Looking Ahead to a Fantastic 2010

Centre Update

Tena koutou katoa and Christmas greet-ings to EAT’s newsletter community!Summer is finally almost here and thefestive season is upon us. EAT would like towish all our readers a very happy, peacefuland enjoyable Christmas and New Year period. We realise that this time of year canbe stressful so we encourage you to takecare of yourselves, notice and respond toyour needs, and to take time out when youneed to.Many thanks to all of the extended EATcommunity who supported our fundraisingart and craft auction – crEATe – in October.Thank you to those who donated items for the auction and to our generous bidders.We initiated crEATe as an effort to raisemuch needed extra funding for EAT and itwas a successful venture that we hope togrow and develop next year – so we willappreciate any donations from buddingartists and craftspeople in the second half of 2010!EAT has been a hive of busy-ness over the last few months. In addition to the one-to-one counselling services provided at EAT,counselling staff have delivered programmesand workshops at Chisnallwood Intermedi-ate, Bluelight Canterbury's Wahine Toacamp, and the Bridge Programme, and Ra-chel completed the GO GIRLS programmewith a group from Hillmorton High School. Julie also continued to run a fortnightlygroup at EAT for people with binge eatingissues.Earlier this year a support group wasformed at EAT for parents and caregivers of people struggling with eating disorder is-sues. This group meets on the second Tues-day of each month and is run and coordi-nated by the members. If you’d like moreinformation about the group please contactEAT on 03 3667725.

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Give to EAT!

If you’d like to donate to EAT, here’s how:

Give a Little: www.givealittle.co.nz/org/eatingawarenessCheque: payable to Eating Awareness TeamDirect CreditAccount Name: Eating Awareness Team Inc.Account Number: 030855 0393532 00

EATINGAWARENESSTEAM

In this newsletter:

EAT Update

Fond Farewells

How to Cope Over Christmas

The Year of the No D’s

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Centre Update

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Enclosed with this newsletter is a membership form that enables you to formally join theEating Awareness Team. We want to extend and enliven the organisation’s membership, sowe welcome new members. Membership enables people to support EAT, through both themembership fee and by forming a community with whom we can consult about the activitiesand directions of the organisation. Members are entitled to attend and vote at EAT’s AGMand any special general meetings, and to receive EAT’s annual report and newsletters (you’restill able to receive the newsletter even if you don’t become a member).EAT will be closing for the Christmas and New Year period at 5pm on Wednesday 23rdDecember and will re-open on Monday 25th January 2010. We wish everyone all the best for their New Year.Until next time,

the EAT team.

How to Cope With Stresses and Difficult Feelings

Christmas is not always an easy time for people and may trigger stresses and worries or bring up difficult memories. Many services, like EAT, also close up during the summer period,and this may mean that people are without their regular support. Below are some tips for coping with stressful or difficult feelings:• Pause, and take three deep breaths (making sure that you breathe out as well as in). Re-main alert to your breathing & ground yourself with deep breaths whenever you need to.• Take time for yourself and get space when you need it.• Try to catch stresses as they’re building, and intervene early.• Make your own needs a priority – ask yourself “what do I need at the moment?”• Enlist support from people who are available, willing and who you feel comfortable with• Be open with supportive others about how you’re feeling – the more they understand howyou’re feeling, the more they’ll be able to support you (you never know, they might befeeling the same way!)• Try to predict what might trigger stresses and make a plan in advance of how you canavoid, limit or cope with stressful situations. And again, enlist support where possible.• Find ways to express your feelings and to support you as you feel them – journaling, talk-ing, drawing, listening to music, being in nature, walking, resting, painting, jumping, danc-ing, whacking cushions, singing, reading, lying on the floor, breathing, laughing, crying …• Remember what has helped you to cope in the past.• Trust and remember that your feelings are okay and will shift and change – you just needlooking after in the meantime.

Fond Farewells

We bid farewell to twowonderful women whohave been part of theEAT team over the lastfew years.

Julie Loan has been working as acounsellor at EAT since 2006 and inthat time has connected with many of EAT’s service users. In addition to her work with individuals, Julie has facili-tated several groups at EAT, the latestbeing a support group for peoplewith binge eating issues. Julie initiatedthis group motivated by her belief inthe empowerment and support thatcan occur within a group setting. Julieand her family have decided to takeup a more rural, seaside life near Kaikoura and while we will miss her presence and input at EAT, we wishher all the best for this latest venturein her life. Jackie van Litsenburg has been aGestalt Psychotherapy placementstudent at EAT since 2007. While Jackie has had a relatively small clientload, she has been a conscientious,dedicated and supportive member of the EAT team. Jackie leaves EAT totake up a counselling position at thePetersgate counselling service and wealso wish her all the best for this newendeavour.Many thanks to Julie and Jackiefor their work at EAT!

Library Notice

If you have one of EAT’s librarybooks we would really love to have itback when you’re finished with it.Sadly, many of EAT’s books have notbeen returned by borrowers and havedisappeared from our library. Our library is a vital resource for our serv-ice users, so if you have one of our books – even if you’ve had it for whatfeels like an embarrassingly longtime! – we’d love to have it back.