Find An Eating Disorder Therapist in Almonte, ON.

Eating disorders often occur alongside depression and anxiety. I view eating disorders as a symptom of deep and painful emotions, often linked to trauma, stress, or grief/loss. In our work together we can address your eating disorder in relation to your family of origin and current relationships and also address any anxiety or depression that may be occurring. The goal is to better understand the role eating disorders play in helping one to cope with the painful emotions that arise due to trauma, depression, anxiety and/or early life family of origin disruptions.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

Dealing with an eating disorder is difficult, made all the more difficult if the people you love do not know how to support you through this time. Working with someone trained in treating eating disorders, you will feel understood in a way that you might not have thought possible. There is no reason why you should be going through this alone. Reach out to get the support that you need.

My approach to eating disorders is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I believe that in order to change attitudes about food and health that it starts with awareness and developing mindfulness skills. I will work with individuals to accept their thoughts as just thoughts and not who they are as a person. This will allow us to be able to develop a more healthy perspective that will allow you to be less impacted your eating disorder and to focus on what really matters to you in life.