Occupational Therapy for Eating Disorders
Occupational therapists are an important part of the multidisciplinary team for eating disorder treatment. We specialize in helping clients implement therapeutic skills into their lives through step-by-step practice as the person becomes ready for the next challenge.
I’m Lori, an occupational therapist who offers eating disorder help. I’ve been an advocate, speaker, fundraiser, non-profit board member, magazine publisher and mentor in the eating disorder field since 1999.
While I provide psychotherapy as needed, my approach to therapy is primarily as an occupational therapist. I focus on taking therapeutic concepts and helping clients put them into practice in their lives. We co-create strategies that are unique and work on how to apply those skills functionally.
This can be especially important for teenagers and young adults, and those who are neurodivergent (for example, who have an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis) and have a hard time generalizing concepts to their daily lives.
I also specialize in using sensory strategies to help regulate emotions, tolerate distress, help clients understand their sensory differences and learn embodied ways to navigate eating and movement. This is especially effective for those who have not responded well to cognitive therapies, who are neurodivergent and who have experienced trauma.
Important parts of the work are building life skills that the eating disorder has taken over (e.g. learning to cook and shop in ways that nourish, or exercising moderately for the pleasure of moving), as well as building an identity outside of the eating disorder.
Occupational Therapy Interventions for Eating Disorders
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Learning and practicing new skills to help you manage your emotions, anxiety and difficult situations.
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Exploring what body image is, what your relationship to your body is like, learning strategies to improve how you feel about your body, doing work with a mirror, and setting practical goals to decrease the things that make you feel bad about your body (e.g. discussing social media use, reducing body checking, exploring clothes that make you feel good).
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Planning small but increasingly difficult goals for you to try outside of the session or you can cook while on a video call with me to practice skills we are working on.
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When you need supervision for your meal or snack and want to practice skills we’ve been working on in sessions (e.g. managing anxiety, tolerating feelings of fullness, practicing completing difficult meals, and working on trying fear foods).
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Exploring ways to move gently if you have a history of compulsive or over exercising.
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Creating a routine that focuses on a meal plan to encourage regularity to eating if you are binging or eating uncontrollably.
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For teenagers and young adults, the transition to post-secondary education and/or moving out can lead to big changes. We prepare for the transition, practice strategies, predict obstacles, and plan for challenges and relapses.
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Learning cognitive and sensory skills to manage anxiety (e.g. around mealtimes, socially, at school/work, and any time anxiety prevents you from doing the things you want and need to do).
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Exposure to fear foods through play before attempting to eat them.
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Learning to plan a grocery shop and then executing it either on your own with specific goals or with me on the phone with you as you shop.
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Through specific goals, supporting you to work your way up to eating full meals in restaurants with friends and/or family.
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Challenging food rules, rigid thinking around food and exercise, changing the meaning of behaviours that are harmful to your health (e.g. counting calories/macronutrients, body checking, over exercising, purging, dieting).
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Exploring and building your passions outside of the eating disorder to begin to shift your focus to other meaningful things in your life, while understanding what you value and how you can live your life in alignment with those values (instead of the values of an eating disorder).
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Working on skills that are hindering you from living independently (e.g. shopping, meal planning, cooking, self-care, managing finances, scheduling, routine, work accommodations).
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If you find making and maintaining relationships difficult, we explore why this might be, role play difficult situations, and set practical goals for breaking patterns and interacting differently with people.
FAQ
What is occupational therapy for eating disorders?
Occupational therapy for eating disorders is focused on taking therapeutic concepts and putting them into practice in your daily life. We co-create unique strategies that are unique and work on how to apply those skills functionally. This can be especially important for teenagers and young adults, and those who are neurodivergent (for example, who have an autism and/or ADHD diagnosis) and have a hard time generalizing concepts to their daily lives.
What does an occupational therapy session look like in eating disorder treatment?
We do a lot of learning and then practicing skills, setting experiments/challenges to do as homework, and work on managing and tolerating emotions and anxiety, especially in relation to eating. Each session is 50 minutes and can be like talk therapy, but we will also do things together in order to make the sessions more practical.
How is occupational therapy different from psychotherapy or counselling?
There is more focus on doing with occupational therapy. While we talk a lot in sessions, we might also practice skills together, do gentle movement, explore sensations, and role play situations. Occupational therapy incorporates more practical work that involves practicing life skills in order to increase independence and ensure therapeutic concepts are being generalized to real life.
My Rates
Initial assessment (first appointment - 1 hour): $200 CAD
Initial Parent(s’) session (50 minutes): $150 CAD
Follow up sessions (50 minutes): $150 CAD
Follow up parent(s’) sessions (25 minutes): $85 CAD
Follow up parent(s’) sessions (50 minutes): $150 CAD
Consultations for parents/families (50 minutes): $150 CAD
More information about extended health benefits and autism funding can be found on my Rates page.
Please contact me if you’d like to speak further. I offer a free, 15-minute phone call to go over logistics and answer any questions you may have. Otherwise, you can always email me to book your first appointment.