My Approach
Having worked with people experiencing disordered eating difficulties for several years now, I am convinced that there is no one type of treatment that will be helpful to everyone.
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As a counselling psychologist I have received training in a number of different approaches to psychological therapy. I have also received - and continue to engage in - post-qualification training in various ways to help people with disordered eating difficulties.
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My approach to working with clients experiencing disordered eating issues is to understand the individual factors that have caused the eating difficulty, and that are keeping it going, and to tailor the therapy I offer to each unique person - and always with their views and feedback in mind.
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I believe it is essential for clients to feel safe and respected, as well as understood, within their therapy, and I aim to develop a warm and supportive therapeutic relationship which enables this.
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I have found that, working like this, clients are often able to make positive changes with regards to their eating and their body image, and in other areas of life too.
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Health at Every Size...
I take a Heath at Every Size (HAES) approach - this basically means that I don't subscribe to the idea that people should aim to diet their way into so-called "normal" or "healthy" categories of controversial tools such as the body mass index (BMI).
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Partly as a result of this, I am unable to actively support dieting efforts. I believe that evidence increasingly suggests that dieting is damaging to physical and mental health - more so than simply living in and looking after a body considered by some to be above the "ideal" BMI. I understand that this is counter-intuitive for a lot of people, given the powerful influences of weight-stigma and diet-culture in our society. Indeed, it is common for clients to have dieted for a long time, and to struggle with the idea of finding a different way to live. This is something that can be explored in the approach I offer, and I can help with considering new ways of eating - in peace.
If a person wants to improve their health, I strongly believe that there are ways that this can be done without focussing on weight-loss as a goal. In fact, it seems more than ironic that social pressures to look "healthy" cause so many people not to engage in behaviours that might support their physical and mental health, and to instead eat and live in ways that may harm their wellbeing.
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You don't need to know anything about HAES to work with me, but it might help for you to know that I cannot purposefully help clients to lower their body-weight as a specific goal. Instead, I aim to help people improve their relationships with food, eating, and themselves.
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