Eating Disorders Counselling in Surrey BC

Early Intervention for Eating Disorders, Disordered Eating & Emotional Eating

• Is your preoccupation with your weight, your body or your eating behaviour controlling your life?
• Is this preoccupation preventing you from doing the things you want to do and being in the relationships you want to have?
• Have you tried to make change but each day the same patterns of eating, negative feelings and ways of thinking continue?
• Do you use food or eating behaviour to control or avoid your feelings?
• Is food a means to fill a void in your life?
• Are you concerned about the eating disorder behaviours of someone you love?

If you are struggling with eating disorder thoughts, feelings or behaviours, it is important to know that specialized support and therapy is available for disordered eating.

Eating disorders, like many issues, exist on a continuum. Regardless of the severity of the weight, food and body image preoccupation or the particular ways in which an individual’s relationship to food and their body manifests, eating disorders and disordered eating can have devastating emotional, physical, and psychological impacts. Regardless of the behaviour demonstrated, disordered eating, weight, food and body preoccupations take away from a person’s ability to fully experience their feelings, their relationships, and their lives. Individuals struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating have developed an elaborate coping strategy that allows them to temporarily avoid experiencing the emotional pain and discomfort that is often underlying the behaviours. In exploring, understanding and healing the issues that contribute to the eating disorder, the eating disorder behaviours often have less power. At that time it is important to increase coping strategies to manage the strong emotions, triggers and relationship and social influences that may impact the eating behaviour.

It is essential when seeking treatment and support for an eating disorder that you see someone with specialized training and experience in that area. Coordination with other health care providers and an awareness of common and serious medical and relationship factors is required. It is also important to consider personal and family support when someone you love is impacted by an eating disorder.

Eating disorders are often extremely confusing and frustrating to someone who is witnessing struggle in someone they love. The most effective and beneficial ways to support someone struggling with disorders are not often intuitive, yet family and relationship support can often increase the likelihood of movement towards recovery and of sustaining change.

Alison and her team have been working in the field of eating disorders for many years. They have extensive training and have conducted research in the area of eating disorder development and treatment. For many years Alison was employed by the Ministry of Children and Family Development as a regional specialized therapist to support individuals and families impacted by eating disorders. She has also provided training, supervision and consultation to many other therapists working with clients who experience eating disorders.

Alison conducted one of the only research studies to date that has explored the experience of an Eating Disorder amongst Gifted Adolescents.

Alison and her team possess a unique combination of skills and background working with both children and eating disorders. This provides the strong foundation for work with early intervention of eating disorders and work with children and adolescents experiencing eating and feeding-related challenges.

Contact our team to find out how you can change your relationship with food and your body.

Alison  and her team have many years of experience and specialized training in the assessment and treatment of a variety of weight, food and body image related issues including: