CENTRE FOR EATING, WEIGHT & BODY IMAGE
Our Services
We offer collaborative, client-centred, evidence-based psychological assessment and treatment of eating, weight, and body image concerns in adults, adolescents, children and families.
We work closely with other medical and health professionals to provide the effective possible interdisciplinary treatment and support.
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Eating concerns (disordered eating) including:
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Binge eating​
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Loss of control of eating
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Emotional eating
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Night eating
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Grazing
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Chewing and spitting
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Yo-yo dieting
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Eating Disorders including:
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Bulimia Nervosa
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Binge Eating Disorder
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Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
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Anorexia Nervosa​
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Purging Disorder
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Night Eating Syndrome
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Orthorexia
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Compulsive Exercise
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Other Feeding and Eating Disorders
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Body image concerns including:
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​Body dysmorphic disorder
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Muscle dysmorphic disorder
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Related medical conditions including
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Type 2 diabetes
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Polycystic ovary syndrome
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Related psychological conditions including
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Depression
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Anxiety
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Adjustment disorders
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Stress
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Child feeding and eating problems including
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Picky eating
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Food neophobia
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Medicare and private health insurance rebates are available for eligible clients.
Eating Concerns
Many individuals experience difficulties with thoughts and/or behaviours relating to food, eating, weight and/or shape. This is known as disordered eating or, when symptoms are more severe and/or distressing, an eating disorder.
Approximately 1 in 10 Australians are affected by an eating disorder, and many more are affected by disordered eating (symptoms consistent with an eating disorder that are not as severe). Eating disorders and disordered eating occur in people of all genders, ages, shapes and sizes, and cultural backgrounds. Eating disorders and disordered eating impact on physical and mental health and overall quality of life.
Many who experience an eating disorder/disordered eating suffer for many years before seeking treatment, and even when they do seek treatment, many do not access effective, evidence-based treatment. The good news is that effective treatments are available. Accessing evidence-based treatment for eating disorders/disordered eating as early as possible provides the best opportunity for a full recovery.
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Our psychologists use a range of best-practice evidence-based approaches to help you overcome an eating disorder/disordered eating and to improve your health, wellbeing and happiness. As we are client-centred we work collaboratively with you to plan and implement these treatments to best meet your needs.
Weight Concerns
Many individuals are concerned about their weight, have have tried many things to try to lose weight, and have not achieved the results they were promised. Research consistently shows that while some people may lose some weight in the short term as a result of dieting (i.e., weight loss programs), few lose as much as they were hoping to lose, and even fewer keep the weight off. Not only do diets not result in long-term weight loss, dieting may actually result in weight gain over time.
Despite these findings, that dieting is not effective and may actually be harmful, many are still encouraged to diet, they continue to try different things, continue to lose and regain weight, and usually blame themselves for not succeeding. As a result they end up with disordered eating/eating disorders, body image distress, negative self-esteem, and lower quality of life.
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We take a different approach when helping those who are concerned about their weight. We take a weight inclusive, non-dieting approach to our work. This includes accepting and respecting the diversity of body shapes and sizes and promoting all aspects, physical, psychological and social, of health and wellbeing for people of all sizes.
We promote healthy eating that considers nutritional needs, hunger, satiety, appetite, and pleasure, as well as appropriate, enjoyable, life-enhancing physical activity. We also work with individuals to help them to accept and appreciate their body and use their bodies to engage with life (rather than focusing on what it looks like). Research shows that this approach results in larger and/or more sustained improvements in physical and psychological health than traditional weight loss programs.
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We are also aware that some people who are carrying a lot of body fat experience significant medical consequences and/or impacts on quality of life are considering bariatric surgery (e.g., LapBand, Gastric Sleeve). We believe that people considering bariatric surgery also deserve access to weight inclusive, non-dieting support to develop a healthy, self-caring approach to eating, exercise, body image and self-care.
Therefore, we also work with individuals considering bariatric surgery to help them make an informed and considered decision about whether to have surgery. For those who do decide to proceed with surgery, we help them to prepare themselves for surgery and to adjust to the changes that occur following bariatric surgery, to support them to develop a positive relationship with food, exercise and their body.
Body Image Concerns
Many individuals are distressed by the way their body looks, and this then gets in the way of them doing and/or enjoying all the things they would like to do in their life. Sadly, body image distress is so common that it is considered "normal" and sometimes called "normative body discontent", but it doesn't have to be that way.
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Some people mistakenly believe that being dissatisfied with their body will motivate them to change it, that is, it will motivate them to diet and exercise more. However, research shows that body dissatisfaction actually has the opposite effect. People who are dissatisfied with their body are less likely to take care of it by eating well and moving in a healthy way. They are also more likely to have eating disorders/disordered eating.
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Fortunately there are effective evidence-based ways to improve body image. This isn't just about thinking your body looks good. It involves learning to accept, appreciate and respect their body. In addition to improving body image, effective treatment results in improvements in health behaviours (e.g., eating, exercise), mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety), self-esteem and quality of life.
Our team uses best-practice evidence-based body image interventions to help you overcome body image distress and improve your health, wellbeing and happiness. Treatment involves identifying the reason you feel the way you do about your body, being more in-control of your feelings about your body, changing the way your think about and behave towards your body, and developing a more positive relationship with your body.
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Some individuals with extreme and/or constant concerns about the way they look may have Body Dysmorphic Disorder. This involves constant concerns about appearance (or an aspect of appearance), checking or comparing their appearance, and severe distress. It can be so severe that it can impact on work, school, relationships and social situations. Body Dysmorphic Disorder can be effectively treated with cognitive behaviour therapy.
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Child Feeding & Eating Concerns
Many parents have concerns about what their children eat and find mealtimes stressful and not at all enjoyable. While its normal for children to go through periods of fussy eating, some don't seem to grow out of it. Often parents are not sure what to do, and worried that they might be making the problem worse. All the different, and often contradictory, messages about healthy eating can also make it hard for parents to know how to help their kids enjoy food and be healthy eaters.
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Our team uses the "parent provide child decide" approach to child feeding. This involves helping parents to decide the what, when and where of feeding, and to let their child decide how much, and whether to eat from what is provided. This approach to child feeding allows children to develop into competent eaters, makes mealtimes more enjoyable, and can improve parent-child relationships more generally.
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Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorders (ARFID) occurs when limitations in the amount and/or types of food consumed results in restricted growth and development, and/or weight loss and an inability to maintain body functions. Unlike Anorexia Nervosa, ARFID does not involve distress about fatness or body weight/shape. ARFID has only recently been recognised as an eating disorder. The limited available research suggests that treatments designed for other eating disorders, Family Based Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, may be effective in the treatment of ARFID.
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