a short yoga and meditation practice.

Risks and Benefits

The course may have benefits and risks. You should consult with your physician and obtain consent prior to beginning the course.

All movement programs involve a risk of injury. By choosing to participate in the movement portion of each session, you voluntarily assume a certain risk of injury. The following guidelines will help you reduce your risk of injury:

  • Breathe smoothly and continuously as you move and stretch.
  • Do not strain to attain any position.
  • Respect your body’s abilities and limitations.
  • Do not perform postures or movements that are painful.
  • Consult your healthcare provider if you have previous injuries or conditions.

You may experience uncomfortable feelings over the course of the course. Some participants report feeling sadness, guilt, shame, frustration, and overwhelm during group discussions. Some aspects of the course may elicit uncomfortable memories.

This course also carries the possibility of many benefits. Many participants report a reduction in eating disorder symptoms, improvements in coping, and a greater sense of ease in your body and self. It is important to note that there are no guarantees of what you will or will not experience.

Medical Concerns

This course is not a treatment for any mental or physical illness. It is not a substitute for medical or mental health treatment. Your facilitators cannot diagnose or treat mental or medical conditions. It is recommended that you seek counsel from qualified medical and mental health professionals for issues related to psychological and physiological illness.

Your Rights

  1. You have the right to ask questions about the process and content of the course.
  2. You have the right to voice concerns or complaints about the course. Your facilitators welcome your feedback directly. In addition, you can contact the Eat Breathe Thrive Organization with any concerns about unethical or unfair treatment by the facilitator(s).
  3. You have the right to leave the course. If you wish, your facilitator(s) will provide you with the names of other qualified professionals whose services you might prefer.
  4. You have the right to expect that the facilitators will maintain professional and ethical boundaries. The Code of Ethics your facilitators abide by are explicated in our Code of Ethics.
  5. You have the right to set your own physical and emotional boundaries. If there are any aspects of the course you do not wish to participate in, you have the right to opt out. If you do not wish to engage in activities that involve touch, you have the right to opt out.

Privacy and Confidentiality

This course takes place via Zoom, so please protect your privacy by completing the activities in a private space in order to make sure conversations are not overheard. In order to protect your privacy, we also suggest that you only use your first name (or a pseudonym of your choice) in the Zoom meetings and do not share identifying details with others.

Your facilitator(s) are required to maintain your confidentiality, and we ask that you respect the confidentiality of your fellow participants. Keep what happens in the group in the group. If you want to share what you are learning about yourself with friends or loved ones, remember not to share names, identities, or in any other way compromise the confidentiality of your fellow participants.

Limits to Confidentiality

Your facilitator(s) are required to maintain your confidentiality, except for a few special circumstances:

  • Instances of active or suspected abuse (physical, emotional, or sexual) or neglect of a child, an elder, or a dependent adult must be reported to the appropriate protective services
  • If you threaten to harm yourself or to harm another individual, facilitators are required to take steps to help maintain the safety of the person at risk.
  • If a judge orders a facilitator’s testimony/records or, in the context of a legal proceeding, the facilitator may be required to release confidential information to the court.
  • The facilitator(s) may consult with the Eat Breathe Thrive Organization and its staff about what happens in the course.

Your fellow participants are asked to sign the same confidentiality agreement you do prior to beginning the course. The Eat Breathe Thrive Organization and your facilitator(s) cannot guarantee that fellow participants will uphold confidentiality standards.

Safety Factors

This course is not intended for individuals struggling with severe mental or physical illness. Your facilitator may refer you to professional treatment if he or she is concerned that you are a danger to yourself or your fellow participants. Specifically, we may ask you to leave the course if you engage in:

  • Use of illicit drugs or alcohol before or during sessions
  • Self-harm behaviors (e.g. cutting and burning)
  • Threats of violence toward others

Attendance

Your presence in each session is important. A healthy group dynamic is essential for healing, growth and change. If you are absent, this dynamic suffers and affects the experience of you and other members of the group. We ask that you make a commitment to attend each session of the course if you are able.

An emergency may occur that prevents you from attending a session. If you are faced with an emergency or sudden illness, please contact your facilitator(s) before the group begins to let them know you will not be present.

Emergency Contact

Your facilitator(s) will make every effort to return any contact you initiate (email, phone call, text, etc) in a reasonable amount of time. Should you have an emergency that requires immediate attention or action, call the emergency services or go to the nearest emergency room.

Records

The Eat Breathe Thrive Organization maintains outcome data for all courses. These records include questionnaires you fill out, billing records, and copies of any professional documents (e.g., informed consent forms, media releases, etc). These records may be used for qualitative and quantitative research, but any identifying data will be removed to avoid revealing your identity.