Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Stouffville, ON.

I am a Psychotherapist and Addictions Counsellor who has struggled through an Eating Disorder and now my passion is to give back and help others. I understand that having been there myself the feelings of shame, guilt and despair. I have first-hand experience and through my experience along the way I created a way through. I want to help as many people as I can with what I have been able to accomplish myself and share it with others so they no longer have to suffer. I understand that everyone’s journey is unique and no two journeys are alike. I have the patience, compassion, understanding and empathy it takes for you to feel safe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

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.

Shyamala's approach to working with eating disorders is to address the underlying issues that often perpetuate disordered eating: anxiety, perfectionism and a need for control. In helping clients build confidence and explore alternative ways of managing the underlying issues, clients are able to move towards a life that is no longer controlled by food and body image.

I have been working with eating disordered clients since working in a college setting over 30 yrs ago and I am still using a two-track approach: helping an individual change their behaviour and life-style on the one hand, and then walking with them through many of the underlying emotional and spiritual issues that drive the eating disorder on the other. Compulsive eating, anorexia and bulimia have a tight grip on so many women (and some men) but if you are one of them, I want to assure you that your future is not hopeless. I would be glad to help you get free from this. Call me today with any questions you may have regarding my experience and approach.

“There are various ways that individuals with eating disorders describe “dealing with” painful feelings: They may numb them through starving, soothe or push them down with bingeing, or get rid of them through purging. This vicious cycle of fearing, avoiding, and feeling overwhelmed and incapacitated by feelings, to the point of having to stay ill or inflict self-harm to escape, makes Emotion-Focused Therapy a compelling approach to treating eating disorders. Emotion-Focused Therapy works directly with painful emotions, and views them as a source of information and meaning. Emotion, if paid attention to, can be like a beacon or a flashlight, leading us to what is important.

While counselling clients with eating disorders, it is often discovered that the cause is from childhood and relationship challenges. While I suggest you have a doctor and nutritionist on your team, sessions with me can include a safe place for you to share thoughts and feelings and explore coping strategies. Topics such as body image, self-esteem, anxiety and anger, and depression can be explored in sessions to help you understand yourself and your eating disorder in your unique circumstances.

My approach to Eating Disorder Counseling and Treatment is based on a compassionate and holistic perspective that acknowledges the complex emotional, psychological, and physical factors that contribute to disordered eating. My aim is to create a safe and non-judgmental space where clients can explore their relationship with food, body image, and underlying emotions. Through a combination of evidence-based therapies and a collaborative approach, I assist clients in developing practical tools to manage triggers, regulate emotions, and foster healthy coping mechanisms. I strive to empower my clients to develop a positive sense of self and a healthier relationship with food and their bodies.

Have you ever thought about what you were eating and why? Do you know what you were thinking and feeling at the time you were choosing which food to eat? Were you sad, anxious, or stressed about something? Or, had you just finished a stressful experience and felt the need for ‘comfort food’? Have you ever heard the term, ‘emotional eating’? Firstly, let me tell you, you are NOT alone! Many people with psychological problems turn to food for comfort and relief from stress. I can help you design an action plan to manage these challenging thoughts, feelings, and behavioural choices, towards your goals and sustainable change.

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

Winnie has walked with clients to understand their root cause of their binging and purging. It is not just the compulsion of binging. Your body and your emotional well-being are also strongly impacted by it. Being aware that you may have some symptoms of Eating Disorders is a giant step. With self awareness, you can learn about what is Eating Disorders, and learn different coping strategies to help yourself. You can make a change! You can break the cycle of binging and purging!

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

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

With the fast pace and challenges of life, you do not have to face them alone. Sometimes you need a helping hand and a friendly ear to talk to. It's my passion to help people. I offer counselling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples and families. I work with clients to improve their resiliency, and uncover their strengths using a client centered approach and different modalities to meet needs .

Eating Disorders are mental health challenges that manifest in the body, and in our relationships with food. Usually eating disorders start with an honest desire to be healthier, and lead into obsessions, compulsions and behaviour that end up dominating our lives. My belief is that eating disorders are an attempt to cope with stress, trauma and other difficulties and that they should be met with curiosity and compassion.

