Is Your Relationship to Food and Your Body Hurting You?

Do Any of the Following Apply to You?

• Repeatedly dieting and/or bingeing despite your best efforts to eat in a healthy way?
• Disliking or even hating how your body looks?
• Constantly gaining and losing weight and struggling to keep it off?
• Feeling guilty or anxious about what you are eating?
• Not exercising regularly or over-exercising?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to know that you don’t have to continue in this way… You CAN have a POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP with Food and your Body!

Underweight, overweight, fit, or a couch-potato, if you have a painful relationship to food, exercise, or the way your body looks, you don’t have to suffer any longer. You can change this hurtful pattern of relating to yourself and have a healthy, happy, loving relationship with food, exercise, and the way you look!

I had serious concerns about my eating. I was overeating and not knowing why. I was stuffing myself at suppertime even though I knew I wasn’t hungry. I felt anxious about returning to work after having 9 months off due to an illness. My anxiety was a 10 out of 10! My head was spinning, I couldn’t concentrate, and I felt sad. My psychiatrist from the cancer clinic referred me to Diane.

I had issues with my parents that went way back. I had been in therapy before in the hope I would not keep dragging that baggage with me through the rest of my life. But the baggage was still attached to me.

And I had anger issues. I did not know when it was appropriate to be angry or what level of anger was appropriate for the incident. I didn’t want to be angry or feel angry, so I tried not to. I realized that my anger is what I was stuffing down.

My own personal gauge was lost. I didn’t experience what I was feeling. I overrode it in my mind so that I didn’t have to deal with what I felt at all. I noticed when I didn’t experience the negative emotions that I tended to stuff myself at suppertime and to drink too much wine!

I am still learning the process of feeling. It is hard sometimes because it can be painful. I am trying to move through the pain of anger, loneliness, frustration, disappointment, sadness and depression. And my suppertime overeating has stopped.

Stephanie*, age 44
Designer, South Surrey, BC
July 2006

* Please note: Names and initials are pseudonyms. Actual names are printed by client request. Testimonials have been edited for the sake of space and with approval of each client. They can be viewed in their entirety on the “Testimonials” page.

In working with me, you can learn to:

• End the dieting rollercoaster once and for all and make choices based on leading information, proper nourishment, and the satisfaction that comes from an attuned understanding of what you REALLY WANT or NEED
• Overcome exercise-resistance or obsessive exercise and enjoy a healthy activity level not only because it’s good for you but because you feel and look fantastic
• Stop yo-yo dieting, make peace with your body, get the ideal healthy weight for you and maintain it for your lifetime
• Identify and resolve the underlying emotional issues that contribute to your problems. (IT’S NEVER JUST ABOUT THE FOOD or HOW YOUR BODY LOOKS! Rather it’s the emotional, social and historical experiences over time that are at the root of eating and body image problems)
• Repair and deepen your relationship to your body by learning to really treat yourself with trust, compassion, love, care, and attention

In working with you in the past 6 months, I have greatly decreased my episodes of unconscious eating and have lost 25 pounds. In our work together, I have become aware of how much anxiety I have had and now can pay attention to it. I also recognize the feelings underneath that are creating this anxiety. I now attend to my feelings and take good care of myself.

Maggie, Psychiatrist
Vancouver, BC
May 2006

My Counselling Approach Helps You Create Lasting Change with Problems of Dieting, Exercise and Body Image.

I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor and have over fifteen years training and ten years experience working with people who have hurtful patterns of relating to food and their bodies. I have a strong background as a therapist, support group facilitator, presenter, and political advocate in the area of disordered eating. My Master’s thesis addressed the factors involved in successfully overcoming severe eating disorders. I have always been passionate about this subject and in helping people to establish long-term lifestyle changes.

With my skills, training, experience, and passion for helping people heal eating and body image problems and your willingness, curiosity, and commitment, we will work together so that YOU can feel good about yourself.

I, too, suffered from bulimia for years and was eventually able to overcome it with the help of counselling. In addition, several of my family members have struggled with obesity, compulsive eating, anorexia, and exercise resistance. Throughout my life, I have seen firsthand how destructive and deadly these patterns can be.

My initial reason to come to therapy was to overcome and discuss an eating disorder. I was experiencing low self-esteem and high anxiety which led to family issues (particularly with my sister).

In therapy with Diane, I learned how to communicate better and now have more effective methods and positive interactions with my family members.

I have fully recovered from my eating issues [anorexia] and have more confidence in myself and less anxiety. I am able to get things off my chest and out in the open, which I never could do before.

A significant breakthrough in the therapy for me was identifying mad and sad emotions and feeling the sadness rather than ignoring it and keeping it all bottled up. I am most proud of my perseverance and my fight through the difficult and painful years between Grades 10 and 12.

Emily, age 20
University Student, West Vancouver, Canada
February 2006

I was sad, depressed and grieving the loss of my husband of 17 years to cancer… I also had serious concerns with regard to my long-time history of eating problems and depression. My psychiatrist recommended I see Diane.

In working with Diane, I was able to put lots of pieces together about my feelings and my habitual pattern of not dealing with them. Diane has become a safe place for me…. My mood has lifted and my family and friends don’t worry about me as much now. I am very, very satisfied with what I have accomplished in my sessions.

I realize I have a lot of perseverance and can do much more than I ever thought I could! I have lost 40 pounds to date, completed my first 10km walk this weekend, and I’ll be completing my first half-marathon overseas this summer.

T.D., age 52
Public Advocate, Surrey, Canada
April 2006

In your work with me, I will help you go beyond INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING. You will EXPERIENCE yourself in a profoundly new way!

I approach these problems from two perspectives: a physical perspective and a psychological perspective. I help you understand what happens in your body when you restrict, indulge, or yo-yo diet. I also help you get in touch with and overcome your anxiety and painful emotions.

I will work with you to help you resolve the conflict between your heart and your head, where you know what you should do, but find yourself repeatedly doing the opposite.

This two-track approach can help you to undo life-long unhealthy patterns and to finally create your longed-for healthy relationship to food and your body!

An ADDED BENEFIT to counselling with me is my collaboration with a Certified Fitness Professional.

In my years as both a client and a counsellor, I quickly realized that people have difficulty changing these engrained negative patterns of eating, exercising, or body hatred.

In fact, simply talking inside my office wasn’t enough for many clients to change their behaviour outside my office… they needed help with actually DOING what they needed to.

Many clients need the professional guidance and precision of an exercise consultant to:

• (Re-)learn how to exercise effectively, efficiently, and safely
• Help them stay motivated and on track with their goals
• Repair their fractured relationships with their bodies

For this important reason I invited Cathy Stubbington, a Registered Fitness Professional, to join my practice and to provide this essential service to those clients who want her help in their recovery.

Cathy has a unique, instinctual understanding of how emotions are held physically in the body. Combined with her academic studies and life-long learning in a variety of disciplines, she helps clients not only achieve their fitness goals, but to integrate and reform their physical and emotional relationships to their bodies.

Cathy expertly provides each client a well-rounded, and uniquely individualized program that incorporates cardio, yoga, stretching, and/or strength training. In addition, she provides nutritional consultations when suited to your goals.
If you choose to work with both Cathy and I, together we can help you:

• Overcome your self-defeating patterns with honest and qualified feedback on your capabilities and behaviours
• Set realistic goals for your achievement in exercise, weight, and eating
• Help you achieve your goals by providing supportive contact with us 3-4 times per week

Both Cathy and I consult with one another throughout your program to increase your positive outcomes.

Finally, there is a comprehensive approach to healing your painful relationships to food and your body.

I have been "yoyo dieting" for too many years and had just come off yet another diet where I had lost over 100 pounds and reached a goal that I thought I would never achieve—the "size 8." When I still wasn't feeling like the "world was my oyster," and all my problems didn’t vanish when I reached that goal, I knew it was time to get some help. A friend referred me to Diane.

Working with Diane has shown that I am more than my dress size. She has especially helped me see that the lack of care I have experienced throughout my early childhood and adult life has had a tremendous impact on how I have learned to take care of myself.

Diane also recommended I start working with Cathy because there was concern about my metabolism after dieting for so long and so hard. I started with Cathy and have felt great ever since.

I had not been working out at all when Cathy and I first started working together. At the beginning I was in poor physical condition. I have improved dramatically! My body is stronger, and I have seen physical changes that I am very happy with. Now I average a work out about 4-5 times a week. I never thought I would ever say this, but I enjoy going to the gym!

