We work with children, adolescents, adults and older adults across the full range of eating, weight and shape concerns.

This includes those that meet diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, and those with less recognised eating disorders such as binge-eating disorder, purging disorder, and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder or ARFID (extreme fussy eating, typically in childhood).

We have a particular focus on early intervention for those with an early form of an eating disorder that may not meet official criteria. This may look like meal skipping, reduction of the amounts or types of food eaten, unexplained weight loss, heightened concern with body shape/size, excessive exercising, or eating large amounts of food in a short period of time. Our focus on these early cases is driven by clear research evidence showing that prompt engagement with specialist treatment results in faster treatment response, and therefore lessened impact on life. 

Eating disorders rarely occur in isolation. As we aim to support the whole person in their recovery to wellness, we are also skilled in treating concerns that often co-exist with an eating disorder such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and perfectionism. 

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Individual treatment for adults

We draw heavily on evidence-based psychological interventions (or therapies) when planning individual treatment. These are treatments that have strong evidence for their effectiveness from high quality research trials involving people with eating disorders, anxiety, or mood concerns from around the world.

We provide evidence-based treatment for the full range of eating/weight/shape concerns: 

  • Bulimia Nervosa

  • Anorexia Nervosa

  • Binge eating disorder

  • Purging disorder

  • “Subthreshold” or mild/early cases of disordered eating (EDNOS/OFSED)

  • Orthorexia

  • Fussy eating (typically in childhood, including ARFID)

  • Body image/body confidence concerns

  • Chronic dieting or weight fluctuations

In many cases, a client may be a good fit to sit within one specific treatment approach, such as cognitive behavioural therapy/-enhanced (CBT/CBT-E), or an established specialist therapy for anorexia nervosa (e.g. MANTRA/SSCM). In other cases, your Clinical Psychologist may decide to draw from a number of complimentary approaches including dialectic behaviour therapy (DBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT) to personalise & enhance your treatment plan.

We liaise closely with GP’s or other community-based professionals (e.g. endocrinologists or psychiatrists) involved in your care. The addition of a dietitian or medical specialist may also be recommended alongside individual psychology sessions.

Treatment for Children/Adolescents/Teenagers

With children & adolescents, the family (parents/guardians) are typically a key part of the treatment team, and fully engaged in assessment & treatment delivery. With younger children, parents are in-session with their child.

With adolescents/teens, we have two main approaches depending on the current difficulties:

If weight recovery is required, we will likely recommend working in tandem with both the young person and their parent/s or guardian. This involves parent sessions (to support parents to re-feed the adolescent at home) and individual one-on-one psychology sessions with the adolescent/teen (to support the adolescents distress & address underlying psychological difficulties). This is an emerging treatment model called Adolescent Parent Treatment (or APT), which brings together the research evidence-base for the efficacy of both family-based treatment and individual therapy. We favour this way of working with young people as it allows treatment to focus on both physical & psychological recovery simultaneously, allowing for full recovery from the eating disorder.

If weight recovery is not required, we may either recommend APT per above, or working on a primarily individual basis with the adolescent/teen (as with adults above) , with parent/s looped in on treatment focus & progress as appropriate.

As with adult cases, all treatment planning is tailored to the young person & their family, and is discussed following completion of the assessment appointment.

Parent consultations

We offer 55-minute consultations for parents of a child/adolescent/teen with an eating disorder or suspected eating disorder. These consultations may be helpful if you have questions about eating disorders, are unsure whether you should be concerned about your child/adolescents behaviour, are unsure whether you should bring them into the clinic, and/or if you are considering a change in treatment provider.

The aim of these sessions is to understand the current situation for your family & young person, and to make informed recommendations around treatment options moving forward. Parent consultations can be a one-off appointment with one of our psychologists, or can lead into our standard assessment process should you chose to engage with us. Please complete our standard referral form or email hello@nurturepsychology.co.nz to book.

Low cost treatment

We offer a low cost treatment package for non-underweight individuals with disordered eating that are unable to finance typical or “best practice” psychological treatment. This involves working through a recommended workbook alongside shorter (25-minute) sessions with your psychologist, over a shorter period of time (“guided self-help”). Please email hello@nurturepsychology.co.nz if you would like more information about this approach.

 

*Please note that due to the constraints of private practice, we are unable to see clients that are high medical risk (including being at a very low body weight), are engaging in notable self-harm, or have suicidal thoughts. In this instance, please contact your GP or the emergency department for support.