Emotional overeating issues often arise as a result of us using food to cope with our troubles, counselling for eating disorders can help you address the cause of your poor relationship with food.
At first, the concept of having a ‘relationship’ with your food may sound odd or slightly bizarre, but an eating disorder is really just that, having a poor relationship with how you see food, and how you use food. Counselling for emotional overeating and other eating disorders helps you develop a better relationship with food.
Some interesting facts about Eating Disorders in the UK
- Over 1 million people are affected by an eating disorder with over 5 million indirectly (friends, family, colleagues)
- Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
- Anyone can have an eating disorder, male, female, young, old, any race or background
- Emotional overeating is hard wired in our DNA, the brain sends out signals to eat during times of stress and anxiety, foods such as Carbohydrates, which set off a series of chemical reactions that ultimately lead to a boost in brain serotonin, the ‘feel good’ chemical that we naturally produce in our bodies.
What triggered this eating disorder, when did things change?
Whereas some emotional issues happen suddenly and can easily be seen as a problem caused by an event such as ‘grief’, following the death of someone or ‘anxiety’, caused by a new job, eating problems often develop slowly over many years and, due to the very gradual nature of the change, can be hard for the individual, with the eating disorder, to actually see how their relationship with food and eating patterns have altered, or why.
It’s a common thought, and incorrect, that if you have an eating problem you will be over or underweight, this is a myth. Anyone, regardless of age, gender or weight, can be affected by eating problems.
I’m not anorexic or bulimic so do I need counselling for eating disorders?
Very often your poor eating behaviour is a coping mechanism for something that isn’t right in another area of your life. We often eat, or don’t eat, to show we at least have control over one thing in our life, as a reaction to perhaps something else that we feel we have no control over.
- Loneliness or isolation
- Stress or overwhelm in work or at home
- Trauma or a response to a life event
If you are using food to help you to cope with another issue that is current or in the past, counselling can help you address the cause of your poor relationship with food and tackle the true issue that is underlying it.
What happens during a counselling session?
Counselling for emotional overeating & eating disorders is likely to include exploring the reasons for your difficult relationship with food, building self-esteem, and looking at negative thoughts and beliefs that may be triggering and sustaining your issues. This may support you in developing a healthier and more satisfying relationship with food.
Counselling for Eating Disorders: Take the first step to a happier, healthier relationship with food
Therapy offers you a confidential space to be heard, your session is a quiet, safe place to talk through your relationship with food and your feelings around your eating behaviour without fearing any judgement or criticism. In this safe place you are able to explore the root causes of your eating patterns and consider ways to break the negative cycle and discover a more positive way forward.
To find a therapist who can help you with your poor relationship with food, take a look at the counsellors who work with emotional overeating or other eating disorders working from City Therapy Rooms, in London.
The following therapists offer specific support around eating and food issues: Agata Pisula, Corinne Sweet, Laura Solomons, Lisa Wadeson, Shauna Corke
Useful links to help and information about eating disorders and your relationship with food
Beat.org
Beat is the UK’s eating disorder charity that was originally called the ‘Eating Disorders Association’. They exist to support those struggling with their relationship with food and also to support family, friends and those caring for someone with an eating disorder.
Do I have an eating disorder?
© Brian Cotsen
