Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Oak Ridges, ON.

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.

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.

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.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder we want to focus on what has brought you to your current eating and nutritional patterns and behaviours. I want to initially focus less about the foods you eat and the current behaviours surrounding your food intake, and more about what you are wanting to accomplish in doing so. Do you feel a need to control your environment? Do you feel anxious or out of control in other areas of your life? Are you wanting to push away or ignore some other important concerns? Let's explore. My primary focus is to help you feel good about yourself and your environment, and empower you to continue to create the changes within yourself that you want to make.

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.

Many of your young people suffer from eating disorders. Research has shown that eating disorders are related to the same characteristics as addictions. This could be a result of all the different pressures people deal with on a daily. With a great deal of experience, knowledge and training in this field, I have been very successful in treating eating disorders, using proven Cognitive Behavior Therapy strategies. During the sessions key subjects leading to these issues are discussed and addressed. Goal setting, organizational schedules and personality types also can be explored.

In eating disorder counselling, I provide a compassionate and non-judgmental space to address the complex emotional, psychological, and relational factors that influence your relationship with food, body, and self-image. Together, we work toward developing healthier coping strategies, improving self-esteem, and fostering body acceptance. My approach integrates evidence-based practices with a deep respect for your unique story and pace of healing. The goal is to support both emotional well-being and a balanced, sustainable relationship with food and self.

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

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.

My approach to working with people who struggle with food issues, is looking at the issue as an expression of a need that can't (yet) be put into words. Because eating disorders can be quite harmful, a team approach is always recommended; a family doctor, perhaps a nutritionist and a therapist. Together we will look at your history of food and how food and body image was spoken about at home; there are often ties to early childhood here. Then, we'll find ways to help manage symptoms, which could look like finding other ways to express the need/feeling, instead of using restriction or bingeing. Eating disorders are quite isolating, and the hardest part can be admitting you need help.

Clients who seek eating disorder counseling and treatment can benefit in a variety of ways. Firstly, counseling can help clients to understand the underlying causes of their eating disorder, such as past trauma or negative self-talk. By addressing these underlying issues, clients can begin to develop healthier coping mechanisms and strategies for managing their symptoms. In addition, counseling can help clients to develop a healthier relationship with food and their body image. Clients can learn to identify and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs that may be contributing to their eating disorder, and they can develop more positive and self-affirming self-talk.

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 like anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are all very complex. I provide a compassionate, safe space for individuals to explore the thoughts and feelings they have about their eating disorder and how it affects their everyday life. Models I use in this area include: Narrative Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, and Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.