Individual Program
- One-to-one online sessions
- Typically 50 minutes, at a frequency set with you
- Family consultation available
- Receipts for extended health plans
Courses & workshops
Eating Disorder Program
Therapy for people navigating eating disorders, disordered eating, body image concerns, food anxiety, and the emotional patterns that can make eating feel complicated. Individual, weight-inclusive, and delivered online across Ontario.
On this page
What makes this program different
- One-to-one therapy with a registered therapist
- Online, anywhere in Ontario
- Ages 10 and up — children, youth and adults
- Parents, partners and caregivers can arrange a consultation
-
One therapist, start to finish
You'll work with the same registered therapist throughout.
-
Weight-inclusive and trauma-informed
Therapy here doesn't mean being put on another diet, being told what you should weigh, or being expected to love your body. Rather than focusing on weight, we explore the thoughts, emotions and experiences contributing to your struggles with food and body image.
-
Collaborative care
Eating disorders can affect both mental and physical health. When appropriate and with your consent, therapy may involve collaboration with your family doctor, dietitian or psychiatrist. Their care is arranged separately from the program.
How the program works
You don't have to have everything figured out before you begin. Here's what to expect, from your first session onward.
1
Your first session
During our first session together, we'll talk about what brought you to therapy, your current relationship with food and your body, your eating and exercise patterns, and what support might be most helpful as we move forward.
- Format: one-to-one, online
- Under 16: we usually begin by meeting with parents or guardians. Your child is welcome to join us if they'd like.
2
Ongoing sessions
Together we look at the function your eating behaviours serve, challenge the rigid food and body rules that hold the pattern in place, and develop healthier ways to cope.
- Each session: typically 50 minutes
- Program length: tailored to you — agreed after your first sessions, adjusted as you progress
- Frequency: we'll work out a schedule with you, and adjust it as your needs change
3
Reviewing progress
Recovery doesn't require perfection.
- Review: we review progress collaboratively as we go
- Finishing: when you're ready, we may move to less frequent sessions or talk about concluding therapy. That decision is made together.
What we work on together
- Understanding the function your eating behaviours serve
- Challenging rigid food and body rules
- Developing healthier coping strategies
- Reducing shame and self-criticism
- Rebuilding trust with your body
- Processing underlying emotions and experiences
- Developing flexibility around food, and navigating body changes and life transitions
- Building a sense of identity beyond appearance and weight
- Developing strategies for managing triggers and difficult situations
- Building communication and support within the family
Some of the approaches we use: CBT, DBT, narrative therapy, mindfulness, somatic and polyvagal-informed strategies, and self-compassion — all trauma-informed and culturally responsive.
Who this program is for
You don't need a formal diagnosis to seek support. Eating concerns exist on a spectrum, and therapy can help whenever your relationship with food, movement, or your body is affecting your wellbeing. Appearance alone cannot tell us whether someone is struggling.
- Anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, ARFID and OSFED
- Disordered eating, chronic dieting, and binge / restrict cycles
- Body image concerns and food anxiety
- Children, youth and adults ages 10 and up, with treatment adapted to developmental stage and family circumstances
When another level of care is right. We are not an inpatient medical clinic, and severe eating disorders sometimes need round-the-clock medical care that outpatient therapy cannot safely provide on its own. At the initial assessment we consider your symptoms, how you're functioning, the supports already around you, and what you need, to work out whether outpatient therapy is an appropriate level of care. If a higher level of medical, nutritional or psychiatric support would serve you better, we'll say so, help you connect with it, and collaborate with your other providers where that's appropriate.
For support right now, the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) offers a helpline and live chat at nedic.ca or 1-866-633-4220.
For parents, partners and caregivers
Worried about someone and not sure what to do? You can arrange a consultation yourself — a place to ask about what you're noticing, what helps, and how to start the conversation. Get in touch and our Intake Specialists will set it up.
Our relationships with food and our bodies don't develop in isolation. Family expectations, cultural beliefs, relationships, and comments about weight and appearance can all shape how we experience food and our bodies — which is why the people around you matter in recovery.
Parents and guardians may take part in sessions when it's clinically appropriate, with the client's developmental stage, privacy and treatment goals in mind. Partners, caregivers and other important support people may be involved too — joining a session, receiving resources, or meeting with us separately.
Ask About a Family Consultation
Meet your therapist
Reeti leads the Eating Disorder Program at Bayridge. Her work is weight-inclusive, trauma-informed and culturally responsive, grounded in a Health at Every Size®-aligned perspective: rather than focusing on weight, she works with the thoughts, emotions, behaviours and experiences underneath your relationship with food and your body.
Her clinical experience includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating, ARFID, OSFED, chronic dieting, food anxiety and body image concerns, with children, youth, adults and families. She draws on CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and trauma-informed and body-neutral approaches, tailored to you and your goals.
Cost and getting started
The cost of the initial assessment and of ongoing sessions will be discussed with you before treatment begins.
Billing — sessions are billed individually, rather than as a package.
Coverage — coverage may be available through your extended health benefits, depending on your plan. It's worth checking whether yours covers registered social workers or psychotherapy services.
Starting — intake is based on therapist availability. Contact our Intake Specialists to ask about current openings and upcoming appointment times.
Take the first step
You don't have to keep negotiating with food, your body, or your worth.
Recovery doesn't require perfection. It can begin with creating a little more flexibility, compassion, and freedom in your relationship with food and yourself.