Feel confident and look forward to getting your child back
When they suspect their child or teenager may have an eating disorder, many parents feel confused and fearful of making things worse.
We can help you find the right path, support you and start your child’s eating disorder recovery journey.
Courage
Starting your journey to freedom from an eating disorder takes courage. We support you or your child to take the first step to recovery.
Confidence
Feel confident with personalised strategies to overcome the challenges of eating disorders and live a more comfortable, enjoyable and healthy life.
Balance
Bring balance back to your life. Balance your mood, thoughts, appetite and activities. Bringing space and focus back to everyday life.
Help is at hand
When parents discover their child may have an eating disorder all they want is to feel confident they’re doing the right things to help and get their child well again.
But finding the right type of help can be challenging. You don’t know where to turn and are worried over how serious this might be.
We’ve worked with hundreds of families across Australia. And we’ve heard most of the questions you’ll be thinking about. That’s why we work closely with children and their families to give them the expert support they need to navigate this new journey.
So you can see your child thrive and feel confident you’re doing what’s needed for your child to achieve recovery.
A team approach for supporting parents and children with eating disorders
- Anorexia
- Bulimia
- Binge Eating Disorder
- Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
- Orthorexia
- Body image
You want to understand what’s going on with your child so you can support them better. We also want to support you as parents. You are your child’s best resource for recovery. We will work together, with a strategy, to return your child back to their healthy, thriving self.
Jodie Sheraton, Founder, Myrtle Oak Clinic
Feel confident you’re doing all you can to help your child
All of our health professionals have received targeted eating disorder training in addition to their respective university degrees and have experience in the field of eating disorders to specifically treat people with challenges around eating, clinical eating disorders, disordered eating or body image issues.
We work alongside and together with your GP, paediatrician, psychiatrist or other support professionals and networks to determine what type of treatments will be best for your child and family.
Gain access to the leading treatment model for adolescents with eating disorders, Family-Based Treatment (FBT). Suitable for individuals who are experiencing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and other specified feeding or eating disorders. It is a manualised treatment delivered by trained and experienced eating disorder professionals.
While FBT may not be for every family, research shows that it is highly effective and faster to act than many other treatments. It is therefore usually considered as the first-line approach to treatment for children, adolescents, and some young adults with eating disorders.
Eating disorder support for you and your child
Personalised support
Your child’s treatment plan is personalised to their illness, situation and needs.
Team support
Access support from a knowledgeable and experienced team all in one place.
Holistic support
Complete treatment: physical, psychological, nutritional, behavioural, social and practical.
Inclusive Support
Welcome to Myrtle Oak Clinic, where your child’s health and wellbeing is our top priority. Our team of clinicians is dedicated to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all children, including those who identify as LGBTQI+ and those with neurodiversity or disability. We believe in inclusive care and work passionately to ensure that every child receives the attention and support they need.
Our team of dietitians is proud to be allies and has received focused training in LGBTQI+ areas of dietetics, including gender reassignment, wound care, body image concerns, eating disorders, hormones, chronic disease management, weight changes, mental health, trauma, and fertility. We are experienced in working with children and adolescents with neurodiversity, and we understand how disordered eating can co-exist with other conditions. As a parent, you can trust us to provide personalised and appropriate treatment to support your child’s recovery from disordered eating.
At Myrtle Oak Clinic, we empower our clients and their families to take control of their health and wellbeing. Our goal is to help every child recover from disordered eating and lead a happy, healthy life.
Find the path to support. Take the next step with Myrtle Oak Eating Disorder Clinic
Let’s talk
Call the clinic and talk with our staff who will ask some screening questions to help match you with the right professional.
Let’s create a plan
At your first appointment with the Dietitian or Psychologist, you’ll meet, discuss options and create a plan to move forward.
Let’s start your journey
With a clear plan, we help you become free from all-encompassing food-thoughts and spend time enjoying life again.
Coming to see us at Myrtle Oak Eating Disorder Clinic
Your first appointment with our team will take about 60-90 minutes. This first appointment is an assessment session with one of our eating disorder clinicians. It could be with one of our Psychologists or Dietitians or you may benefit from an assessment with each. When you book for your first appointment our staff will ask you a few questions to help place you with the help you need.
At this first appointment, we’ll get to know each other and set up a plan for appointments to come.
Further appointments will be made weekly or fortnightly. This sounds a lot, but the evidence and our experience show us that intensive support gives you the best outcomes. Over time appointments will reduce in frequency.
We have two clinics in New South Wales; Tuggerah and Wallsend.
