Eating Disorders, Body Image & Disordered Eating

For many people, concerns about food, weight or body image become far more than a simple wish to eat differently or feel more confident in their appearance. You may find yourself caught in cycles of chronic dieting, restrictive eating, binge eating, emotional eating, compulsive exercise or persistent attempts to control your weight or shape. Perhaps thoughts about food occupy far more of your mental energy than you would like, or you find yourself constantly checking, criticising or comparing your body. Others struggle with body dysmorphic thinking, intense dissatisfaction with their appearance, or a persistent sense that their body needs fixing before they can feel comfortable in themselves. 

Over time, these struggles can become exhausting and isolating. They can affect relationships, confidence, wellbeing and the freedom to fully participate in life. Many people describe feeling trapped between wanting things to change and feeling unable to let go of behaviours and beliefs that have become deeply embedded. Therapy can provide a space to explore these difficulties with compassion, curiosity and honesty. 

Eating disorders, disordered eating and body image difficulties are complex experiences, and there is no single path to recovery. 

For some people, psychotherapy provides a valuable space to explore and work through these struggles. Others may benefit from drawing on multiple sources of support, including medical, nutritional or specialist eating disorder services. 

Many of the clients I work with are also receiving support from NHS Eating Disorder Services or other healthcare professionals. Treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) have a strong evidence base and can be extremely helpful for many people. Where appropriate, I am very supportive of clients accessing these forms of support alongside psychotherapy. 

At the same time, many people find it valuable to have a therapeutic space that is not time-limited and where there is room to explore more deeply the meaning and function that eating difficulties may have come to hold in their lives. 

As a Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapist, I am interested not only in behaviours around food and body image, but also in the emotional experiences, beliefs, relationships and patterns that may sit beneath them. 

Food and body image difficulties are rarely just about food or appearance. 

Often, what begins as an attempt to create safety, certainty, control or acceptance can gradually become something that narrows life rather than expands it. 

Behaviours that feel self-destructive or confusing from the outside often developed for understandable reasons. They may have helped manage overwhelming feelings, create a sense of order, cope with uncertainty, protect against vulnerability or navigate painful emotional experiences. 

Together, we can become curious about what these patterns may have been trying to achieve for you and whether they are still serving you in the ways they once did. 

This work may involve exploring long-held beliefs about yourself, your worth, your body, your ability to cope, or your place in the world. 

For many people, fears around rejection, not being enough, being too much, needing others, losing control, or not feeling lovable become woven deeply into their relationship with food and their body. Shame, grief, loss, separation and experiences of feeling unseen or unsupported can also play a powerful role. 

The aim is not to judge these experiences, but to understand them and create the possibility for meaningful change. 

I do not believe that insight alone creates change. 

The goal of therapy is not simply to understand why you struggle. 

The goal is to help you develop a different relationship with yourself. 

Together, we can work towards loosening the grip of harsh self-criticism, perfectionism, fear and shame. We can explore new ways of responding to difficult feelings, expand tolerance for uncertainty, and develop greater self-compassion, flexibility and trust in yourself. 

Over time, many people find that food, weight and body image begin to take up less space in their lives. 

As that space opens up, there is often more room for relationships, creativity, spontaneity, pleasure, purpose and the things that matter most.

The impact of eating difficulties often extends far beyond food. 

Relationships can become strained. Social situations may feel difficult. Life can begin to narrow as more and more energy is devoted to managing thoughts, feelings and behaviours around eating and body image. 

As a relational therapist, I am interested in how these struggles affect your relationship with yourself and with other people. 

Together, we can work to better understand these patterns, process what may need processing, and support you in building a life that feels fuller, freer and less constrained by food and body image concerns.

Supporting people struggling with eating difficulties and body image concerns is an area of particular professional interest for me. I am passionate about supporting people not only to understand these struggles, but to build lives that are no longer defined by them. 

Alongside my Master’s training in Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy, I have undertaken additional professional training in eating disorders, body image, trauma and attachment, including training through organisations such as BEAT and the Oxford Centre for Research on Eating Disorders. 

I have also worked alongside clients receiving support from specialist eating disorder services and understand the importance of collaborative, multidisciplinary care when appropriate.

If you are looking for information, support or guidance around eating disorders, body image concerns, or supporting a loved one, the following organisations may be helpful: 

BEAT – The UK’s Eating Disorder Charity 

BEAT provides information, support services, helplines and resources for individuals and families affected by eating disorders.  

NHS Eating Disorders

Information about eating disorders, treatment options and how to access support through NHS services. 

If you’re wondering whether therapy could help, I offer a free initial consultation call. It’s an opportunity for us to talk about what is bringing you to therapy, answer any questions you may have, and get a sense of whether working together feels like the right fit.