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You don’t have to do this alone alone

Helping parents and carers of children with an eating disorder

Practical tools and strategies to help you feel better equipped to support your loved one’s recovery

Helping parents and carers of children with an eating disorder

Practical tools and strategies to help you feel better equipped to support your loved one’s recovery

Start today

Proud Partners of the nhs

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The Univa app: Support exactly
when you need it

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app
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The Univa app guides you through a structured self-care programme built around the most effective, evidence-based therapies for eating disorders. Step by step, you’ll learn how to respond calmly, support recovery, and look after yourself - all tailored to your particular needs as a carer or family

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What you need, and how Univa helps

Parents and carers repeatedly ask for:

help help

Univa is designed around these needs.

Our dual-app platform and expert services give you accessible, actionable help you can use today, with or without your loved one present.

Start today
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Support Options
parents & carers

Choose the level of care that fits your needs

Univa Essentials

(App-only) Your personal app companion for everyday carer support. A self-guided 20-week programme with bite-size modules, practical tools and strategies to help you feel better equipped to support your loved one’s recovery - starting today.

£39/month

High quality 24/7 support for less than £1.30 a day

Join Now Learn more

Univa Comfort

(App + Messaging) Get everything in Essentials, plus secure in-app messaging with a Univa care team member for regular guidance and reassurance as you support your loved one. With your self-guided 20-week programme, you’ll feel calmer, more confident, and never alone in your caring journey.

£89/month

Ongoing comfort and messaging anytime - for less than £3 a day

Join Now Learn more

Univa Coaching

1-to-1 video coaching for parents/carers, delivered by professionals trained in the New Maudsley Carers Model (all with lived experience as carers or recovered).

For extra support between sessions, add Univa Essentials or Univa Comfort plans for an enhanced 24/7 care experience and support between sessions to intensify the coaching work.

Pay-as-you-go

£110 / session

Join Now Learn more

(Add your loved one’s own app care programme for just £10 more per month.)

Univa Essentials

(App-only) A connected care experience for you and your loved one. You’ll each have your own app, with tailored 20-week self-guided programmes filled with bite-size modules, practical tools, and evidence-based strategies - helping you both build understanding, skills, and confidence towards recovery.

£49/month

For both apps

(High quality 24/7 support for less than £1.70 per day)

Join Now Learn more

Univa Comfort

(App + Messaging) Everything in Essentials, plus expert support for both you and your loved one.

Each of you gets your own app with a self-guided 20-week programme, and access to secure in-app messaging with a Univa care team member for ongoing advice, motivation, and feedback. 

£99/month

For both apps

Ongoing comfort and messaging anytime - for less than £3.30 a day

Join Now Learn more

Univa Therapy

Pay-as-you-go family therapy sessions for carers and their loved one, delivered by qualified clinicians.

For extra support between sessions, add Univa Essentials or Univa Comfort plans for an enhanced 24/7 care experience and support between sessions to intensify the coaching work.

Pay-as-you-go

£150 / session

Join Now Learn more

You can start with any option and move between them as your needs change.

Still not sure which plan is right for you?

Book a free 15 minute call with a member of the Univa care team.

Book here

Frequently Asked
Questions

Yes. Univa supports carer-only or both together through our separate but linked dual-apps. Coaching can be attended by carers only. Therapy can be attended by your loved-one only.

The most effective, evidence-based treatments for anorexia and restrictive eating in children and teenagers are family therapy approaches - known as Family-Based Therapy (FBT) and Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa (FT-AN). Both of these approaches actively involve parents and carers in the recovery process. These therapies help restore weight, normalise eating, and rebuild healthy communication at home. Univa brings these proven methods to life through its digital platform, combining FT-AN/FBT with the New Maudsley Carers Model for even greater impact.

Absolutely. Research shows that when carers are equipped with the right skills, recovery outcomes improve dramatically. The New Maudsley Carers Model teaches communication and emotion-management techniques that reduce conflict, increase motivation, and make it easier for families to work together. Univa gives you these same skills in a flexible, supportive digital format you can use anytime.

Yes. Many families start using Univa when they first notice restrictive eating, weight loss, or anxiety around food - even before a diagnosis is made. The platform provides early guidance and practical tools to address early stage eating difficulties.

Caring for someone with an eating disorder can take a huge emotional toll. Univa includes wellbeing check-ins, reflective exercises, and our unique Survive & Thrive feature - offering instant videos and calming techniques from expert Jenny Langley to help you regain balance during stressful moments. You’ll learn how to stay grounded, reduce guilt, and rebuild your own resilience.

Yes. While the family-based elements are particularly effective for children and adolescents, Univa’s tools, coaching, and therapy options can also support adult patients and their carers, focusing on communication, relapse prevention, and sustainable recovery strategies.

No. Univa is not an emergency or crisis service. If you’re worried about immediate risk or your loved one’s physical safety, contact NHS 111, your GP, or local emergency services right away. You can still return to Univa for ongoing, structured support once the crisis has passed.

You can book a free 15-minute guidance call with one of our team members. We’ll listen to your situation and help you choose the best starting point - whether that’s app-only support, carer coaching, or therapy.

Univa is not a replacement for medical care but a powerful companion to it

Univa is the first dual-app platform designed specifically for both carers and their loved one - grounded in the two most effective evidence-based therapies (FT-AN/FBT and the New Maudsley Carers Model) for children and teenagers with anorexia. It combines real clinical science with human understanding, digital tools, and lived-experience guidance - giving families continuous, compassionate support.

Everything you share in the app stays confidential. Your personal entries and data are never shared - unless there is a serious concern for your safety identified in conversation with our clinical team, in which case a qualified professional or your carer may be informed to ensure you get the right support. We maintain the highest standards of data protection and privacy.

No, our care offerings are available without a medical referral.

Meal planning can feel daunting. Involve your child in simple, non-confrontational ways — choosing meals together that feel safe but still nutritionally balanced. The Univa Carer App includes step-by-step meal planning tools and scripts to guide you through difficult conversations calmly.

The Univa Carer App provides a range of skills and coping mechanisms through expert-designed modules on meal planning and mealtimes. In addition, the unique Survive & Thrive feature within the app provides videos ‘in-the-moment’ to show you real techniques to manage anxiety and maintain calm during meals.

It’s natural to feel scared, angry, frustrated, or helpless and a range of other emotions during difficult mealtimes with your loved-one. The Univa Carer App includes mindful reflection tools and emotion-coaching techniques to help you regulate your own feelings before supporting your loved one.

Univa’s interactive tools such at the Survive & Thrive feature as well as the expert-designed modules on meal planning and meal times provide specific carer skills for when a child partially or fully refuses a meal, snack or drink as well as de-escalation strategies for these moments.

Excessive exercise (or ‘over exercise’) is a common and serious feature of anorexia and other restrictive eating disorders. It’s often used as a compensatory behaviour to manage anxiety, guilt, or a fear of weight gain and it needs to be addressed carefully as part of treatment. Within the Univa Carer App, you’ll find dedicated modules on managing compensatory behaviours, including excessive exercise, along with skills, coaching tips, and real-life examples to help you respond safely and confidently. These tools guide you on what to do, and what not to do, to support recovery while keeping your loved one’s trust.