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Eating Disorder Counselling in Sydney and the Sutherland Shire

When food and eating start to take up more of your thoughts, it can be difficult to know what is happening. You might find yourself restricting what you eat, binge eating, avoiding certain foods, following increasingly rigid food rules or feeling anxious or out of control around eating.

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For parents, you may notice changes in how your child eats, increasing anxiety around meals, avoiding foods they previously ate or becoming more focused on weight, shape or exercise. It can be difficult to know what is part of growing up and when something more serious may be developing.

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At Evolving Minds Counselling and Psychology, our psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide eating disorder counselling and therapy for children, 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.

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What is an eating disorder?

 

An eating disorder can change the way you think and feel about food, eating and your body. What begins as restricting certain foods, trying to eat differently or using food to cope with difficult emotions can gradually become harder to control or change.

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Eating disorders look very different from one person to another. For some, this means restriction or an intense fear of gaining weight. For others, it may involve binge eating, purging, avoiding foods because of sensory sensitivities or fear, or becoming caught in rigid rules around food and exercise.

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Over time, an eating disorder can begin to affect much more than eating. It can influence your physical health, emotions, relationships, school, work and the things you feel able to do.

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What causes an eating disorder?

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There is no single reason why someone develops an eating disorder. Biological and genetic factors can play an important role, alongside psychological, social and environmental influences.

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For some people, dieting or restricting food may be part of how an eating disorder begins. Perfectionism, high self-criticism, anxiety, difficulties managing emotions or dissatisfaction with body image may also increase vulnerability.

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Neurodivergence can also shape a person's experience with food and eating. Autism and ADHD may involve sensory sensitivities, differences in recognising hunger and fullness, rigidity around food, impulsivity or difficulties with emotional regulation that can interact with eating difficulties.

 

Trauma can also be part of the picture, while social and cultural messages about weight, shape and appearance can influence how someone feels about their body and eating.

 

The combination is different for each person. Understanding what may have contributed to the eating disorder, and what is keeping it going now, can help guide therapy.

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What are the signs of an eating disorder?

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The signs of an eating disorder are not always easy to recognise. You may notice that you are thinking about food, weight or your body more often, becoming increasingly anxious around meals, restricting what you eat, binge eating or feeling as though food is becoming harder to manage.

 

You might also find yourself avoiding eating with other people, following increasingly rigid rules around food or exercise, feeling guilty after eating, or changing what you eat because of fears about weight, certain foods or sensory experiences.

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For parents, the changes may be gradual. Your child may begin avoiding foods they previously ate, become distressed around meals, exercise more, withdraw from family meals or become increasingly focused on food, weight or their appearance.​​

 

Not everyone with an eating disorder will have the same signs, and difficulties with eating are not always visible to other people.

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Eating disorders we work with

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Eating disorders can affect people in very different ways. Our clinicians work with a range of eating disorders and difficulties with food, eating and body image, including:

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When to reach out

 

You may know that something around food or eating does not feel right while still wondering whether it is serious enough to ask for help. You might be managing work, school or other parts of your life while privately finding that thoughts about food, weight or your body are becoming harder to manage.

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For parents, it can be difficult to know when to step in. You may notice changes in your child’s eating or behaviour around food and wonder whether it is a phase, whether you are worrying too much or whether you should be doing something differently.

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If food, eating or body image is causing distress or beginning to affect you or your child, it may be time to reach out.

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Eating disorder counselling and therapy in Sydney and the Sutherland Shire

 

If you are worried about your relationship with food, eating or your body, or you are concerned about changes you are seeing in your child, knowing where to start can be difficult.

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If you have been searching for eating disorder treatment or an eating disorder clinic near you, our psychologists, counsellors and therapists provide evidence-based eating disorder counselling and therapy for children, adolescents and adults across Sydney and the Sutherland Shire.

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We see clients from Menai, Sutherland, Miranda, Caringbah, Gymea, Kirrawee, Engadine, Bangor and Illawong, as well as the St George area, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs and other areas of Sydney.

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Appointments are available in person at our Menai clinic and via secure telehealth across Australia.

 

​If you’re unsure where to begin, our Client Care Team can help. Call 02 8519 4197 or use the button below to request an appointment.

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