If you’ve spent years fighting a battle with food, your body, or both, some of these might feel familiar:
Maybe thoughts about food, weight, or your appearance take up more mental space than you’d like to admit.
Your mood changes depending on the number on the scale, what you ate that day, or how your clothes fit.
You feel exhausted by the constant self-criticism, body checking, comparison, guilt, or anxiety that comes with your changing figure.
Or maybe you’ve become so used to these thoughts that they’ve started to feel normal. You’ve almost forgotten what it was like not to be so preoccupied by what you ate, how to “make up” for it, and how your body looks (to yourself and others).
But constantly worrying about food and your body isn’t something you have to live with.
Many women struggle silently with disordered eating, chronic dieting, body image concerns, or eating disorders, convinced that their struggles aren’t “serious enough” to deserve help — especially in the years surrounding new motherhood. But you don’t have to meet a certain threshold of suffering before you deserve support.
At Palmetto Psychology Clinic, we provide specialized online therapy for disordered eating and body image concerns throughout California. We help women develop a healthier relationship with food, their bodies, and themselves so they can feel more free, present, and connected in their lives.
We have particular expertise in supporting high-achieving women whose perfectionism has become intertwined with food, exercise, or body image, as well as mothers navigating body image changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Recovery isn’t just about changing behaviors around food. It’s about creating a life where your self-worth is no longer determined by your weight, appearance, or what you ate today.
If this resonates with you, you’re not alone, and we can help.
How disordered eating and body image struggles can affect your life
Difficulties with eating and body image are rarely just about food or appearance.
Over time, they can impact your confidence, relationships, self-worth, and overall quality of life. What starts as a desire to be healthier, more disciplined, or more in control can gradually become exhausting, taking up far more mental and emotional energy than you realize.
You may notice yourself:
- Constantly thinking about food, weight, calories, or your appearance
- Feeling out of control around eating, followed by guilt or shame
- Starting over every Monday with a new plan to "be better"
- Avoiding social events because of food, eating, or body image concerns
- Feeling anxious after meals or preoccupied with what you ate
- Struggling to trust your body's hunger and fullness cues
- Following rigid rules around food, exercise, or weight
- Comparing your body to other people's throughout the day
- Feeling like your self-worth rises and falls based on your appearance, productivity, or ability to stay in control
- Feeling disconnected from your body rather than at home in it
These experiences can feel incredibly isolating, especially when it seems like everyone else has a “normal” relationship with food and their body. But you’re not alone, and there is nothing unusual about struggling in a culture that places so much value on appearance, achievement, and self-control.
Therapy can help you untangle these patterns, develop a more peaceful relationship with food and your body, and reclaim the mental space they’ve been taking up for far too long.
By the end of therapy, many clients tell us they’re spending far less mental energy thinking about food and their bodies. They feel more flexible around eating, less consumed by self-criticism, and more connected to themselves and the people around them.
Most importantly, they no longer feel like food and body image are running their lives. Instead, they have the freedom to focus on what truly matters to them.
We’d love to help you get there, too.
Therapy for body image and disordered eating
At Palmetto, we help you understand the deeper patterns driving your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.
Many of our clients come to therapy believing their struggle is about food, weight, or willpower. But often, there’s much more beneath the surface: perfectionism, anxiety, self-criticism, a need for control, difficulty trusting themselves, or years of tying self-worth to appearance and achievement.
In therapy, we may work on:
- Understanding the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that fuel disordered eating patterns
- Challenging the inner critic and reducing self-judgment
- Developing a more flexible relationship with food
- Learning to trust your body's hunger, fullness, and internal cues
- Untangling self-worth from weight, appearance, or productivity
- Addressing perfectionism, anxiety, and the pressure to "get it right"
- Reducing body checking, comparison, and obsessive thoughts about food or weight
- Building self-compassion and body acceptance
- Feeling more present in your life instead of constantly thinking about food, exercise, or your appearance
- Creating more space for relationships, hobbies, rest, and the things that matter most to you
Our approach is compassionate, collaborative, and tailored to your unique experience. We know how vulnerable it can feel to talk about food, body image, and the thoughts you’ve been carrying for years. Therapy provides a nonjudgmental space to explore these struggles and begin making meaningful, lasting changes.
We’ve helped hundreds of women with exactly these types of concerns. We’d be honored to support you, too.
