Making the commitment to seek therapy for an eating disorder or disordered eating is an act of courage. It can take years to make that first call and sometimes just the thought of discussing your experience can seem overwhelming. Feelings of intense shame are common. In my work with clients struggling with eating disorders, creating an emotionally safe counselling environment is my first priority. Counselling progresses at a pace that is comfortable for you.

In my downtown Vancouver and virtual counselling offices, I meet with clients struggling with:

• Binge Eating
• Bulimia
• Emotional Eating
• Chronic (‘yo-yo’) Dieting
• Over-Exercising
• Cosmetic fitness
• Healthism
• Body Image Issues, self-loathing and shame
• Other related eating issues

I occasionally work with clients with anorexia, providing they are also under medical care for their eating disorder. My practice is focused on working with adults.

Why seek help for disordered eating?

Many people turn to counselling when they feel that their life has been hijacked by obsessional thoughts about food, body size or feelings of profound worthlessness. These thoughts interfere with people’s ability to live their lives normally, and can range from “get me off of this emotional roller coaster” to “I want to die.” Yet, if there is the desire for emotional peace and an end to emotional pain, there is hope. This is what motivates recovery.

What can therapy do to help?

Counselling is an important pillar of recovery, helping to:

• Understand the thoughts and feelings which fuel disordered eating
• Trace challenging patterns of behaviour and how to free yourself from them
• Create customized, practical coping strategies which speak to your experience and situation
• Develop goals that are important to you and a path that makes sense to you, keeping in mind that recovery is not typically linear and that path will twist and turn along the way
• Transform how you feel about yourself
• Let go of toxic self-judgement which fuel cycles of shame and disordered eating
• Restore hope. Change is always possible!

What counselling methods help?

There are a number of psychological approaches to treating disordered eating. In my practice, I primarily utilize a client-centred approach which draws from internal family systems therapy, harm reduction principles, mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). As with any issue I help with, I always look for client’s strengths and seek to mobilize them in the face of adversity.

Eating Disorders Treatment

Counselling is not a substitute for comprehensive eating disorders treatment. Rather, it is one key piece of the puzzle. Recovery is accelerated with a multidisciplinary team in your corner. For this reason, I always recommend that clients be under a physician’s care (or to find one if you don’t have one) and that people be assessed by a body-inclusive registered dietician (RD) with experience in eating disorders.

Clients that choose to work with me also understand that I take a body acceptance and body-trust®️ approach and do not promote or support dieting, including diet plans and apps that masquerade as being “healthy living” but are actually just another diet.

If you are ready to change and want to take a step forward, I welcome you to contact me today. I look forward to meeting you or addressing any questions you may have.