My Approach

My current specialist interest is in helping adults manage their weight and health goals. I use a mix of therapeutic approaches in my practice including a Cognitive Analytic Therapy informed approach, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and Mindfulness. Using these approaches I work with people to understand their relationship with food and its origin, their relationship with their bodies and how they feel about themselves.

Research has shown that for some people obesity/overweight can be the result of trying to cope with underlying interpersonal trauma such as neglect, sexual abuse and/or physical abuse in childhood. It can also be a way of coping with domineering/critical relationships in childhood, domestic violence including coercive control and sexual assault in adulthood.

Weight gain can also be associated with trying to cope with chronic pain and long-term physical health conditions such as fibromyalgia, type II diabetes myelitis, arthritis etc. Food can become an immensely powerful tool in numbing troubling/difficult feelings and drowning out difficult thoughts. This helps us to cope in the short-term but unfortunately weight gain becomes an unintended consequence which can have huge implications for our health, self-esteem, and our ability to engage in life. Using food to cope can also be problematic in that it prevents us from exploring new ways of coping that fit with our goals.

If the above feels familiar or you recognise any of the challenges on the list below, please feel free to contact us for a brief discussion about whether therapy might be right for you at this time.

• Binge eating
• Body image difficulties
• Historical childhood trauma related to problematic relationship with food
• Low self-esteem
• Overweight/Obesity
• Weight Cycling (yo-yo dieting)
• Weight re-gain after bariatric surgery