I love the way Cathy works with me. Cathy just has to look at me to know what it is I need for that day—even though I try to hide it sometimes, she sees right through it. The fact that Cathy is knowledgeable in so many different aspects of “fitness”–the physicalities of the body, mind, and soul—really complement each other. She is so intuitive and so caring. And there is no "pussy footing" with Cathy, she is honest and considerate with my feelings and always there to help when needed.

Working with Diane and Cathy combined has helped me a great deal. With all my dieting I have really messed up my internal body. I have kept off a significant amount of weight in the past 18 months since my last severe diet with the help of these two. I can attribute that success to my working with these two women.

Diane and Cathy are an awesome team and compliment each other. They have given me the results I so desperately needed. I couldn't ask for anything more. I would have no hesitation recommending them to anyone. In fact, I did! And the friend that I did recommend to see them is finding a healthier life now too.

Allison
August 2006

How This Unique Program Works:

1. Your program starts with an initial counselling assessment of where you are right now and how your particular history of food and exercise problems has affected your current condition. This initial assessment is two hours long.
2. Together we will then develop an all-round, individualized treatment program combining counselling and/or personal training to change your patterns of eating and exercising and help you to achieve the outcomes you desire in order to live a healthy lifestyle.

You will decide one of the two options:

Option 1:
Individual Counselling for Food & Body Image Problems

Ongoing sessions are 60-90 minutes long (depending on your goals and needs). In some cases, on-going email support is also provided.

Option 2:
6-Weeks Individualized Counselling for Food & Body Image Problems PLUS Exercise/Training Program

After your initial counselling session (2-hours long) with me, you then meet with Cathy for a 90-minute consultation and assessment (this can be scheduled for the same day as your counselling appointment or at another time in the week).

After your initial counselling and your consultation with Cathy, you will have:

• Six, in-depth, 50- or 90-minute counselling sessions with Diane (dependent on your needs and goals) scheduled once per week
• VHS copy of the counselling session to review between sessions (optional)
• Eighteen individualized one-on-one training sessions three times per week with Cathy.
• Nutritional assessment(s) with Cathy (where necessary)
• On-going email support with Diane and/or Cathy (optional)
• Physical assessment with Cathy at the end of the program to accurately measure the positive changes you have made and celebrate your success!

Option 3:
12-Week Individualized Counselling for Food & Body Image PLUS Exercise/Training Program

After your initial counselling session (2-hours long) you then meet with Cathy for a 90-minute consultation and assessment. (This can be scheduled for the same day as your appointment or at another time in the week).

After your initial counselling and consultation, you will have:

• Twelve, in-depth, 60- or 90-minute counselling sessions (dependent on your needs and goals) with Diane, once per week
• VHS copy of the counselling session to review between sessions (optional)
• Thirty-six individualized, one-on-one training sessions with Cathy scheduled three times per week for maximum success
• Nutritional assessment with Cathy (optional) at the beginning of the program with feedback throughout your program if wanted
• On-going email support with Diane and/or Cathy (optional)
• Physical assessment with Cathy at the six week mark to keep you on-track and to adjust your program to keep aligned with your goals
• Physical assessment with Cathy at the end of the twelve weeks to accurately measure and celebrate your success!

How to decide which option is right for you?

These packages can be individually-customized with more or less frequent counselling or training sessions to meet your unique needs.

For more information about how I practice, please click here for “Services” and “How I Work”.

If you been unsuccessful in your previous attempts to change your painful relationship to food, exercise, and your body, give me a call today at 778-292-0260. You don’t have to live a life of angst and unhappiness one moment longer. Take that first step and start to change your life today!

Call today to schedule your free, no-obligation, 10-minute phone consultation at 778-292-0260 or email
info@DianeAndersonCounselling.com. We can arrange a time to talk about the specific difficulties you are having and discuss how Diane Anderson & Associates can help you now.

If you would like general information (my fees, package prices, office hours) please call or email Lanita, our office
administrator, at info@DianeAndersonCounselling.com.

Diane Anderson & Associates accepts payment by cash, cheque, Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Financing may also be arranged through Credit Medical Corporation. (Please call Diane Anderson & Associates for details at 778-292-0260).

Diane Anderson & Associates — Counsellors
Serving: Greater Vancouver, Surrey, South Surrey,
White Rock, Langley, Cloverdale, Fraser Valley, and Tsawwassen, British Columbia as well as Blaine,
Bellingham, and Seattle, Washington.