Eating disorder therapy can give you a space to slow things down, feel understood and begin making sense of what is happening.
At The Balanced Practice, we offer eating disorder therapy in Ottawa and online across Ontario for children, teens and adults navigating anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID, OSFED, disordered eating and body image concerns.
Our Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Social Workers provide compassionate, weight-inclusive and trauma-informed care. Together, you can explore how the eating disorder is showing up, what may be maintaining it, and what support you need to move towards recovery.
You do not need to have everything figured out before starting therapy. Your therapist will meet you where you are and work alongside you at a pace that feels supportive and manageable.
If you are looking for a broader recovery pathway that may include therapy, nutrition counselling, meal support, or family support, you can also explore our eating disorder treatment in Ottawa page.
Eating disorder therapy can help you better understand what is happening beneath the surface and build new ways of responding to difficult thoughts, emotions and patterns.
Eating disorder therapy may explore eating disorder thoughts, body image, food anxiety, shame, perfectionism, relationships, trauma, emotional regulation, anxiety, depression and relapse prevention.
Therapy may be helpful if you are experiencing:
You do not need to relate to everything on this list to benefit from eating disorder therapy. If food, movement or body image is taking up more space in your life than you would like, that is enough reason to reach out.
No two people experience an eating disorder in exactly the same way, so therapy should never feel one-size-fits-all. These are some of the areas treatment may focus on, but your care will always be shaped around you.
Therapy for anorexia may focus on understanding the fears and beliefs connected to food, weight and body change, building flexibility, strengthening recovery motivation and exploring how the eating disorder has become tied to coping and/or identity.
Therapy for bulimia may focus on understanding the cycle of restriction, bingeing and purging, identifying emotional and situational triggers, reducing shame and building new ways to cope with distress.
Therapy for ARFID may include building coping skills for anxiety, gradually increasing comfort and confidence around food, and working with sensory sensitivities, low interest in eating or fears about choking, vomiting or other negative consequences.
Therapy for binge eating disorder may focus on understanding what is driving the binge eating cycle, strengthening emotional regulation and distress tolerance, and developing greater self-compassion and trust in yourself. For more specific information, visit our binge eating disorder support page.
Therapy for OSFED and disordered eating may focus on understanding food rules, body image distress and eating disorder patterns, even when they do not fit neatly into one diagnosis. Together, you and your therapist can identify what is keeping those patterns going and build a more flexible and compassionate way forward.
The first step is a therapy assessment. In this 75-minute session, your therapist will get to know you and understand your personal recovery goals. Together, you will begin making sense of how the eating disorder is showing up in your life and what support may feel most helpful.
If the client is a child or younger teen, parents or caregivers are often invited to be part of the first session so we can better understand the full picture and begin thinking together about how to best support recovery.
From there, you will meet with your therapist for regular follow-up sessions. What you work on will depend on your needs and goals, and may include recovery skills, emotional regulation, body image, relationships, self-compassion, trauma, anxiety, depression, neurodivergence or relapse prevention.
Therapy is a collaborative process, so your care can shift and grow alongside you throughout recovery.
There is no single type of therapy that works for everyone. Your therapist will draw from different evidence-informed approaches based on your needs, goals and where you are in recovery.
The Balanced Practice therapy team may use a range of evidence-informed approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, EMDR, Interpersonal Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Internal Family Systems and Solution Focused Therapy.
Not every approach is used with every client. Your therapist will explain what they recommend and why, so you can be an active part of your care.
For some people, therapy may be the main support they need. For others, recovery may also involve nutrition counselling, meal support, family support or medical monitoring.
If you need a more coordinated pathway, The Balanced Practice also offers eating disorder treatment in Ottawa and virtually across Ontario through a broader care model that can include therapy, nutrition counselling, meal support and family support integrated with care coordination.
For many people, recovery also involves rebuilding trust with food, improving meal structure, reducing food fears and supporting nutrition rehabilitation. In these cases, nutrition counselling for eating disorders may be recommended alongside therapy.
If your concerns do not fit neatly into a formal eating disorder diagnosis, you may still benefit from support. Our team also provides disordered eating therapy for people experiencing food anxiety, chronic dieting, body image distress, bingeing, restriction, shame around eating or other difficult food and body patterns.
If you are experiencing fainting, chest pain, dehydration, severe restriction, rapid physical decline or another urgent health concern, please seek medical care as soon as possible.
Eating disorder therapy and nutrition counselling can be important parts of recovery, but they do not replace medical assessment or monitoring when it is needed.
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to reach out for support. If your relationship with food, movement or your body is affecting your quality of life, therapy may be a helpful place to start.
Yes. The Balanced Practice offers in-person eating disorder therapy in Ottawa and virtual therapy across Ontario.
Eating disorder therapy focuses on the emotional, psychological and behavioural parts of recovery. Eating disorder treatment may include therapy along with nutrition counselling, meal support or family support integrated with care coordination.
Yes. Therapy can support food rules, food anxiety, body image distress, chronic dieting, bingeing, restriction, shame around eating and other disordered eating patterns.
Yes. Many clients benefit from both therapy and nutrition counselling, especially when recovery involves both emotional support and practical food-related support.
We offer different services in order to meet you exactly where you are at and provide you with the most appropriate level of support to reach your goals (no one-size-fits-all here). Our team works closely together and with other healthcare professionals to make sure we can provide you with the very best care.
Here at The Balanced Practice, we get it. We believe that you deserve more joy, more connection, and more fulfillment. After all, life is meant to be experienced fully (and not spent feeling stuck in our own heads). And we want to help, our team is available during the day and into the evening!
Low Cost Therapy Spaces Available with TBP's Student Therapists
