Eating & Body Image Therapy in White Bear Lake, MN

A More Flexible Relationship With Food and Your Body

Thoughts about food, eating, weight, or your body can take up a lot of mental space. You may find yourself following rigid food rules, feeling guilty after eating, comparing your body with others, or spending more time than you want thinking about what you should or should not eat.

Therapy can give you space to better understand the experiences, beliefs, and emotions that have shaped your relationship with food and your body. Depending on your goals, therapy may focus on reducing shame, becoming more flexible around eating, changing patterns that are causing distress, and building greater trust in yourself.

We provide weight-neutral eating and body image therapy for adults in White Bear Lake and through telehealth across Minnesota. Our therapists draw from intuitive eating principles and other approaches based on your individual needs and goals.

Man and woman cooking and smiling

HOW EATING & BODY IMAGE CONCERNS CAN SHOW UP

  • Spending a lot of time thinking about food, eating, weight, or your appearance.

  • Feeling guilt, shame, or anxiety after eating.

  • Following rigid rules about what, when, or how much you should eat.

  • Restricting food at times and feeling out of control around eating at others.

  • Avoiding certain foods, meals, or social situations because of anxiety about eating or your body.

  • Frequently checking, comparing, criticizing, or trying to change your body.

A WEIGHT-NEUTRAL APPROACH TO FOOD AND BODY IMAGE

  • Becoming more flexible around food and eating.

  • Understanding how guilt, shame, or anxiety can shape eating patterns.

  • Becoming more aware of hunger, fullness, satisfaction, and other body cues.

  • Reducing body checking, comparison, and self-criticism.

  • Exploring the impact of diet culture, weight stigma, and messages about how your body ā€œshouldā€ look.

  • Building greater trust in yourself when making choices about food, movement, and your body.

Intuitive eating is one framework we may draw from in therapy. It can offer tools for moving away from rigid food rules and developing greater awareness of your own needs and experiences. We use these principles in ways that fit your individual goals and needs.

HOW HEALTH AT EVERY SIZEĀ® INFORMS OUR WORK

Our approach is informed by Health at Every SizeĀ® (HAESĀ®) principles. This includes respecting body diversity and autonomy, recognizing the effects of weight stigma and anti-fat bias, and providing care that does not make weight loss a requirement or default measure of progress.

We recognize that health and well-being are shaped by many factors, including a personā€™s experiences, environment, access to resources, stress, and broader life context. In therapy, we can explore concerns related to food, movement, health, and body image in ways that respect your individual needs, values, and choices.

Learn more about the Health at Every SizeĀ® principles ā†’

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WHAT TO EXPECT IN EATING & BODY IMAGE THERAPY

Early sessions often focus on understanding your relationship with food and your body, the experiences that have shaped it, and what you hope will feel different. You and your therapist can decide together what feels most important to focus on and how quickly to move.

Depending on your goals, therapy may involve noticing patterns around eating, exploring guilt, shame, or anxiety related to food and body image, becoming more flexible with food rules, and understanding how dieting, weight stigma, or body comparison may be affecting you.

Therapy is individualized around your needs, values, and goals. There is no expectation that weight loss be a goal or that you follow a particular way of eating. When intuitive eating principles are helpful, they can be incorporated in ways that fit your experiences and goals.

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FAQs About Eating & Body Image Therapy

  • No. You do not need a formal eating disorder diagnosis to seek support. Therapy can be helpful if concerns about food, eating, weight, or your body are causing distress, taking up a lot of mental space, or affecting your daily life.

  • No. Intuitive eating is one framework our therapists may draw from, depending on your goals and what feels useful to you. Therapy is individualized, and there is no expectation that you follow a particular approach to eating.

  • No. Our approach is weight-neutral and informed by Health at Every SizeĀ® principles. We do not use weight loss as a therapy goal or measure of progress. Therapy focuses on your relationship with food and your body, your well-being, and the goals that matter to you.