Eating Difficulties, Eating Disorders & Body Image support

Support for binge eating, emotional eating, bulimia, and ARFID

Many people struggle with their relationship with food without ever seeking help. You might not identify as having an eating disorder, but you may notice patterns that feel confusing, exhausting, or out of your control.

I support adults who experience a wide range of eating difficulties, from emotional eating, "on off dieting" and binge eating to bulimia, ARFID, or long-standing cycles of restricting, food rules, and guilt. My approach is warm, non-judgemental, trauma-informed, and neurodivergent-affirming.

You don’t need a diagnosis to receive support. You just need to notice that something isn’t working for you anymore.

Is this for you?

You may recognise yourself in one or more of the following:

Patterns around food

Emotional eating, comfort eating, or turning to food to cope
Binge eating or episodes of feeling “out of control” around food
Cycles of restricting during the day and overeating later
Eating past fullness or eating quickly before you realise it
Longstanding dieting, food rules, “good vs bad” food thinking
Skipping meals, forgetting to eat, or a lack of appetite
Feeling guilty after eating or trying to “make up for it” with exercise or restriction

Experiences related to neurodivergence

(You do not need a diagnosis.)

Forgetting to eat or not noticing hunger cues
Sensory sensitivities affecting what or how often you eat
Difficulty with meal planning, structure, or executive function
Eating for stimulation, regulation, or grounding without realising
Black-and-white thinking around food leading to strict rules

How this might present:

Binge eating:

Binge eating can be seen as a way to regulate emotions, cope with stress, or manage unmet needs. Or it may follow on from a period of restrictive eating. Many people describe feeling overwhelmed, numb, or disconnected before or during a binge.

Therapy can help you:

understand what triggers the cycle
work towards regular eating to support your body and nervous system
develop flexible, compassionate routines around food
rebuild trust with your body
learn regulation and coping skills
engage in activities in line that are of value to you

Bulimia:

Bulimia includes bingeing followed by compensatory behaviours such as vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative use, fasting, or restriction. There is often an overevaluation on weight and shape and it's typical to experience feelings of shame and disgust post-binge, which reinforce the drive for compensatory behaviours.

In therapy, we work on:

understanding what triggers and maintains this cycle
work towards regular eating
reduce and eventually stop compensatory behaviours
understand drivers, such as past events or trauma, and themes of perfectionism
healing the underlying beliefs that keep the cycle in place

We go at a pace that feels safe and manageable.

Body Image:

Many people I work with struggle with their relationship with their body. Body image concerns might show up through self-criticism, judgements, comparison, or a sense of being disconnected from your body.

You might find yourself:

Feeling preoccupied with your body shape, weight, or appearance
Overly checking your body, taking a long time to get ready, changing outfits often
Avoiding mirrors, photos, clothes, or social situations
Experiencing shame, disgust, or frustration towards your body
Feeling disconnected from body cues, or treating your body as something to manage rather than care for

In therapy, we don’t work towards loving your body or forcing body positivity. Instead, we explore the meaning these concerns hold, where they developed, and how they interact with food, movement, trauma, and self-criticism. The aim is to build a more compassionate, respectful relationship with your body. One that supports safety, flexibility, and care rather than control.

ARFID:

ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder) is about sensory discomfort, fear, or low interest in food. Many neurodivergent people experience ARFID patterns even without a diagnosis.

You may relate to:

strong sensory-based dislikes of textures, tastes, or smells
fear of choking or vomiting
eating a very narrow range of “safe foods”
little interest or appetite for food

Therapy is tailored to match the particular symptoms present to you, and includes supporting:

sensory needs and tolerances
increasing safety with food
working with discomfort present around food
building confidence and flexibility without pressure

How we work together:

My approach is tailored to your unique experience. I combine:

CBT for exploring thoughts, beliefs, and behavioural cycles
ACT to help you develop compassion, flexibility, and values-based change
EMDR, if needed, for processing early experiences that may include trauma, beliefs about self, and feelings of shame, that may shape eating patterns
Psychoeducation around the nervous system, emotional regulation, and neurodivergence
Equine Assisted Therapy (optional) for those who prefer experiential, relationship-based therapeutic work in nature

Together, we build understanding, reduce shame, develop compassion, while developing tools that support healthier, more regulated patterns around food.

Eating difficulties are not a personal failure. They are the way your body has learnt to cope with a number of things, including stress, trauma, sensory needs, or unmet emotional and physical needs.

Whether you’re navigating binge eating, bulimia, ARFID, ADHD-related eating patterns, or a long cycle of dieting and self-criticism, therapy can help you begin to understand and gently shift your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.