West Vancouver Eating Disorder Counselling
Recovery That Addresses the Real Issues
Food controls your life but nobody sees it. Maybe you're restricting, counting every calorie, obsessing over numbers on the scale. Or binging and purging in secret, feeling disgusted with yourself afterward. Maybe you're over-exercising to compensate for eating, or the eating disorder has taken over so completely that you can't remember what normal eating even feels like. You look in the mirror and see something completely different from what everyone else sees. Your relationships are suffering, your health is declining, but you can't stop. West Vancouver eating disorder counselling helps you address what's really driving the eating disorder - not just the food and weight stuff, but the underlying trauma, perfectionism, control issues, or pain you're trying to manage through your relationship with food and your body.
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We work with people throughout West Vancouver - from Horseshoe Bay to British Properties - dealing with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, orthorexia, and other disordered eating patterns that are destroying their health and happiness. Eating disorder counselling provides specialised treatment that goes way deeper than meal plans and nutritional advice.
Benefits of Eating Disorder Counselling
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The biggest benefit? Understanding that eating disorders aren't really about food. They're about control, perfectionism, trauma, emotional regulation, self-worth, or trying to cope with unbearable feelings. Eating disorder counseling addresses these root causes instead of just focusing on eating behaviours, which is why it actually works long-term.
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Counseling for eating disorders helps you develop a healthier relationship with food, your body, and yourself. Not just following a meal plan someone gave you, but actually healing the thoughts and feelings that make you want to restrict, binge, purge, or obsess over food and weight. This internal work is what creates lasting recovery.
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We address the specific struggles that come with eating disorders. The constant mental chatter about food, calories, and weight. The shame and secrecy around eating behaviours. The anxiety around meals and social eating situations. The disconnection from your body's actual hunger and fullness signals. The depression and isolation that develop when the eating disorder takes over your life.
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Eating disorders counseling works with the perfectionism and control issues that often drive these conditions. Many people with eating disorders are high-achieving perfectionists who use food and weight as something they can control when other parts of life feel overwhelming. We help you find healthier ways to handle stress and uncertainty.
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For those dealing with trauma underneath their eating disorder - abuse, bullying, difficult family dynamics - therapy for eating disorders includes trauma processing. Often eating disorders develop as a way to cope with traumatic experiences or to create a sense of control after trauma took that away. Healing the trauma helps heal the eating disorder.
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Eating disorder therapy addresses the distorted body image that keeps you trapped. When you look in the mirror and genuinely see something that doesn't match reality, that's not vanity or stubbornness - it's a symptom. We work on helping you see yourself more accurately and develop self-compassion regardless of your size or shape.
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We help you rebuild relationships damaged by the eating disorder. The lying and secrecy. The social withdrawal. The irritability from malnutrition or from people "interfering" with eating disorder behaviours. Snapping at loved ones who are worried. Recovery includes repairing these connections and learning to accept support.
Creekside Counselling's Approach to Eating Disorders Counselling
First we assess where you're at comprehensively. What eating disorder behaviours are you engaging in? How long has this been going on? What's your physical health status - do you need medical monitoring? What's driving the eating disorder underneath? Have you had treatment before? What worked or didn't work? Understanding the full picture helps us create a recovery plan.
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Eating disorder counselling coordinates with other providers for full treatment. We work alongside your doctor monitoring physical health, dietitians helping with meal plans and nutritional rehabilitation, and psychiatrists if medication would help with co-occurring anxiety or depression. Eating disorders affect your whole body and mind, so treatment needs to be multidisciplinary.
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We use cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders which addresses the thoughts and behaviours maintaining the eating disorder. Challenging "all or nothing" thinking about food. Reframing beliefs about weight and worth. Gradually facing feared foods. Building normal eating patterns. CBT for eating disorders has strong research support and helps you rewire the thinking that keeps you stuck.
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Eating disorder recovery counseling includes processing any trauma, abuse, or difficult experiences that contributed to developing the eating disorder. For many people, the eating disorder started as a coping mechanism for something unbearable. EMDR and trauma-focused approaches help you process what you were trying to escape from so you don't need the eating disorder as protection anymore.
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We work on emotional regulation skills so you have healthier ways to manage difficult feelings instead of using food restriction, bingeing, or purging. Learning to identify emotions, tolerate distress, self-soothe without food behaviours - these skills are what sustain recovery long-term.
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Eating disorders therapy addresses perfectionism, people-pleasing, and control issues that often fuel disordered eating. If you're trying to be perfect in every area including weight and eating, we help you develop self-acceptance and flexibility. If you're using the eating disorder to feel in control, we work on tolerating uncertainty in healthier ways.
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We include body image work throughout treatment. Challenging the distorted perceptions and beliefs about your body. Building body neutrality or acceptance rather than demanding you love your body when that feels impossible. Learning to treat your body respectfully regardless of how you feel about it.
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For those who can't access in-person sessions or prefer remote treatment, we offer eating disorder therapy online that provides the same evidence-based approaches through secure video sessions. Online eating disorder therapy works well for many people and allows them to receive specialised care they might not have access to locally.
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Eating disorder counselling includes relapse prevention work. Identifying your warning signs. Creating a plan for what to do if eating disorder thoughts or behaviours start creeping back. Building a support system. Learning to ask for help before you're in full relapse. Recovery isn't linear and having tools for setbacks prevents them from becoming full relapses.
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We also work with families when appropriate. Educating loved ones about eating disorders so they can support recovery effectively instead of accidentally making things worse. Addressing family dynamics that might be contributing to the eating disorder. Helping parents or partners know how to help without enabling.
Pricing Information
Eating disorder counselling sessions are $180 per 50-minute session. Early recovery often means weekly or even twice-weekly sessions for consistent support. As you stabilise, we can space out to biweekly sessions.
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Length of treatment varies significantly. Eating disorders are complex and recovery takes time - often 6-12 months minimum, sometimes 1-2 years for full recovery from severe eating disorders. We go at your pace and adjust frequency based on where you're at in recovery.
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We provide receipts for insurance. Most extended health plans in BC cover eating disorders counseling. Check your benefits - many West Vancouver employers offer good mental health coverage.
Areas We Serve
We're located in West Vancouver and work with eating disorder clients throughout the North Shore. Our clients come from all West Van neighbourhoods - Horseshoe Bay, Dundarave, Ambleside, Eagle Harbour, Caulfeild, Whitby Estates, British Properties, Cypress Village, Gleneagles, Bayridge, Chartwell.
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We also see people from North Vancouver, Lions Bay, and throughout Metro Vancouver dealing with eating disorders. Many of our clients are high-achieving teens and adults from competitive environments where appearance and perfection are heavily valued.
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Virtual eating disorder counselling works well for many people. We offer eating disorders therapy through secure video sessions, which provides flexibility and privacy. Some people prefer online sessions because they can access specialised treatment without the anxiety of going to an office.
Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Disorder Counselling
Do I have to gain weight to recover?
If you're medically underweight, yes, weight restoration is part of recovery because your body and brain can't function properly at dangerously low weights. But recovery is about way more than weight - it's about healing your relationship with food and your body, addressing what's driving the eating disorder, and building a life where you don't need eating disorder behaviours anymore.
What if I'm not "sick enough" for eating disorder treatment?
If you're struggling with disordered eating thoughts or behaviours, you deserve help. You don't have to be hospitalisation-level sick to benefit from eating disorder counselling. Early intervention prevents eating disorders from getting worse and saves you years of suffering.
Will therapy make me fat?
Recovery means reaching and maintaining a healthy weight for YOUR body, not becoming overweight. The fear of weight gain is part of the eating disorder talking. Most people stabilise at a healthy weight once their body isn't in starvation mode or binge-purge cycles anymore.
Can eating disorder counselling help with binge eating disorder?
Absolutely. Binge eating disorder is just as serious as anorexia or bulimia and responds well to treatment. We address the underlying issues driving binges and help you develop a healthier relationship with food that doesn't include restriction-binge cycles.
What if my eating disorder isn't the main problem anymore but I still struggle?
Subclinical eating disorders or disordered eating patterns that don't meet full diagnostic criteria still deserve treatment. If your relationship with food and your body is causing distress or affecting your life, eating disorder counselling can help.
Do I have to stop my eating disorder behaviours immediately?
Recovery is a process, not a light switch. We work on gradually reducing eating disorder behaviours while building healthier coping skills. Expecting yourself to stop everything immediately usually leads to failure and more shame. Progress over perfection.
Will you make me eat foods I'm terrified of?
We do exposure work with feared foods eventually, but gradually and when you're ready. Forcing you to eat scary foods before you're stable enough just retraumatises you. We build up slowly at a pace you can handle.
Can I recover if I've had an eating disorder for years or decades?
Yes. Recovery is possible at any age and after any length of illness. Long-term eating disorders take longer to treat but people who've been sick for 10, 20, even 30+ years can and do recover. It's never too late.
You don't have to stay trapped in the eating disorder. West Vancouver eating disorder counselling helps you address what's really driving your relationship with food and your body so you can actually recover, not just manage symptoms. Book your session today - full recovery is possible and you deserve a life where food doesn't control you.