Eating disorders

Eating disorders come in many different forms, however they all share the intake of food becoming a means to cope with emotions or issues in life that can seem overwhelming for the person to cope with in other ways. A person's eating and weight may become merged with their identity and self-esteem and be a means to seek validation, control or safety when an individual feels unprotected, unacknowledged or unable to have control over other areas of their life.

Struggling with eating and body image can become all-consuming and be an exhausting day to day process where a person feels isolated and unable to devote energy to other areas of life.

Common experiences that are coped with through an eating disorder and/or experienced by individuals coping with eating disorders are:

• Low self-esteem
• Depression/Anxiety
• Trauma
• Relationship/life stresses
• Grief
• Body image issues
• Loneliness
• Family issues
• other life or mental health stresses.

Therapy can provide individuals with a safe space to to explore and resolve difficult emotions or experiences underlying difficulties with eating, as well as to develop strategies to regain a sense of balance in life where food no longer needs to be the main focus in their life.
Working with one of our psychologists can include:

• - Exploring and validating experiences that you may have been/or be coping with through an eating disorder
• - Working together to improve your overall mental health
• - Developing strategies to achieve and maintain healthy eating and body image
• - Working on rebuilding healthy self-esteem that is not focused solely on food and body image
• - Reconnecting and rebuilding areas of life that may have been overshadowed by an eating disorder
• - Helping you link in with relevant services depending on your wishes and needs