Eating disorder therapy
Eating disorder clinic & therapy sessions - our private eating disorder therapists are based in London. We take each disorder seriously & will work with you to help you understand & overcome your disorder
Eating disorders explained
Eating disorders can be explained as a negative attitude towards food, severe enough to change the person’s eating habits. Someone suffering from an eating disorder may develop an obsessive habit to monitor their weight and body shape, gaining an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise which may cause damage to their health.
The most common eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is when a person attempts to maintain a very low weight. This is achieved through lack of eating or over-exercising. Bulimia is diagnosed when a person attempts to control their weight by inducing vomiting after binge eating.
Other eating disorders can take the form of binge eating, emotional eating, food addiction, food aversion, and overeating. At Pinnacle we take each disorder seriously and our specialist eating disorder therapists will work with you to help you understand and overcome your disorder.
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Our approach to treating eating disorders
We offer help for people with different eating disorders. An eating disorder is a sensitive subject and we take the utmost care with our clients. Mostly we will use talking therapies with you, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).[LINK]
We understand that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ and that each of our clients is different and has their own set of unique needs and circumstances.
Recovery from eating disorders is a slow process, by using CBT we can help you come to terms with your situation and set goals and positive outcomes.
An eating disorder therapy case study
Rachel, aged 33, was concerned about her loss of appetite. Frequently, she would feel nauseous and she was also becoming increasingly anxious about the types of food that she would eat. This had led to a significant weight loss and loss of confidence.
She described the situation as being “like a vicious circle” whereby the less that she ate, the more weight that she lost and the more that she felt self-conscious about her eating habits with family and friends. The resulting anxiety prompted her to feel even more nauseous and less inclined to eat.
After an initial consultation session, we were able to identify that the symptoms had first emerged towards the end of a very difficult relationship with a former boyfriend. She described how he had often commented about her weight and been controlling of her eating. By processing this period in her life via counselling, Rachel was able to make greater sense of what had been happening to her over the course of the last two years. This understanding, coupled with the practical techniques which she learnt via the counselling, helped her to gradually regain control of her anxiety and to begin to experiment with food again.
Using CBT to treat eating disorders?
CBT is particularly effective in treating eating disorders. CBT is about looking at the relationship between your thoughts and feelings, and how they make you ‘default’ to certain behaviours. It’s seen as a different kind of ‘talking therapy’ that aims to solve a person’s current problems. In effect it helps you become your own therapist, where you use the skills you have learned.
By using CBT, we can help make you aware of what your own defaults are: sometimes they help us, sometimes they don’t – CBT helps you recognise those different responses for what they are.
Client success stories
How does CBT help?
CBT teaches you how to break out of those default patterns to become more resilient in situations you may find uncomfortable or stressful by identifying where you respond negatively and then challenging those negative thoughts with alternative, positive ones.
CBT is a way to rewire the software of your brain, rehearsing troubling situations in your mind in order to create alternative ways of thinking when that situation arises again. In effect, you’re creating new mental circuitry by challenging and changing old responses that feel hardwired in, but aren’t.
With CBT therapy, your therapist acknowledges that there may be behaviours that you cannot control through rational thought. Rather, these harmful coping strategies are as a result of prior conditioning from the environment and other internal or external stimuli.
By taking (what can feel like) insurmountable tasks and teaching you how to apply a pragmatic and objective viewpoint to these issues, CBT gradually changes the way you look at everyday challenges.
What can you expect from an eating disorder therapy session?
We take your needs seriously and offer the utmost confidentiality at all times. Our private eating disorder therapists are here to create a safe space where you can talk freely. The sessions are tailored to suit your needs with each session lasting from 30 minutes to an hour; we usually recommend a course of around 6 to 12 sessions.
“Everything is going very well. I’ve stopped drinking diet cola completely. I drink mainly water now, with the occasional fruit juice. My teeth feel 100% better now. I haven’t had any cravings for starchy foods, I’ve stopped eating bread and butter between meals, and I’m eating more fruit. All in all, I’d say it’s been very successful. I make a point of not weighing myself but I do feel a little thinner, and more importantly I feel a lot more positive.”
Rachel, Kingston upon Thames, London.
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