Support services

Holistic support for eating disorder recovery

Our services are designed to support, guide and empower you to build a life of freedom from disordered eating.

Therapeutic services

Your relationship with food can be complicated. It’s not simply a matter of knowing what and when to eat and then doing this; there are many factors that influence why, what and how we eat. These include hunger, emotions, thoughts, advertising, rules, habits…the list goes on.

We will provide education, practical guidance and support to help you develop a healthy relationship with food and improve your wellbeing. We will help you get in touch with your body’s appetite signals again and take the stress out of eating.

Cate is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Eating Disorder Credentialed Dietitian who has additional training and many years of experience in applying a range of therapies, including:

Cognitive Behavioural therapy – enhanced (CBT-e)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Family Based Therapy (FBT)
Cognitive Behavioural therapy – for ARFID (CBT-AR)
Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Dietetic and mental health treatment

Knowing what to eat, how much to eat and how often to eat is not as simple as many health professionals make out.

'Healthy' eating is a minefield. Diet mentality is ingrained in our culture and we’re bombarded with conflicting messages in the media.

When you’re living with an eating disorder, things become even murkier. You may lose natural body cues for hunger and fullness. Mind and body connection may be lost.

Destructive thoughts can get in the way of making healthy decisions. Food rituals may become habitual, and it can be hard to break out of learnt behaviours.

Seeing a health professional with extensive experience in treating eating disorders can support you while you develop a more peaceful relationship with food. You can work towards letting go of eating practices dictated by 'food rules' and explore a more intuitive approach to eating.

Learn how to:

get in tune with your hunger and appetite
keep your favourite foods in the house without overeating
challenge food fears, ditch diet rules and start eating intuitively
decrease preoccupation with food and have more time for things that matter
overcome feelings of guilt and anxiety around food choices
break-free from the binge-restrict cycle
identify and overcome emotional eating behaviours
practise mindful eating and get back to enjoying your food
build sustainable, healthy habits that last for LIFE.

Beyond therapy

Meal exposure support

Meal times can be challenging to navigate while you're rebuilding your relationship with food. Cate offers one-on-one meal support to help you challenge and change old behaviours, turning them into new routines that make food enjoyable again.

Together, we’ll work through the thoughts and feelings that come up around meal times, and then build strategies so you can discover your food freedom.

During meal support sessions, together we’ll:

Identify and challenge your feared food and food rules
Stay accountable to your meal plan
Practice becoming a mindful eater
Create more variety in your food choices
Change any unworkable eating behaviours or rituals around food
Build effective strategies to help manage thoughts and feelings for during and after meals
Create enjoyable and soulful experiences for you around food and eating
Debrief your meal and the process of eating to help set you up for the day.

In-home cooking

Navigating the process of cooking and meal preparation during eating disorder recovery can be overwhelming but we’re here to support you through this step in your recovery journey.

We offer in-home cooking sessions where we can work together; cooking and eating meals that expand on your food choices and meet your needs in line with your treatment plan. Our goal is to help you build confidence in the kitchen, while also providing guidance and support in creating a routine that helps you rebuild a relationship with all food types.

During an in-home cooking session, we'll help you to:

Prepare and portion a meal to achieve your meal plan
Break unworkable patterns, and create new eating experiences
Challenge food rules and rituals that show up at home
Set up your kitchen to ensure you have everything you need
Build effective strategies to help manage thoughts and feelings that come up during the cooking process
Explore new flavours, textures and styles of preparing foods
Create enjoyable experiences around food and eating.

Grocery shopping

Shopping for food can be a challenging step during recovery, but we are here to support you when old thought patterns and behaviours come up as you shop.

With the right tools and strategies, we’ll work together to help you navigate your grocery store effectively and with confidence. With guidance and support , we will help you reframe the experience so you can make choices in line with your recovery goals.

During a grocery shopping experience we can:

Be there for you either over the phone or in-person to go through the grocery store together
Guide you to purchase appropriate amount of food items to achieve your your meal plan
Support you to shop in a way that breaks unworkable habits and doesn’t focus on the ‘nutritional advice’ shown on packages
Walk beside you through any thoughts and feelings that come up and support you to feel comfortable and empowered while you shop.

Eating out

Reframing your relationship with food during recovery can be tricky, and this process might feel even more challenging when you have to do it in public, like dining out at a restaurant. That’s why we're here to support you by accompanying you to a restaurant or café, helping you to navigate the thoughts and feelings that might come up with social eating.

We can equip you with practical skills you can apply to real-life scenarios and will provide the encouragement, motivation and support needed during your meal to manage and challenge old thoughts and patterns.

Feel more confident and empowered in these social settings and make social eating a fun and enjoyable experience once more.

Our going out -to -eat service includes:

Going to a restaurant, café or somewhere else in the community with you to eat a meal
Helping you manage thoughts and feelings that may arise from being in a public setting and eating socially
Helping you identify and challenge your food rules and stay accountable to your meal plan
Creating more variety in your food choices
Exploring various cuisines and styles of food
Challenging and changing unworkable eating behaviours and rituals around food with guidance and support.
Building effective strategies for during and after meals
Reframing the meal experience so that it is truly enjoyable for you
Post-meal support and debrief to help build a plan that supports future social eating experiences.

Clothes shopping

At Nourish Nurture blossom, we understand that eating disorder recovery has challenges that aren't always food centred. That’s why we offer our clothes shopping service, helping you reframe your relationship with buying clothes, removing the focus from size and shape, and prioritising expression, comfort and creativity.

Together, we’ll help you embrace your unique self by exploring new styles, colours and patterns that allow you to feel confident and comfortable in your own skin. Our goal is to help you feel empowered and liberated by the clothes-shopping experience and learn to love yourself for the incredible person you are.