Eating Disorder Treatment

Eating Disorders and Trauma in Young People.

Eating disorders aren't just about food or body image — they often run much deeper. Research shows that up to 75% of individuals with eating disorders have a history of trauma, especially those experiencing Binge Eating Disorder (BED) or Bulimia Nervosa.

Behaviours like bingeing, purging, restricting, or chaotic eating patterns can be ways the brain and body try to cope with overwhelming emotions, numb pain, or regain a sense of control — all of which are natural trauma responses. These patterns are not signs of failure; they are survival strategies that made sense at the time.

Unfortunately, trauma and eating disorders are often treated separately, which can leave important pieces of the healing process missing. New research (including from The International Journal of Eating Disorders) shows that addressing both trauma and eating behaviours together leads to better outcomes.

At Liminal State Psychology, I take an integrated, trauma-informed approach to support young people struggling with disordered eating and the impacts of trauma.

If you are medically stable and cleared for community-based therapy, I can help you:

  • Understand the connection between trauma, emotions, and eating behaviours

  • Build safer, more compassionate coping strategies

  • Heal your relationship with your body and yourself

  • Feel seen, heard, and supported — without shame

All services are offered via telehealth, and I work within the stepped care model — meaning if more intensive support is needed, I can help guide you toward higher levels of care.

Types of Eating Disorders

  • Characterised by intense fear of weight gain, restrictive eating, and a distorted body image leading to dangerously low body weight. I only work with medically stable individuals in conjunction with medical oversight.

  • In Bulimia, individuals often engage in cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours like vomiting, fasting, or excessive exercise to prevent weight gain.

    These behaviours often emerge in response to deep-seated emotional pain and a desire to control body size or shape as a way of regaining control over their lives. Like BED, bulimia is frequently linked to trauma, particularly sexual abuse, bullying, or incidents of emotional or physical violence. The compulsive behaviors around food and purging may represent an attempt to cope with or escape from distressing memories or feelings associated with the trauma.

  • Marked by recurring episodes of eating large amounts of food while feeling a loss of control, without regular compensatory behaviours often followed by feelings of guilt, shame, or disgust.

    Many individuals with BED report using food to soothe emotional pain or numb out painful memories linked to trauma. This compulsive behaviour may stem from a history of emotional neglect, abandonment, or abuse, where the individual may not have had other healthy outlets to manage distress. The act of bingeing can provide temporary relief from emotional distress, but over time, it can create a vicious cycle of shame and negative self-worth.

  • Involves highly selective eating or avoidance of food due to sensory sensitivities, fear of aversive consequences (like choking), or lack of interest, without body image concerns.

  • Applies to eating disorder presentations that cause significant distress but don't meet full criteria for AN, BN, or BED (e.g., atypical anorexia, purging disorder).

  • Diagnosed when disordered eating behaviours cause significant impairment but don't fit neatly into any specific category.

  • Persistent eating of non-food substances (like dirt, clay, or paper) that is inappropriate to the developmental level or culture.

    Pica can occasionally develop in response to trauma, emotional neglect, or unmet emotional needs — especially in early childhood. However, it’s also associated with developmental disabilities, intellectual disability, autism, and sometimes nutritional deficiencies (like iron or zinc), without trauma being the cause.

  • Repeated regurgitation of food (which may be rechewed, reswallowed, or spit out) not attributable to a medical condition.

    Rumination Disorder can also sometimes emerge after early relational trauma, neglect, or high-stress environments, particularly when emotional regulation was disrupted during development. But like Pica, it can also appear in the context of other conditions (e.g., neurodevelopmental disorders) independently of trauma.

“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.”

Brené Brown (Researcher on shame and vulnerability)