About Eating Disorders
Are you experiencing an eating disorder, or is your relationship with food simply causing difficulties in your life? My passion and experience is working with people with weight and body image issues, to develop a healthier relationship with food, breaking free of disordered eating patterns.
Eating disorders are extremely complex and can be kept secret for a long period of time. They often start with dieting, however eating disorders are not about food and weight, they, are fundamentally problems of emotion. Treatment recovery needs to deal with the physical, emotional and psychological effects of the eating distress.
Food can be used as a means of expressing or suppressing feelings and emotions, becoming a form of comfort in order to block emotions that are too painful to deal with. In the short term restricting food intake or binge eating seems like the perfect solution as it “numbs” emotional pain, but in reality one is entering in to the grips of an unhealthy cycle that can be very difficult to break.
There can be many underlying issues behind unhealthy eating habits and unfortunately there is no “quick fix” that will help the situation, however there is hope and help is available.My role as a trained counsellor is to help you to understand where the eating distress has stemmed from, and to gain a greater insight into why it has continued despite its destructive nature. By looking at your current ways of coping we can work together to develop healthier strategies for dealing with stressful and uncomfortable emotions.
My approach is person centred and integrated, incorporating practical tools to manage unhealthy eating behaviours. If your relationship with food is causing distress in your life or you are consumed with thoughts about weight and body image, then you are in the right place for help and support.
Questions that clients often ask…
Counselling involves working with presenting issues that may be causing difficulties in a client’s life. It involves talking on a one to one basis about whatever concerns you may have.The role of the counsellor is not to give advice to clients but to explore what options are available to create change in their lives. A trained counsellor will work with a specific set of skills, to encourage clients to express their feelings, thoughts, emotions and behaviours in a confidential and safe environment. Ultimately, the aim of counselling in to promote positive change and enhance well-being.
Psychotherapy takes place over a longer time frame, focusing on the underlying issues that are contributing to the presenting problem. It works at a deeper level, exploring feelings and emotions .This will help the client to recognise how past experiences may impact on their present behaviours.
Although this can be a painful process the emphasis is on self awareness and healing. In the long term clients can be empowered to make changes that will improve the quality of their lives.
The first session is an initial assessment to explore all aspects of what is contributing to your distress. After the first meeting there is absolutely no obligation to continue however if you do decide to do so the number of sessions needed varies from client to client.
We will discuss this during the first session and decide together what will work best for you. Sessions typically last for 1 hour.
I offer a confidential, safe and supportive counselling service incorporating person centred, solution focused and mindfulness based approaches. I also work from a holistic approach taking into consideration the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs of the client.
I work with a range of other issues including depression, anxiety, self-esteem, body image, suicide, abuse, stress and work related issues.
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