Nutritional Therapy

Nutrition counselling

Nutrition counselling addresses both what we eat, and the ways in which we feel about food and our bodies. There are many reasons why our eating habits can become convoluted and bound up with negative emotions like guilt, anxiety and fear. We know that this can be relentless and sometimes overwhelming. Disordered eating and eating disorders exist on a spectrum and are considered bio-psycho-social disorders. In other words, that there are biological, psychological and social factors that may predispose and perpetuate the issue.

Alongside therapy, nutrition counselling and rehabilitation will together help you to re-nourish your mind and body to a place of optimal physiological functioning, whilst cultivating a healthier relationship, this may include:

• weight restoration;

• reducing binge eating and purging episodes;

• promotion of regular and balanced eating; and

• psycho-education in nutrition science.

This approach will provide you with tools to help neutralise your inner food critic and to manage difficult emotions without using food. In the long term, we will help you to re-build interoceptive awareness so that you can recognise your body’s hunger and fullness signals and rediscover the pleasures of food. Our goal is to support you with lifelong tools to help you feel more confident and comfortable in nourishing your body so that, ultimately, you can focus on other important and meaningful areas of your life.

Intuitive Eating

Are food and your body taking up more brain space than you’d like? Are you dominated by endless arbitrary rules about food like when, how much and a fear of losing control? Are you fed up of yoyo dieting and endless cycles of weight loss and regain?

Intuitive eating is an evidence-based theory towards eating developed by US dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Studies have shown intuitive eaters have better self-trust, emotional functioning, body image, reduced risk of eating disorders and disordered eating, less weight cycling and lower BMIs.

At the Chelsea Psychology Clinic, you can work with our nutritionist who will help guide you through the 10 principles of intuitive eating:

1. Reject the diet mentality

2. Honour your hunger

3. Make peace with food

4. Challenge the food police

5. Feel your fullness

6. Discover the satisfaction factor

7. Cope with difficult emotions without using food

8. Respect your body

9. Exercise – feel the difference

10. Honour your health with gentle nutrition

Food and Mood

Recent evidence associates overall diet quality with mental health across different life stages. Multiple studies show a direct dose-response correlation between a high quality diet and a reduced risk of developing mental disorders like depression. These associations can be independent of other factors linked to poor mental health, such as education, social support and socioeconomic status.

Alongside therapy and medication, diet is a modifiable factor when it comes to our mental wellbeing. We’ll explore your current food and eating patterns, helping you to make small sustainable changes to help improve overall diet quality. We can also use food to support movement, sleep and stress management.

Nutrition Optimisation

In 2017, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) published a report concluding that adults do not consume enough fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and wholegrains. The last decade has seen an exponential rise in highly processed foods, sweetened beverages, diet food products and a change in eating habits including increased takeaways and eating on-the-go. Together, this has resulted in compromised nutrient intake with repercussions for our physical and mental health.