Food phobia and food aversion therapy
Food phobia & food aversion therapy. We take all eating disorders seriously, your highly trained food phobia therapist 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.
Eating disorders can take the form of food aversion, emotional eating, binge eating, food addiction, and overeating.
The most common eating disorders are bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia is diagnosed when a person attempts to control their weight by inducing vomiting after binge eating. Anorexia is when a person attempts to maintain a very low weight. This is achieved through lack of eating or over-exercising.
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.
Jump to section
Food aversion disorder in more detail
Many of us may have experienced an aversion to certain foods at times in our life, for example many children have a fear of trying new foods. This aversion or fear may never disappear and may continue into adulthood, others may develop a food phobia later on.
Food aversion, also referred to as food phobia, is when a person fears food due to the fear of food itself, or because it has been associated with a stressful or traumatic situation, rather than a concern with weight or appearance.
A food phobia is usually anxiety based and focuses on having to eat, cook or be close to certain foods. The phobia will be unique to each person suffering from it, for some it might be one particular food, or the texture or smell which causes the aversion, for others it could be the fear of a food being undercooked or anxiety around choking. It also follows that one person may experience a range of different reactions to different foods.
What are the most common signs of someone suffering from food phobia disorder?
Symptoms tend to be physical and include dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, feeling as if they cannot breathe, heart rate increase and shaking. The symptoms can often appear as if the person is suffering from a panic disorder.
If you recognise any of these symptoms or behaviours in yourself or someone you know, you should consider food aversion therapy.
What’s the difference between a food phobia and an eating disorder?
The main difference is how the individual views themselves and their relationship with food. Those with a food phobia are not concerned with weight or body shape, it is the fear of food itself.
Client success stories
Case Studies, Therapy, Trauma
Anger, Anxiety, Case Studies, Children
Case Studies, Communication, Counselling
Case Studies, Workplace Wellbeing
Our approach to food phobia therapy
An eating disorder is a sensitive subject and we take the utmost care with our clients. Your food phobia therapists will work with you to create a safe environment where you can be yourself. We mostly use talking therapies when treating food phobias, these include Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and hypnotherapy.
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 therapies such as EMDR, CBT and hypnotherapy we can help you come to terms with your situation and set goals and positive outcomes.
What is hypnotherapy?
We actually experience hypnosis all the time naturally. Daydreaming is a form of hypnosis, for example. Similarly, when we arrive at a destination in our car without being aware of how we got there. That’s a form of hypnosis too. We drift in and out of the state all the time.
All we really do with this form of treatment is harness that state to create a form of deep relaxation that enables us to access parts of the brain that are blocked by conscious thought.
By altering your state of consciousness, through the use of hypnosis and positive suggestion, we can help you to change aspects of yourself – for example your behaviour or your feelings.
Hypnotherapy as a food aversion disorder treatment - how it works
Food phobia hypnotherapy can have a positive effect on those affected by a food aversion disorder. Through hypnosis we can teach you simple alternatives of how to express yourself so that you can strengthen relationships rather than damage them.
Changing your behaviour will change how you feel about yourself and how you interact with those closest to you, and the world in general. You’ll learn to express your feelings and needs positively, regain your life and start to transform the most important relationships in your life.
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) therapy was originally developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorders, including experiences of war. It is highly effective for trauma but has since been found to have far reaching applications for many different types of disorders.
How does EMDR help with food aversion disorders?
Some people don’t want to talk about what is troubling them, particularly those suffering from a food aversion disorder; it can be difficult to ’open up’ and explore why they are feeling this way. Some people don’t fully know. That’s not a problem with EMDR because it enables us to work blind to the actual issue: sometimes we work with people and treat them without needing to discuss any of the specifics.
EMDR in more detail
What actually happens in an EMDR therapy session?
Imagine watching a film back in your mind of an incident or trigger which made you anxious, and then pausing it at the worst moment: the part that really encapsulates the trauma or upset you felt. That’s what we get our patients to do, replaying it in their mind. We ask them to notice something in the past, and then notice something in the present. We call it bilateral stimulation.
We do this because the part of our brain that processes that event, the reptilian part of our brain, doesn’t know how to handle the incident or trigger and can’t store it as a memory. EMDR helps to change that.
What is CBT?
CBT is a particularly effective food aversion disorder treatment. 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, your food phobia therapist 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.
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 a food phobia disorder session?
Our sessions are tailored to suit you, we can offer individual or group therapy. We offer food aversion therapy for adults and children. Whatever your circumstances, your food phobia therapist will take your needs seriously and offer the utmost confidentiality at all times. The sessions last from 30 minutes to an hour; we usually recommend a course of around 6 to 12 sessions.
Our insurance partners
A charisma boost for confident communicators
Read Richard Reid’s book: Charisma Unlocked
Are you looking to make a lasting impression in social situations? Do you struggle to connect with others or feel your presence is often overlooked? Unlock your true potential with Charisma Unlocked.
If you feel your ability to communicate or influence is holding you back, this book provides the tools to transform your social skills. With Richard’s expert guidance and proven strategies, you’ll discover how to harness the power of charisma in everyday interactions.
By mastering techniques such as active listening, body language control, and authentic self-expression, you’ll gain the confidence to connect with others and make a powerful impact in both your personal and professional life. Take the first step toward unlocking the magnetic presence within you.
Take the first step toward a better you!
If you’re still unsure whether you need us or not then simply send us any questions you may have via the enquiry form on the right.
