Evolving Minds Counselling
and Psychology
Bulimia Nervosa Therapy in Sydney and the Sutherland Shire
Living with bulimia nervosa can feel exhausting. You may find yourself caught in a cycle of binge eating and trying to compensate afterwards, feeling overwhelmed by guilt, shame or the need to regain control.
You might promise yourself it will not happen again, restrict what you eat to make up for it, and then find yourself back in the same cycle. It can take up an enormous amount of energy while being something you work hard to keep hidden from the people around you.
At Evolving Minds Counselling and Psychology, our psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide evidence-based bulimia nervosa therapy for adolescents and adults across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire. Appointments are available in person at our Menai practice in Sydney’s south and via secure telehealth across Australia.
Understanding bulimia nervosa?
Bulimia nervosa can leave you feeling caught between trying to control what you eat and feeling completely out of control around food. A binge may be followed by vomiting, fasting, over-exercising or other attempts to compensate for what you have eaten.
Afterwards, guilt or shame can make you want to regain control, often by restricting food or setting stricter rules for yourself. This can leave you vulnerable to another binge and the cycle begins again.
For some people, the cycle becomes a way of managing difficult emotions, stress or self-criticism. Over time, it can become increasingly difficult to interrupt without support.
Signs of bulimia nervosa
Bulimia is not always easy for other people to see. You may appear to be managing well while privately struggling with binge eating, vomiting, fasting, over-exercising or other ways of trying to compensate for what you have eaten.
You might find yourself planning when you can eat alone, going to the bathroom after meals, avoiding eating with other people or becoming increasingly focused on food, weight and body shape. The secrecy around these behaviours can make it even harder to tell someone what is happening.
For parents or partners, the signs may be difficult to make sense of. You might notice changes around meals, increasing secrecy, rigid food or exercise rules, or distress after eating.
What Causes Bulimia Nervosa?
There is no single reason why someone develops bulimia. For some people, the cycle begins after dieting or restricting food. For others, binge eating and compensating may become a way of managing difficult emotions, stress or feeling out of control.
Anxiety, perfectionism, low self-worth, body image difficulties or trauma may also be part of the picture. Over time, the cycle can take on a life of its own, even when you desperately want it to stop.
Understanding what is maintaining the cycle is an important part of recovery and helps guide effective therapy.
When to reach out
You may know that your eating has become difficult to control while still wondering whether it is serious enough to ask for help. You might tell yourself you can stop, that it does not happen often enough, or that you should be able to manage it on your own.
For parents or partners, it can be difficult to know when to step in, particularly when much of what is happening around food may be hidden.
If the cycle of bingeing, compensating and trying to regain control is becoming harder to break, it may be time to reach out.
How can bulimia nervosa therapy help?
Therapy can help you understand what is keeping the binge-purge cycle going and begin to interrupt the patterns around food, emotions and compensating. This may include working with restriction, rigid food rules, difficult emotions and the urge to regain control after eating.
Our clinicians draw on evidence-based eating disorder therapies, including CBT-E, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and interpersonal therapy where appropriate.
Where needed, we work alongside your GP, dietitian or psychiatrist. Our team works regularly with eating disorders and includes an ANZAED Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician.
Learn more about our approach to eating disorder therapy at Evolving Minds.
Bulimia nervosa therapy in the Sutherland Shire
If bulimia is taking up more of your life, or the cycle of bingeing and compensating is becoming harder to break, you do not have to keep trying to manage it on your own.
If you have been searching for bulimia treatment, bulimia therapy or a bulimia psychologist near you, our psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide evidence-based bulimia nervosa therapy for adolescents and adults across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire.
We see clients from Menai, Sutherland, Miranda, Caringbah, Gymea, Kirrawee and Engadine, as well as the St George area, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and other areas of Sydney.
Appointments are available in person at our Menai practice and via secure online therapy across Australia.
Our Client Care Team can answer your questions and help match you with the clinician best suited to your needs. Call 02 8519 4197 or use the button below to request an appointment.