Richard Palmer
Member Status: Accredited
Member No: NCS14-00736
Location: Bridgwater
Do you struggle with your relationship with food? Or do you have a diagnosed eating disorder?
Does your body image concern you?
Are you a family member or friend of someone who has an eating disorder?
Are you a therapeutic professional who is working with someone who has an eating disorder?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, I might be able to support you. I’m a qualified counsellor and supervisor specialising in eating disorders.
Eating disorders are complex mental illness. You may have been living with your eating disorder for a few months or a number of years. Having counselling with an eating disorder specialist is an effective way of recovering from an eating disorder.
Counselling with me typically has five stages:
Stage 1: Assessment - we need to understand as much as possible about what is going on for you.
Stage 2: Coping Strategies - I'll help you to practise and learn some tools and techniques that will help to make life more comfortable.
Stage 3: Underlying Problems - Eating disorders are known as being comorbid, which means that they typically exist alongside other problems, such as low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. We'll work through these problems which will again help to make life more comfortable for you.
Stage 4: Eating Disorder - when, and only when, you're ready, we will start working directly with the eating disorder.
Stage 5: Relapse Prevention - When you're happy with how you're feeling, we'll develop a plan to help you maintain good mental health as much as possible.
I also work with the family members of people living with eating disorders (please be aware that I do NOT work with the sufferer AND a family member).
Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses which can put added pressure onto relationships. This can be a very challenging time for you, desperately wanting to help the person that you love but not knowing what to do while trying to deal with your own emotions. I help family members of people living with eating disorders to work through how they feel and to support their loved one as much as possible. Please be aware that I am not offering therapy by proxy. I am unable to tell you how to help your loved one recover from their eating disorder. What I am offering is support for you so that you can support your loved one with their recovery.
I am also a qualified supervisor. I offer both regular and ad hoc supervision to counsellors who are working with clients affected by an eating disorder.
