Eating
Disorders
They are almost never about food. They are about control, shame, and a relationship with the body that has turned into a daily trial.
What the symptom does
An eating symptom almost always serves something: it gives a sense of control when everything else feels uncontrollable, it numbs a feeling that will not fit, or it offers one measurable success in a life where nothing else is measured so cleanly as a number.
This is why advice of the "just eat normally" kind fails: it asks for a survival mechanism to be removed before anything exists in its place. The work goes the other way round — first the "something else" is built, and the symptom loosens as it stops being needed.
Where it helps
- Binge episodes: the cycle of restriction – episode – shame – stricter restriction.
- Restrictive patterns: food rules that keep multiplying and keep narrowing life.
- Compensatory behaviours and the guilt that follows them.
- Obsession with "clean" eating and exercise as an obligation rather than a pleasure.
- Body image: mirrors, clothes, photographs, avoiding situations because of appearance.
- Emotional eating: food as a regulator of anxiety, loneliness or boredom.
How we work
Early on we aim at stabilising the pattern — regularity, not a diet — because an organism in deprivation cannot do psychotherapeutic work; deprivation by itself produces preoccupation with food.
In parallel we work on the rules and beliefs ("good" and "bad" foods, worth as a function of weight), the emotions that trigger episodes, and the shame — which is usually the reason years passed before anyone was told.
And finally the relationship with the body: not forcing yourself to "love" it, but letting it stop being a battlefield.
At a glance
- ForTeenagers (with parental consent) and adults
- Duration50 minutes per session
- SettingAt the practice in central Thessaloniki, or online
- ApproachCognitive behavioural (CBT) with EFT elements
- AppointmentsBy phone or through the contact form
- CollaborationA physician is essential; often a dietitian too
Frequently asked questions
No. Meal planning is the dietitian's work and physical monitoring the physician's. Here we work on what makes those hard to follow: the rules, the emotions, the shame and the relationship with the body.
It counts, very much. The severity of an eating difficulty is not read on the scales: most people with an eating disorder have a weight within range. The criterion is how much space it takes up in your mind and how much it limits your life.
Get in touch — work with the parent is a critical part, especially in adolescence, and often starts before the teenager comes. At the same time, a paediatric or medical assessment is needed straight away: the first question is always physical safety.
No. We track the pattern, but most of the time goes to what feeds it: what happened that day, what went unsaid, what became unbearable. Food is the indicator, not the subject.