Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Port Coquitlam, BC.

At the Family Hope Clinic we offer a range of support services provided by Registered Clinical Counsellors who are "also" Registered Art Therapists or "also" Registered Yoga Instructors. We understand that a multi-modality approach fosters the best outcomes and sustainability when addressing eating disorders. We are here to help you learn more about your needs and wants; as well as, how to build communication with loved ones to increase their understanding and obtain their support. Call today to set up your free 50 minute session!

Having an eating disorder often leads to different emotions such as sadness, anger, shame and confusion. Having an eating disorder means you are probably also struggling with other mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. That is why it is really important to work with a therapist who can not only help you with symptoms of your eating disorder, but also help you with traumas and emotional difficulties that have led to your symptoms. When working with eating disorders, my goal is to help my clients understand their eating disorder from a compassionate perspective and also heal the deeper wounds that might lie underneath their eating patterns.

Making the first appointment to treat an eating disorder takes courage. It can feel overwhelming to talk about the problem and discover ways to change. I create a safe environment to talk about the fears and worries connected to eating disorders. Some common eating challenges include anorexia, bulimia, over eating, emotional eating, binge eating and over exercising. My practical approach will help you discover new ways of coping and promote long term change.

Eating Disorders can seem like the only solution to emotional pain for many people. Eating Disorders rarely have anything to do with food itself, so it is important to truly identify the root issues involved. Often these actions are a result of some trauma in a persons life. I offer EMDR, which specifically addresses the trauma and helps the person suffering come to a peace about what happened. Eating disorders are also hard on supporting family and friends. Watching a loved one struggle with these disorders can bring about feelings of helplessness and despair as well. I would be honoured to help the family and friends of those suffering Eating Disorders come to some inner peace.

Issues related to food and body-image, eating or not eating, perfectionism, or overall fixation on appearance can flood your reality to the point where they consume you. These kinds of issues often arise to serve a function, or fulfill a purpose, in your inner, psychological world. They can be a way to cope, to try to heal hurt parts of yourself, to maintain control in uncontrollable situations. Sometimes, they can be related to adverse childhood experiences and developmental trauma—though all the jargon may not apply or do justice to your individual context. Together, we can find a way to manage your thoughts and behaviors and take steps to address anything that may be underlying them.

If you’ve struggled with disordered eating, you are all too familiar with compulsive behavior, obsessive thoughts and a disconnect from the body. You may also have a constant need for control while at the same time feeling a frightening and exhausting loss of all control. Please know that none of this is your choice, but rather is a state of stress and overwhelm while you do your best to feel better. I have nothing but compassion for the distress that comes with food-related challenges, and you have my commitment to help you care for the difficult underlying emotions involved. Together, we will create a safe space to move towards healing and a safe relationship with food and the body.

I use the Internal Family Systems approach to eating disorders, which views disordered eating as the result of inner conflict among different "parts" of the self. Often, a "Critic" part drives restrictive behaviors, while "Exiled" parts carry painful emotions or past trauma that the eating disorder tries to suppress. I'll help you identify and understand these parts, fostering compassion and healing. The goal is to unburden the parts, heal the underlying trauma, and restore balance so that you can develop healthier coping strategies and a more loving relationship with food and body.

Eating disorders are complex and multi-faceted. Treatment of eating disorders requires an holistic approach working with the individual and his or her family and other health care providers. More often than not, an eating disorder is a symptom of some other problem. While the individual's medical health must be monitored and controlled, therapy focuses on changing thinking and behaviour patterns that reinforce the eating challenges while exploring the underlying factors contributing to the presentation of the eating disorder.

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.

Eating disorders are complicated and complex. Having lived with an experience of a distorted body image, I have an understanding of some of the challenges of an eating disorder. To get the outcome clients want, I utilize the approaches of EMDR, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Neurofeedback (NFB). EMDR takes the charge out of rooted disturbances, allowing an individual to overcome challenging behaviours without needing to reason. With CBT, I am able to offer support while challenging distorted thoughts and dysfunctional behaviours. NFB trains the brain to self regulate, allowing optimal performance, effecting the thoughts, emotions and actions that keep an eating disorder alive.

Eating Disorders are also often related to problems of past familial dynamics, thinking, feeling, living, identity, and connecting with others. I offer what is a healthy way to eat and go through calorie calculation. Emotional support is there for boosting self esteem. Through recovery, clients strengthen their courage, to live a full life. If clients are ready to stop the unwanted behaviours with food and heal eating disorder for life, I am telling the clients, it is possible. To choose to live fully and wholly, it is necessary to manage and fix eating habits. I empower clients’ existing healthy mindset in order to override the eating disorder.

I am able to help clients dealing with anexoria, bulimia or binge eating. By helping clients look at how and why they use food for control, reward, stress management or to deal with other emotions they can begin to change their maladative relationship with food. With some in office techniques and some out of office homework clients can have radical change in their lives. Enjoying food is one of life pleasures.

Our approach to helping clients who are dealing with an eating disorder and require treatment and counselling is to work both with the family and with the individual dealing with this stressor. We work collaboratively with the client and use Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) and Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help manage the eating disorder. We come from a strength-based and collaborative approach.