Has food taken over your life, leaving you exhausted from the constant mental battle?
Does every meal feel like a negotiation? Do you find yourself calculating, measuring, monitoring, restricting - or swinging the other way and feeling completely out of control? Maybe your relationship with food and your body consumes so much mental energy that there's little left for anything else, and you feel trapped in rigid rules, constant guilt, and a relentless inner voice that says you're never quite good enough.
Perhaps you're navigating an eating disorder, disordered eating patterns, restrictive eating, food phobias, or body dysmorphia. You might present a calm, capable exterior while privately battling thoughts about food, weight, and appearance that never fully quiet down. You've tried to "fix" it on your own, but the harder you try to control everything, the more stuck and exhausted you become.
And I wonder if, beneath it all, there's something deeper: that need to be perfect, the fear of judgment, the constant self-criticism. Food and your body have become the battleground for feelings that have nowhere else to go.
What if the problem isn't food or your body at all? What if it's the perfectionism, the self-criticism, and the impossibly high standards you're holding yourself to?
You might be experiencing:
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Persistent preoccupation with food, calories, weight, or body shape.
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Rigid rules or patterns around eating that feel impossible to break.
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Feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety before, during, or after meals.
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Avoidance of social situations where food is present.
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Body checking behaviours, comparison with others, or distorted body perception.
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Cycles of restriction, bingeing, purging, or chaotic eating.
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Feeling caught between the need for control and fear of losing it.
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Aversion to certain foods or extreme selectivity.
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A belief that your worth depends on your weight or appearance.
But what if you could...
Eat without constant anxiety, guilt, or mental negotiation.
Trust your body's signals instead of overriding them with rules.
Look in the mirror without immediate criticism or distress.
Feel at ease in social situations involving food.
Make food choices based on what you need, not what you "should" do.
Experience your body as something that deserves care, not punishment.
Build a life where food is just food - nourishing, enjoyable, and no longer the centre of everything.
This isn't about another meal plan, another diet, or more willpower. It's about understanding what's really driving your relationship with food and your body, addressing the emotional and psychological patterns underneath, and building a way of living that feels genuinely sustainable and kind.
How do I know this?
Throughout my teens, I turned to comfort eating as a way to manage feelings I didn't know how to express - the loneliness from being bullied, the low self-esteem, the constant sense that I didn't fit in. Food became a way to soothe myself when everything felt too much.
When I got to university, the stress and feeling out of control tipped comfort eating into something more serious. In my early twenties, I developed an eating disorder. Food became about control, punishment, and managing overwhelming feelings I had nowhere else to put. It took time, but I recovered.
I know the exhaustion of the constant mental battle. I know the shame that comes with feeling like you can't just "eat normally." I know what it's like when food becomes the outlet for perfectionism, anxiety, and the desperate need to prove you're good enough. And I know that recovery isn't about more control or stricter rules - it's about understanding what you're really trying to manage through food, and finding gentler, more authentic ways to care for yourself.
If you'd like to know more about my full recovery journey and how it shaped my approach, you can read more on my Working With Me page.
Recovery in my clients' own words
"Before I worked with Nic, every day felt like a cycle of shame and self hatred, but she allowed me to openly discuss very personal issues without me feeling more of the same. Now I love my body and enjoy what it can do for me." - Hannah B
“A few years ago, I was the heaviest that I had ever been! The shock and horror of what the weight scale was showing led me down this downward spiral of cutting out food groups, only eating one meal a day, and serious calorie restriction - it helped bring my weight down, but I found myself struggling with lethargy, brain fog, motivation and anxiety. I had formed a terrible relationship with food and had to even force down that one meal a day. Nic gently coached me into a more balanced and healthier relationship with food, I now eat 3 meals a day, I am happier, I have more energy and my general outlook to life is certainly brighter!” - Victoria P
My professional background
I'm a counselling psychologist and wellbeing coach with a Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, a Master's in Health Psychology, and a BSc in Psychology. I'm also a Chrysalis Effect Wellbeing Coach and Specialist Practitioner in CFS/ME, Fibromyalgia and Long COVID, and I'm trained in EFT, Matrix Reimprinting, Belief Coding, and NLP.
My research background includes a Master's dissertation and published paper exploring the lived experience of fibromyalgia for people with it and their carers, and a PhD thesis and published papers exploring the lived experiences of people with anorexia nervosa.
