Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Ottawa, ON.

When I see a client with an eating disorder, I do not focus on the disordered behaviour as such. Rather, together we explore the client's family or origin and attachment history--from which our belief system about ourselves and the world are derived. I see this disordered behaviour as most often the result of the debilitating effect of an attachment wound.

I work with your negative body image, from the inside out. "The negative image is understood as a dissociated and shame-based “part” of the personality in need of understanding and compassion, achieved via mindful awareness, “parts” dialogue and trauma processing. Our first step will be to create a healthy separation between the "observing" or aware Self and the part(s) absorbed in the eating disorder via mindful awareness. Once this separation between the "whole" self and part of self is established, the Gestalt polarity tradition (empty chairs) is utilized to develop understanding of the shame-based part. This leads to developing more love and compassion for yourself. You are enough!

Emotional eating can stem from social expectations, family of origin rituals and gatherings, and negative self-talk. Emotional eating can lead to weight gain and health concerns. I use CBT, DBT and ACT to help clients learn to recognize emotional triggers that lead to eating behaviors when not physically hungry. I also help clients develop techniques to mindfully eat, resist temptation and learn to recognize when emotions are pulling at your puppet strings.

While I do not offer support for eating disorders, at Psychotherapy Collective, we have other therapists who are well positioned to support you. 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 you may be engaging in disordered eating. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with a member of our team today https://www.psychotherapycollective.ca/our-team

Eating disorders are often symptoms of a bigger issue and the by helping you find the cause of your struggles, I can help you cope with those issues, learn healthy coping skills and provide you with effective, sustainable solution-focused strategies that provide you with tools that tackle issues that caused these issues in the first place. Your eating disorders do not have to be you, we can work together to overcome them.

In a supportive and empathic environment I help people who are suffering from an eating disorder to develop trust, build motivation for change, implement and maintain strategies to change as well as monitor their recovery process and journey of self-discovery. I work with both cognitive and behavioral strategies as well as an insight-oriented focus on the client's awareness of self and body. My work with an eating disorder often includes family of origin issues.

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.

Eating Disorders can be some of the most disheartening and frustrating mental health diagnoses to experience. ED's at their core aren't about food, but instead avoidance, anxiety, control, and trauma. Successful treatment relies on examining what you are trying to avoid and providing skills that allow for tolerance and emotional regulation. Recovery from your eating disorder IS possible!

I can support you when dealing with emotional and disordered eating and help you with behavioural changes towards healthy eating patterns, including shifting from shame to empowerment, calming the nervous system, regulating emotions without turning to food, and assisting you in reestablishing physical cues for fullness and hunger and replacing the inner critic with self-compassion. Trauma-informed clinical tools will help you improve your relationship with food and your body.

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.