Body Image & Your Relationship with Food

When food and body image take up too much mental space

Your relationship with food can become complicated and exhausting.

You may spend a lot of time thinking about what you've eaten, what you're going to eat, or what you should be eating. You might judge yourself after eating, feel out of control around certain foods, move between restricting and overeating, or find yourself eating in response to stress, boredom, loneliness, or difficult emotions. There may be secrecy, guilt, or promises to “do better tomorrow.”

Body image can become consuming too. You may compare your appearance with other people, avoid photographs or social situations, repeatedly check or criticize your body, or feel as though your appearance—or what you eat—says something about your worth.

Therapy offers a place to understand these patterns with curiosity rather than shame.

How Therapy Can Help

Therapy may involve increasing emotional awareness, understanding triggers, developing alternative ways of coping with distress, challenging rigid or all-or-nothing thinking, addressing perfectionism and self-esteem, and becoming more aware of the thoughts and emotions that influence eating.

The goal isn't to create another set of rules to follow perfectly.

It's to help you develop greater flexibility, understanding, and choice in your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.

When specialized eating-disorder treatment is needed

Eating disorders can involve significant medical and psychological risks and may require specialized, multidisciplinary care.

Our intake process helps us determine whether Inner Garden is an appropriate level of support. When someone's needs fall outside the scope of our training-clinic services, we will recommend seeking appropriate specialized care rather than attempting to provide treatment beyond our scope.