IFS Therapy for Body Image & Emotional Eating
Based in Virginia Beach and serving clients across VA, MD, & FL.
You're tired of overeating and feeling bad about yourself.
You may have tried a lot of different things to change your relationship with food: intuitive eating, intermittent fasting, maybe even GLP-1s. It seems like the only thing that has worked is a strict regimen, but you can’t stick to it because something inside you always rebels after a couple of weeks.
Ultimately, you just want to look better so you can feel confident, stop hiding yourself, and start living your life.
Others might say you’re too self-critical. From your perspective, every harsh thing you tell yourself is true.
Do any of these sound like you?
There are things you’d like to do, but you want to lose weight first.
You avoid the beach, pools, and hot tubs, and anywhere else where you’d have to wear a bathing suit.
When you’re in public you try to eat healthy or the “right” amount because you don’t want others to judge you.
You overeat when you’re tired, anxious, or upset- and then feel guilty about it the next day.
Issues with food or weight are leading to chronic pain or health issues.
About IFS Therapy for Emotional Eating and Body Image
I am a Certified Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist. IFS is a type of therapy that helps you better understand your emotions, connect with your body, and feel more calm and centered.
Therapy for Emotional Eating
IFS therapy can help you end the cycle of emotional or binge eating, so that you eat in a way that honors your body and health. Through IFS, we can address both emotional eating and the underlying emotions, so that you get to the root of the issue.
Therapy for Body Image
If you’re struggling with body image, IFS can help you find a more balanced perspective of your body.
The Logistics
I see clients in-person in my Virginia Beach office, and I provide online therapy for clients residing in Virginia, Maryland, and Florida- whichever is easiest for you.
In our first few sessions, we spend time getting to know each other. We’ll talk about what you’re experiencing, where you’re struggling the most, what your fears are, and how you’d like your relationship with food and your body to be different.
You might want to use therapy to talk about whatever issue is bothering you each week. Or you might want to target one specific issue or goal that we come back to each week, like eating when you’re lonely, or feeling like you need to lose weight. We can work together to figure out what will be most helpful.
My work is informed by the Health At Every Size (HAES) model. If you’re looking for a weight loss coach or someone to hold you accountable for your diet, I’m not the therapist for you. I believe that long-term change requires something different. My role is to help you bring compassion and curiosity to your relationship with your body, so you can shift the patterns keeping you stuck.
How IFS Therapy Helps With Emotional Eating and Body Image.
Sometimes, one part of you wants to listen to your body, but another part of you needs a pint of ice cream after a hard day. Even if you want to love your body, another part of you might grimace every time you look in the mirror.
IFS helps us get curious about what's happening and why.
We might work on:
Reducing emotional eating.
Understand the emotions that drive emotional eating, so that you know what you actually need when you would normally turn to food.
Accepting your body.
Feel neutral, or even confident, about your body. Change your focus from your appearance to what feels good and what your body can do.
Working through difficult or traumatic experiences.
If you’ve experienced racism, ableism, sexism, healthism, childhood trauma, or types of harm, we can work through them at a pace that works for you.
Being more present.
Criticizing your body or your food intake keeps you in your head. Learn to be present in the moment.
You can have a totally different relationship with food and your body.