Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in St Marys, ON.

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 disorders can threaten physical health as well as mental health and may be associated with other disorders such as trauma, self esteem and body dysmorphia. I work from a comprehensive/holistic approach to eating disorders and often use the potent tool of hypnosis when working with these issues. I provided a safe and supportive environment in which to address these sensitive issues.

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.

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.

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'.

My Psychotherapy practice is dedicated to offering women and couples affordable, flexible, compassionate counselling. This is a safe space where you will be heard and understood, where you will not be judged; a place where you can discover inner peace, growth, joy, and begin to heal and recover. My experience working in community agencies, women's shelters, and as a Medical Social Worker have provided me with the skills and heart to help you find hope, and increase your coping. Please visit my website for more information at www.MSWtherapist.com.

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!

As a therapist specializing in eating disorders, I believe in the transformative power of therapy to heal both mind and body. Through our sessions, we delve into the underlying emotional, psychological, and relational factors contributing to the disorder. By fostering a safe and non-judgmental space, we explore the complex relationship individuals have with food, body image, and self-worth. Through evidence-based techniques such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness practices, clients learn to challenge harmful thoughts and behaviors, develop healthier coping mechanisms, and rebuild a positive sense of self.

For many Christians it can be beneficial to their success in therapy to have a therapist that holds an understanding and respect for their religious and spiritual beliefs. While I do not offer Christian counseling services, at our clinic Psychotherapy Collective, one of our therapists Sarah works with Christian clients to combine evidence based psychotherapeutic techniques with piety, humility, forgiveness, faith development, spiritual development, and community. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with Sarah to see if she is a good fit for your journey https://www.psychotherapycollective.ca/our-team/therapist/sarah-glinski

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.