​Are you struggling with eating?  Have you lost a sense of what "normal eating" looks and feels like?  Do you feel like your eating is out of control?

 

As a therapist who works with people who have eating problems, I help clients to develop mindful awareness of the issues, feelings, needs, and triggers underlying eating-related symptoms.  We also work together on alternative response strategies and learning to live without the structure of problematic eating behaviours.

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Emotional Eating

 
Compulsive eating, binge eating, stress eating, mindless eating:  there are many different names for this common problem. You may eat automatically at the same time of day (like in front of the television at night or on your way  home from work or school), or when under extreme stress, or even when it seems like you should be fine.  You may struggle with dieting or with knowing when to eat and when to stop.  If emotional eating is a problem for you, you likely also feel a lot of guilt, self-blame, and discouragement. People who eat emotionally may try for years to gain control with strategies like limiting food intake or avoiding “bad” foods. Unfortunately, these strategies often have the unintended effect of making the problem worse.  

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Weight loss?

People often ask if therapy will help them to lose weight.  My honest answer is that increasing self-acceptance is the priority in therapy, and that dieting seldom helps in the long term, and can be harmful.  However, when people let go of diet thinking and focusing on weight loss and learn to take care of their true emotional and physical needs, moderate weight loss can, for some, be a paradoxical part of the process of ending painful cycles of emotional eating and dieting.  

 

Eating Disorder Treatment

 

Eating problems range in severity from occasional stress eating or reliance on dieting to eating disorders (which must be be diagnosed by a physician or psychologist).  If you have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, you will likely benefit from accessing a variety of supports, such as structured intensive treatment, group support, nutritional consultation, and individual psychotherapy.  Eating disorders seldom improve on their own. Taking steps toward fully acknowledging the problem and seeking and accepting support takes courage.  Connecting with your feelings and sharing your experience in therapy is a challenging but important aspect of recovery.  

If you have decided to work to overcome your eating disorder, feel free to contact me to discuss whether my services would be suitable for you at this time.

 

Additional resources