Eating Disorders

At The Balanced Practice, we are committed to eradicating eating disorders and proving the power of healing. We support folks of all genders and ages who are ready to recover from their eating disorder. Recovery is not easy; however, it is possible, and you deserve to live a full life without ED.

Eating disorders are chronic mental health illnesses that impact over 1 million Canadians every year as per a 2018 study (though we would argue the numbers are much higher now).

Eating disorders are the result of various factors that include biological, psychological, and social components. The one thing we know for absolute certainty is that your eating disorder is not your fault.

Eating disorder recovery looks different for everyone. Here at The Balanced Practice, we specialize in the treatment of eating disorders and offer outpatient programs and services to help you recover.

Therapy is a significant part of recovery. After all, eating disorders are mental health illnesses and therefore getting mental health support is absolutely required to fully recover. We believe in a collaborative, person-centred and anti-oppressive approach to therapy. Our goal is to help you understand the role of your eating disorder, and why it’s being maintained and support you in letting it go.

Therapy at The Balanced Practice is offered by Registered Psychotherapists (RP) and Registered Social Workers (RSW) and follows the Food, Body Mind approach. The first step is to have therapy assessment. In this 75-minute session, your therapist will get to know you, understand your personal recovery goals, discover how your eating disorder is currently showing up and start building a roadmap to recovery with you. After this session, you will connect with your therapist regularly for follow-up sessions where you will continue to work towards your treatment goals.

Your therapist will combine various treatment modalities to meet your personal needs and support your progress towards recovery.

When working with your therapist at The Balanced Practice, you can expect to feel seen, heard, and valued. We are here to support you through whatever struggles you are facing and help you reach your goals. Our therapy team works from a weight inclusive, trauma informed, anti-oppressive and client-centered lens.

At The Balanced Practice, we offer various type of therapy for eating disorders:

• Individual therapy
• Group therapy
• Family therapy
• Couples therapy

At The Balanced Practice, our therapy team uses a client-centred and evidence-based approach, incorporating several different modalities including:

• Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioral therapy (DBT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy (CT)
• Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
• EMDR
• Interpersonal Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• Solution Focused Therapy

Our Eating Disorder Recovery Program™ is our outpatient program that is designed to offer a comprehensive approach to treatment from the comfort of your home. It combines nutrition counselling, psychotherapy, meal exposures and support, family support, group therapy and care coordination.

This program is recommended for folks who are ready to engage in their recovery from the comfort of their home. It’s ideal as a step up from one-to-one care or as a step-down from hospital programs.

This impactful recovery treatment was designed to support folks in achieving sustainable recovery. We use a food-body-mind framework to address all aspects of the eating disorder.