I've worked with clients in the NHS, in eating disorder and trauma clinics, in the voluntary sector and in private practice. I specialise in helping people navigate the psychological and emotional patterns that underlie chronic fatigue, burnout, and eating disorders - the perfectionism, the overthinking, the people-pleasing, the neglect of your own needs, and the relentless self-criticism that keep you stuck in impossible standards.
I combine clinical expertise with a genuine understanding of what it's like to feel fundamentally exhausted, trapped, and alone. My approach is holistic, trauma-informed, neurodivergent aware, and tailored entirely to you. And, as I’m part of a network of practitioners, I can recommend one of my trusted team - nutritional therapists, bodywork specialists, and others who understand chronic fatigue and eating disorders, so you can access comprehensive support for your recovery journey.
Your path to recovery
I offer long-term, personalised support packages designed around your needs, your challenges, and what you want to work on. Whether you want six weeks of support or six months, we'll create something that genuinely fits your life and your recovery.
Initial packages typically include six to twelve hour-long weekly sessions to build the consistency and momentum needed to make real progress possible. Many clients extend beyond this to continue deepening their recovery work - building on the foundations they've established, maintaining the momentum they've gained, and working through the more entrenched patterns around control, comparisons, and perfectionism that take longer to heal - with the added benefit of dedicated one-to-one support when the mental battle feels overwhelming, an old pattern resurfaces, or they need reassurance that they're on the right track.
If you'd like additional support between sessions, your package can also include regular mid-week check-ins via WhatsApp or text - touchpoints where you can share how things are going, ask questions, or get reassurance if you need it.
Each package includes:
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Weekly online sessions with a specialist practitioner who has personal experience of recovering from an eating disorder. You’ll be working with someone who genuinely understands the mental conflict you’re going through, and is committed to helping you find freedom from food and body image battles.
• Coaching to help you develop practical strategies for the challenges you’re facing. This might include navigating difficult meals, responding to triggers, handling comparisons, or managing overwhelming moments.
• Counselling to explore the deeper emotional patterns driving your relationship with food and your body. We’ll look at the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that keep you caught in unhelpful cycles so you can begin shifting them safely.
• Personalised resources chosen for where you are right now. You'll receive articles, handouts, and recommendations (books, websites, apps) that support the specific work we're doing together.
• A holistic, trauma-informed approach that works with both what you do and what you feel. We’ll explore the perfectionism, self-criticism, and need for control that fuel the struggle so you can build a gentler, more grounded way of relating to yourself.
Everything we do is designed around your life, your challenges, and what matters most to you. Together, we'll focus on understanding what you've been trying to manage through food and your body (not just changing it), so we can find gentler, more sustainable ways to meet those needs. We'll work on easing the mental battle, quieting the critical voice, and building a relationship with yourself that isn't rooted in control or punishment.
How it works
01.
Book a complimentary call
Start with a complimentary 30-minute call where you can ask questions, share what you're experiencing, and see if we feel like a good fit. This is an informal conversation where you'll also be able to explore the type of support you're looking for and whether my approach might work for you. And if you'd like to take things further, we can then arrange an initial consultation.
02.
Have an initial consultation
This is a one-hour session (which costs £125) where we'll explore what you want to work on, your needs, and the type of support you're looking for. After our conversation, I'll design a bespoke support plan with options tailored specifically to you - the number of sessions, the frequency, and the level of between-session support that would work best. I'll send this to you so you can review the options and decide which feels right.
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Start your recovery journey
Once you've chosen your package, we'll schedule your sessions and begin the work of understanding what's been happening, noticing patterns, and building approaches that genuinely support your recovery. You'll have continuity, the level of support you've chosen, and someone in your corner who truly appreciates what you're facing and believes in your recovery.
Who I work with
I work with adults (18+) experiencing exhaustive conditions, including:
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Anorexia Nervosa
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Bulimia Nervosa
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Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
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Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)
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Disordered Eating
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Restrictive Eating and Food Phobias
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Body Dysmorphia
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Body Image Difficulties
​If you're experiencing any of these conditions, or something related that isn't mentioned here, I'd love to hear from you. You're welcome to ask questions, book a discovery call, or simply get in touch to see if I might be able to help.