Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Bluewater, ON.

Eating issues are more about "what's eating you!" Often our food-related issues are signalling that we need to pay attention not only to our body but what is bothering us on the inside. Getting to the inside can be challenging, as the protective layers of eating issues can be difficult to get through. Working with eating disorders requires patience as the progress often occurs at a slow pace.

I help clients overcome addictive relationships with food. Like all addictions, the behavior is the tip of the iceberg, used to cope with underlying thoughts and emotions. Through collaborative conversations, clients gain insight into underlying concerns, gaining coping skills to more effectively navigate these issues. I draw on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), helping clients achieve a sense of freedom and control over their lives, leading to long-term change.

EDs often require services from many care providers however psychotherapy is crucial. EDs mainly are management strategies for coping with high-stress induced by interference with a young person’s self-identity development. The 'culture' (home, social-peer) responsible is one emphasizing image-performance as the basis of one's value/lovability. Strong fear of external judgement, rejection, failure and inattention overwhelms the child's/young person's normal course of healthy growth. Particularly the ages/stages when social esteem-bonding is very important. My approach is to restore connection with one's core 'real' self, from the inside, fostering personal empowerment and sound self-care.

Eating disorder can overshadow your life, stealing the joy and self-respect. I have worked with many who struggled with eating disorders and disordered eating and yes, it is possible to fight it and move beyond it. In the therapy with me you become aware of your strengths, your limitations and areas that need strengthening. You discover you are not alone and let the guilt and shame sweep away and become stronger. You learn how to create healthier boundaries, recognize triggers and become emotionally and mentally stronger.

We may not need to learn how to eat - but eating in a balanced way can be quite the trick to learn! If compulsive eating (or avoiding it or overeating and 'getting rid' of it...) is a problem it would seem simple to change this. Sometimes that's true. But if it's not for you, you already know how it has a profound impact on your life. So, like many of our addictions (and I would say that we all have some form of addiction) to change such a pattern can feel impossible. In therapy the trick is to find how the particular 'routine' that you have works - both to help you as well as how it hinders your life. From there, we can plan ways to continue the 'good' yet move beyond what is 'problematic'.

Eating disorders are not really about food. They involve complex emotional issues that have significant impact on ones physical, emotional and social health. If you are preoccupied with your weight, focused on body image, size, or shape, compelled to perform specific rituals around food, obsessive about food, or deem foods as “safe” or “unsafe” to eat or uncomfortable participating in social activities involving food (such as getting dinner with friends) you may be engaging in disordered eating. I offer free consultations to answer your questions and help you determine if therapy will be beneficial for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

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.

A sense of self is easily interrupted by stress, change, and trauma. Maybe you feel like you have never really known yourself and have always been focused on others. Or, maybe, you feel like you have lost a sense of self due to big changes in your life. This could all be tied in with how you feel about your body, especially if it has gone through a change as well. We can offer support for this, including help for: • Body image concerns • Low self-esteem or self-worth • Questioning self-purpose and plan • People pleasing, rescuing and fixing • Chronic guilt, regret and shame

Our struggles with food are rooted in several life events that remain unknown until you have a safe place to explore their impact. How we are raised, our initial relationship with food and how we manage our emotions are all intertwined with nutrition. Seeing food as purely for nourishment at times can be challenging with all the media's mixed messages about nutrition. Our need to control the food we intake takes over and we punish our bodies by over eating or under eating. We develop ways to harm ourselves through the use of food. Together we will explore your relationship with food and develop ways you can nourish your body and soul to embrace food as your happiness medecine.

Issues with eating are an understandable reaction to difficult or traumatic circumstances. The word disorder is faulty as it implies that it is a single person's disorder. However, the disorder is one of society. Due to limitations and restrictions of society, institutions, media, and groups, we have learned to restrict and or indulge ourselves in food. It is my goal to explore the emotional and cognitive roots of your issues with food as well as to figure out just how these limitations and restrictions of our society and/or families have affected you. In discovering the roots of the struggle, we can then collaboratively work towards health and healing.