Gráinne is :
- Parent of Jay, now recovered after years of struggle to beat anorexia nervosa, binge/purge type, and living independently, working full time.
- A former head teacher in North East Scotland who has worked with hundreds, possibly thousands, of children and their families through difficult times as well as the good ones.
- A founder member of North East Eating Disorders Support (NEEDS) Scotland 1996 –
- Successfully petitioned Scottish Executive about services and resources (lack of) in eating disorders, 2002 – 2005.
- Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) Taskforce Member for Worldwide Charter for Action on Eating Disorders from 2005-
- A SEDIG (Scottish Eating Disorders Interest Group) Committee member
- Editor of ‘SEDIG News’ 2005 – 2008
Gráinne has talked with hundreds, possibly thousands, of carers both family and professional, at conferences and as a volunteer on NEEDS Scotland and Eating Disorder Association – now b-eat. Initially trained for 3 years as a Samaritan, over many years Gráinne used to work on UK telephone support lines.
Gráinne’s favourite saying is ‘Don’t curse the darkness – light a candle.’ Many people have lit candles along the way to light Gráinne’s path, especially in difficult times; she hopes that the articles, suggestions for practical activities, items which may be used for training, and other materials, plus conference reports and the interactive discussion forum…will help light candles for many others in tough times.
She is also :
- Author ‘Surviving Family Caregiving: communication, collaboration, coordination’, pub. 2015, Routledge*
- Author ‘Families, Carers and Professionals: Building Constructive Conversations’,
pub 2007, John Wiley and Sons* - Co-author ‘Skills Based Learning and Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder: the new Maudsley Method’, by Janet Treasure, Gráinne Smith, Anna Crane, pub 2007 Routledge*
- Author ‘Anorexia and Bulimia in the Family’, pub 2004, John Wiley and Sons*
- Collaborator with Ulrike Schmidt, Chris Williams, Media Innovations and others, on ‘Anorexia CD-Rom – How To support a Loved One’*
I was born in Ireland, and apart from my first few months have always lived in North East Scotland. Educated in Keith, I then studied and lived for a time in Aberdeen where my two children were born. Later I taught near Keith, then Banff and Fyvie. A few years ago I moved to a small town just south of Aberdeen. Living at the coast, a favourite relaxation is walking on the beautiful beaches around this area.