How?

Beginnings:

How do we get started? Following an initial Zoom conversation, we can arrange a first meeting together (either remotely or in-person) if you are aged 14 years or over, and we will then be able to talk about why you have decided to come for help now.  This is your time and you will be able to say as much or as little as you choose, and to go away to make a decision as to whether you feel you want to start to work with me.  The relationship you are able to build with your therapist is vital in helping you to make sense of your situation and to find your own answers, and I would therefore always suggest that you start by meeting with a few therapists in order to find someone you feel you can trust and work with.  Our initial session together will also enable me to ascertain whether I feel I can provide you with the confidential Eating Disorders therapy that you need at this time, or whether it would be better for me to refer you to another professional.

The main work:

All of the therapy work we undertake together is confidential.  You will be able to talk privately with a professional and fully trained eating disorder therapist, who practices within the Ethical Framework for Good Practice, as set out by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).  I will hold whatever you tell me in the strictest of confidence, except in circumstances where I understand from what you say that you or someone else may be at risk of serious harm, in which case I will discuss with you the necessity to share information with any other appropriate professionals.  You may decide that you would prefer just a few sessions, or that you would like to do long-term work so that you can look at issues in greater depth.  You may like to have a fixed number of sessions or you may prefer our meetings to remain open-ended.  We can talk about these things when we initially meet, but we can also have regular reviews in order to adapt our work to suit your own developing awareness and needs.

Endings:

Meaningful goodbyes can be difficult and frightening at times.  The end of therapy, in a similar way to the ending of any close relationship in your life, is an important moment in your on-going self-development.  Consequently, we will discuss and prepare for this eventuality in advance, according to your specific circumstances, and in order to learn from its’ meaning and its’ consequences for you.  The purpose of confidential Eating Disorders therapy is to adequately enable you to continue your own therapeutic journey outside of our previously shared space, and through other ways that you are ready to choose.