Our relationship with food is inescapable. Overeating/denial patterns reflect an effort to combat isolation and the absence of equilibrium in relational dynamics. We are biologically engineered for connection and resonance. When that basic need is not met, we strategize survival in unique ways. By addressing all levels of experience, you can track the sequences relating to choice and absence of choice, be more present to your own emotions, cultivating a deeper connection with your body and yourself which naturally progresses into empowered relationships. Family members can learn to connect and resonate effectively, reducing isolation and creating the longed for feeling of belonging.

At Orchid Psychotherapy Clinic, we offer specialized therapy for individuals struggling with eating disorders and related issues. Some of the concerns you may seek help for include: emotional eating, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, compulsive eating body image difficulties, body dysmorphia, and compulsive exercising. We believe that anyone can recover from an eating disorder no matter how long they've struggled. We work alongside you at your pace to find strategies that benefit you; to normalize your eating and eliminate symptoms, and to help you identify issues that might be driving the eating disorder so that you maintain your recovery after therapy is over.

Eating disorders are a complex mental health problem with many contributing factors. My approach focuses on understanding the context of the eating disorder development with each individual client, learning about triggers for related behaviours, and exploring and healing underlying issues. Clients will learn to cope without the eating disorder and will be able to minimize or eliminate unhealthy behaviours. In addition, clients will rediscover who they are away from the eating problem. Many clients have described feeling free or like they have "been lifted out of the fog" as they recover and are able to enjoy their life without the eating disorder thoughts and behaviours interfering.

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.

I use a cognitive behavioural therapy approach to address disordered eating patterns. I work with clients to help them identify the thought patterns and behaviours that lead to disordered eating patterns. I encourage clients to monitor the habits that they have developed over time and once these habits have been identified we work together to challenge and change them.

In my experience, self acceptance and self esteem lie at the core of almost every eating condition, even when anxiety feels like the primary motivation for your behavior. Having said that, I never make assumptions about why you do what you do and what is motivating the relationship you have with food. I work hard in our relationship to understand what it feels like to be you so that we can both learn what it will take to change your eating habits for the better and encourage natural and healthy associations with both food and your body.

Clients come to see me for psychotherapy in my practice in downtown Toronto. I work with women and men who are experiencing difficulties with eating-related disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, and over-eating. Sometimes there are associated conflicts within the family, as well as interpersonal problems including depression, anxiety-related problems, and difficulties coping with early traumas.

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.

Disordered eating patterns are common in north America and, of course, they are still more prevalent among teen females and women than among teen males and men. Numerous factors contribute to the development and reoccurance of disordered eating patterns, including, negative body image, low self-esteem, stress and relationship struggles, intellectual and cognitive reasoning and media and social learning. Combining narrative, cognitive-behavioural individual and family therapy (in a collaborative teamwork approach among family, therapist and other healthcare providers) is the most effective strategy to reduce health risks through healthier relationship, exercise and eating thoughts and habits

Eating disorders are connected to the value that society puts on appearance. In North American and European cultures, the ideal is to be thin. Being overweight is obvious to the world and viewed by society as a shameful condition. This is a demoralizing position to be in. Eating disorders are predominantly an issue for women, who naturally go through changes in their weight. But this is also an issue for men, who can hurt just as deeply if they feel unworthy of love by virtue of their appearance. My approach is to help people feel good from the inside out. I recognize that weight issues can be the source of shame, bullying and marginalization. These are often the areas we work on in therapy.

The traumas from one's life that motivate using food or the control of food as a way to manage life, anxiety, worry and more are effectively neutralized with the holistic psychotherapy model. Traditional talk therapy: Giving space for the client to explore and express feelings, own awareness’s, transform thoughts, grieve, vent, and neutralize guilt, anger and fear. New understandings and thus new neural pathways begin to form. Also Somatic focusing: A profound process of accessing the deep subconscious through breathe work and closed eyed dialoguing with the body, the mind and spirit. Life Coaching, meditation, visualization, New Decision Therapy, Polarity Therapy, Cranosacral, Reiki, vis....