Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in High River, AB.

Tired and frustrated with your eating habits, yet hesitant to tell anyone about it or discuss why? You're not alone. Countless numbers of women and men courageously shared with me their deeper selves, and found a better understanding of the underlying emotional, soul and thought-life issues (including body image and self-esteem). Over time they came to experience freedom and gain a sense of mastery and control over their behaviors, their eating, and their inner emotional world. Together we'll get to know the individual 'personality' of your distortions/disorder, get you the needed tools and carefully move you into freedom and wholeness. Call today!

I help clients with eating disorders using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a research-based form of therapy in which I am certified. I focus on giving clients strategies to manage urges to binge eat or to binge and purge combined with helping them to address underlying issues and emotions which are driving their eating disorder behaviours.

We do not deal with formal diagnoses of eating disorders, but we do support those with disordered eating. Eating issues often occur alongside depression and anxiety, and we view them as a symptom of deep and painful emotions frequently linked to trauma, stress, or grief/loss. In our work together, we can address how you use food as a coping mechanism when you are stressed or when your relationships are strained. The goal is to understand better the role food plays in helping you cope with painful emotions.

I create space for individuals to explore the underlying emotional, psychological and societal factors contributing to a disordered relationship with food and body image. I will work with you to develop coping skills, challenge distorted thinking and cultivate a healthier self-image. I will support you as we navigate the complex emotions associated with recovery, fostering self-compassion and self-acceptance as you move toward long-term recovery and overall well-being.

Eating Disorders can impact someone as negatively as any type of serious addiction. However, unlike addiction treatment plans, food must continue to play a role in your life. My basic goal is to stop further development of any eating problem you may have, and assist you in returning to a healthy lifestyle. The most successful focus is on harm reduction as an overall principle in addressing eating disorders, with the end goal of moving towards complete recovery. I also typically want to establish effective coping skills to reduce the possibility of relapse and sustain the progress you make in therapy.

In working with individuals dealing with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and body image or weight issues, I’m reminded that I’m made of language in which I’m situated. This realization has helped me to be less judgmental of others (what I may view as truth or beautiful may not be someone else’s truth/beauty). I challenge clients to understand that they have a power/choice to write their personal stories. I provide a safe space and encourage my clients to locate themselves in the way that matters to them. Locating of self merely happens in an interpersonal context or ‘social field.’ A relational cultural theory that I learned in school helps me to implement that.

My therapy approach for eating disorders focuses on helping you develop a healthier relationship with food and your body. Through a combination of CBT, mindfulness practices, and a compassionate, supportive environment, I assist you in identifying and addressing the underlying emotional and psychological factors contributing to disordered eating. Together, we will work on building self-acceptance, developing healthier coping mechanisms, and fostering a positive body image, guiding you toward recovery and long-term well-being.

[I OFFER VIDEO SESSIONS THROUGHOUT ALBERTA AND ONTARIO]. I work with clients who are addicted to food and/or who are wanting to lose weight. I do not work with people with anorexia or bulimia because I am in private practice and I am neither a physician nor do I work in a medical facility. I have, however, been a psychologist since 1986. I specialize in addictions. If you would like to see me, book now by visiting https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=14249112

Has the carefully controlled world of your perfection become a prison that now controls you? We can help you break through the paralysis and escape for good! Together we can learn to shift your focus away from those obsessive thoughts, explore the pain that drove you here and discover what happens when grace and unconditional love begins to replace the preoccupation. You can laugh again!

Does thinking about your weight leave you feeling defeated? Frustrated? Hopeless? Unfailing willpower doesn’t come from the perfect diet or exercise program… it comes from the mind. It’s not the diet we have to get right. Learning to manage your mind and identify self-sabotaging beliefs can be key to achieving your weight management goals. Sometimes, it’s not the diet we have to get right. Learning to manage your mind and identify self-sabotaging thoughts and beliefs can be key to achieving your weight management goals. Emotional eating, whether as a result of a bad mood or in the form of “treats” and “rewards”, and negative beliefs, such as “I will never be able to,” “I’m going to fail”...

Far beyond simple management strategies, we offer a comprehensive approach that gets to the roots of the spiritual, emotional and relational struggles that drive eating disorders. If try-harder approaches have failed and you already know more about this issue then your therapist, perhaps it's time to deal with the source of the problem and gain the skills that you can use to set yourself free.

Eating disorders benefit from the same or similar approach used for all addictive behaviours. One of the main therapeutic approaches I use is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. The relationship to food can be quite complex involving societal or cultural pressures, self-image, past traumas, addictive non-nutritious junk food, media images, social media pressures, bullying. Shame and guilt need to be addressed along with peer pressures. The most common eating disorders are: Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, Pica, Rumination Disorder, Avoidance/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), Orthorexia, Purging Disorder etc. The benefits of therapy are enhanced self-image, health and well-being.

While most eating disorder issues are treated by cognitive behavioral methodologies or specialized outpatient/inpatient programs, Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, PhD provide relief first and foremost for the brain of one suffering from an eating disorder----without giving them medication. We believe that the neural circuitries responsible for the compulsive behaviors with eating are not necessarily only a neurotransmitter issue but of overused neural networks that affect the harmonization, balance, and decisions of the whole brain. Contact kevin@kevinfleminphd.com or 877-606-6161 to learn more about this safe and effective alternative.