We offer Telehealth online consultations. Access us from anywhere in Australia.
Our Assessment fees are from $340-$385, with ongoing services from $140 to $265 per session, depending on the clinician and length of session you require.
If you have a referral from a GP, you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate from $60.35 to $141.85. If you are referred on a care plan, the Medicare benefit provided by the care plan does not cover the full cost of your appointment. An out of pocket expense will apply.
Private Health Funds may also allow for rebates depending on your level of cover.
We require a 50% deposit to reserve your assessment appointment, due at time of booking. All session fees are payable at the time of consultation. Our aim is to provide prompt access to high-quality specialised services to all of our clients. In order to do so, we have implemented a 50% cancellation fee if less than 2 clear business days notice is provided.
We accept cash, EFTPOS, Visa and Mastercard.
FAQ about helping you and your child with an eating disorder
There are two ways to make an appointment:
Self-referral: Call (02) 43 623 443 to make an appointment. Please note you will not be able to claim any rebate through Medicare if you access the services through self-referral. You may access Private Health Fund rebates depending on your level of cover, so it’s best to speak with your fund about this.
GP referral: Visit your GP or psychiatrist and discuss whether you are eligible for a Mental Health Care Plan or Eating Disorder Plan. Your doctor can write a referral to Myrtle Oak Clinic so you can claim some Medicare rebates on sessions with a psychologist and dietitian. If you need assistance with this process, please call us on 43623443.
All referrals should be addressed to:
Psychologist, Dietitian at Myrtle Oak Clinic
Central Coast Clinic
17/19 Reliance Drive
TUGGERAH, NSW, 2259
OR
Newcastle Clinic
1/116 Nelson Street
WALLSEND, NSW, 2287
Fax your referral to: (02) 4362 2998
Medicare may cover some costs related to different types of eating disorder treatments.
It is important to keep in mind that there are low-cost treatment options available for eating disorder treatments although access to them can be limited. For further information speak to our administration officer or clinician about the costs involved in treatment before you commence treatment.
Who you and your child will see really depends on why you are coming to us. We will offer you an assessment appointment with one of our Psychologists or Dietitians. We can then together work out who you may most benefit from having treatment with, or it may be a mix of treatment providers over the course of your journey with us
Yes, we encourage you to attend the initial assessment appointment, you and your child will have valuable information to help us determine how we will best support you and your child through treatment. The level of involvement and support you can give to your child will depend on a few factors which will be discussed at the initial appointment. Generally speaking we encourage parents to be involved in their child’s recovery as much as possible.
We encourage you to make regular appointments for your child with their GP. The GP is able to medically manage your health, while our team supports you in managing your child’s mental and nutritional health. When we all collaborate together we are able to monitor and adjust your child’s treatment as needed. If your child experiences any dizziness, fainting or heart palpitations please seek emergency treatment immediately by calling 000 or presenting to your nearest emergency department.
Treatment is a very individualised experience. We’ve outlined some of the best eating disorder treatment information here.
Myrtle Oak Clinic is a high demand service and as a result we have created a cancellation and rescheduling policy to protect the large blocks of valuable time allowed for each client session and the preparation time your clinician undertakes prior to your appointment. We also wish to be fair for those patients on our waiting list needing an earlier appointment.
A cancellation fee (plus transaction fee) will be charged for appointments cancelled/rescheduled within 48 hours of the appointment time. Like other businesses, we have implemented this cancellation policy to reflect the clinical time set aside for you. The cancellation fee is lower than the 100% cancellation fee recommended by the Australian Psychological Society. In order to be respectful of the needs of other clients and allow clients waiting for an appointment to potentially access your cancelled spot, please be courteous and call Myrtle Oak Clinic promptly if you are unable to attend an appointment.
Appointments are to be cancelled 48 hours in advance of your appointment. This can be done via the following methods:
Phoning our office on 02 43 623 443 and leaving a voice message
Sending a text to 0499 008 451 (or replying “no” to any texts you receive reminding you of the appointment.)
Emailing us at [email protected].
We reserve the right to charge your credit card a cancellation fee of 50% of the appointment fee (plus transaction fee) if your appointments are not cancelled or rescheduled with 48 hours advanced notice.
If we are able to fill the cancelled/rescheduled appointment spot, any cancellation fee charged will be refunded.
We will not be able to schedule another appointment until the cancellation fee has been paid.
In reference to the current COVID environment, and our cancellation policy, we encourage you to consider changing to a telehealth session should you become unwell within 48 hours of your appointment. You can do this by phoning our clinic prior to your appointment.