You may be here because food feels overwhelming. Because eating feels confusing, compulsive, rigid, or secretive. Because your body has become a battleground or a place you try not to inhabit at all.
Maybe you’ve received a diagnosis. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you don’t want one, you just want to feel more free.
This is a space for reflection, not categorisation. A place to begin making sense of the pain that so often sits beneath the surface, gently, and in your time.
People often reach out for help when they’re experiencing:
- Fear or guilt around eating
- Preoccupation with food, weight, calories, or appearance
- Cycles of restriction and bingeing
- Using food to numb, control, soothe, or punish
- A sense of secrecy or shame around eating
- Avoidance of food or rigid rituals around meals
- Body image distress, self-criticism, or body-checking
- Exhaustion from trying to “get it right”
For some, this fits within a recognised diagnosis. For others, it doesn’t. Either way, it matters. And it’s enough.
Our team can help you on your recovery journey from:
- Anorexia nervosa – often marked by restriction, weight loss, and intense fear of gaining weight
- Bulimia nervosa – involving cycles of bingeing and purging
- Binge eating disorder – where episodes of overeating cause distress but aren’t followed by compensatory behaviours
- ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) – often unrelated to weight or shape, but involving strong aversions, fear of choking, or sensory sensitivities
- OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder) – when distress is very real, even if it doesn’t meet every diagnostic tick-box
Often marked by restriction, fixation on “good” or “bad” foods, and a need to control eating as a way to manage emotional pain or overwhelm. Hunger may become comforting, and control over food may feel like safety.
You might notice:
- Avoiding eating in company
- Fear of weight gain or needing to eat “perfectly”
- Fixation on calories, rules, or rituals
- Physical symptoms like fatigue, feeling cold, or changes to hair and skin
- Mood changes, withdrawal, or rigid thinking
Characterised by cycles of bingeing followed by purging through vomiting, laxatives, or over-exercising. These behaviours can be driven by shame, distress, or the need to feel in control after eating.
You might notice:
- Secretive eating behaviours
- Bingeing episodes followed by guilt or panic
- Purging or compensating through exercise
- Fluctuating weight or energy
- Dental issues or sore throat from frequent vomiting
Binge eating often occurs in private, and is used to soothe or escape from overwhelming emotions. There is usually no purging, but deep shame or distress may follow.
You might notice:
- Eating past fullness or without hunger
- Feeling unable to stop once started
- Guilt or self-blame after eating
- Eating in secret or hiding food
- Emotional eating during stress, sadness, or boredom
ARFID isn’t driven by weight or body image, but by intense fear or sensitivity related to food. It might feel like fear of choking, vomiting, or becoming ill. Sometimes it’s rooted in sensory sensitivities or traumatic experiences with food.
You might notice:
- Extreme discomfort with certain textures, smells, or types of food
- Limited variety in what feels “safe” to eat
- Avoiding meals or feeling anxious at mealtimes
- Difficulty eating socially
- Nutritional deficiencies or significant weight changes
ARFID is often misunderstood but it’s no less important. The fear may not be visible, but it can deeply impact everyday life.
ARFID isn’t driven by weight or body image, but by intense fear or sensitivity related to food. It might feel like fear of choking, vomiting, or becoming ill. Sometimes it’s rooted in sensory sensitivities or traumatic experiences with food.
You might notice:
- Extreme discomfort with certain textures, smells, or types of food
- Limited variety in what feels “safe” to eat
- Avoiding meals or feeling anxious at mealtimes
- Difficulty eating socially
- Nutritional deficiencies or significant weight changes
ARFID is often misunderstood but it’s no less important. The fear may not be visible, but it can deeply impact everyday life.
Diagnosis may help some people understand what they’re facing. But we know that symptoms often overlap and that what matters most is how it feels to you.
Eating disorders often offer a sense of control when life feels chaotic. They may protect you from emotions, from closeness, from change. They may feel like a coping strategy and also like a cage.
In therapy, we don’t try to take that away.
We try to understand what it’s doing for you and what you might need instead.
For many people, body image is tightly woven into their relationship with food, whether or not they have a diagnosed eating disorder. You may feel disconnected from your body, hyper-aware of it, or caught in cycles of checking, hiding, criticising, or trying to disappear. You might not feel safe being seen or you might feel numb to your physical presence altogether. This relationship is rarely just about appearance. It is often shaped by shame, trauma, culture, family, and silence.
We hold space to gently explore:
- The beliefs you’ve absorbed about bodies (your own, and others’)
- Where those beliefs came from
- How they may be protecting you, punishing you, or trying to keep you safe
- The moments or messages that made your body feel like a problem
- How your relationship with your body can slowly shift (not through force, but through care)
We won’t ask you to “love your body”, we’ll simply start by understanding what that might feel so hard.
You may not know if what you’re experiencing “counts.”
You may move between patterns. You may feel fine one week and stuck the next.
You may worry it’s not serious enough to name, or too overwhelming to begin.
If something about food, eating, or your body feels painful that’s reason enough. And we’re here to walk with you from there.