Areas I Work With
Eating disorders
The emotional pain of an eating disorder, or poor body image, can take the joy out of life. You might feel hopeless - like it rules your life, and things will never get better. You can feel ashamed, so that you can't reach out - people either don't understand, or try to solve your problems. Some people feel scared that they will lose control without their eating disorder, yet living with it is too painful. You might have tried to get help for a long time, and found it's just not there, leaving you feeling trapped.
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There is no single cause of an eating disorder. Often, what started as a diet becomes a behaviour cycle you are trapped in. The more you think about food, the more important it can feel. Ask yourself if one of the following is true:
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Does starving yourself help you to block out emotions?
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Does bingeing help you to feel less stressed?
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Is your self esteem closely tied to your weight or clothes size?
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Do you feel like eating rules your life?
If you've lived with an eating disorder for a long time, recovery can seem impossible. I recognise the emotional toll that your disordered eating and body image takes on you, and how serious it is for you. People might have told you your eating disorder is a phase, or 'not serious', but if thinking about food takes up a lot of your time, you'll know how wrong that is.
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I'll work with you to reduce your distress and understand what is keeping your eating disorder going. We will look at triggers, and find coping strategies to reduce intense emotions. You will start to think about what life might look like without an eating disorder. Part of this will include:
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Stabilising you physically and helping you to understand why you are stuck
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Supporting you to change habits that keep you stuck
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Working on emotional issues including how you manage stress and feelings
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Eating disorders can make someone vulnerable, and we'll assess the impact it has on your health, and consider your support system before deciding to work together. I hold a diploma in Practitioner Skills for Eating Disorders from the National Centre for Eating disorders (NCFED) and am a member of their professional network.
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I understand how it feels to have your life ruled by food. With the right support people can and do recover.​​
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What does therapy for Eating Disorders or Disordered Eating look like?
Assessment phase:
An initial session which allows me to understand more about what your relationship with food is, and to explore what might be keeping you stuck.
Two 90-minute assessment sessions, during which we will formulate a plan for working with your eating.
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Core therapy phase:
Regular weekly sessions.
Work to address the things that are keeping disordered eating going, helping you to become more flexible and comfortable around your eating habits.
Recognising experiences that might have impacted you in your life and working with self-esteem.
Dealing with difficult emotions and finding coping strategies to manage stress.
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Maintenance and recovery phase:
Step-down to less frequent sessions, moving to fortnightly then monthly and 3-monthly follow-ups or email support.
Planning for coping with future challenges to your relationship with food.
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Throughout the therapy, you will be offered:
Ongoing monitoring of your progress through an app (or word document if preferred).
Between session support via the app.
Access to multidisciplinary support.
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We will usually plan to work together for three months or more, reviewing after the first assessment phase.
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