Do you have any advice on how to start the recovery journey?

The first thing is to just start, obviously , but it's important because a lot of people won't start because they're too scared, or they don't know how, or they don't know where to go, they don't know who to talk to. And then they get stuck in this loop of indecision and not knowing because they just don't know the next step. This loop of indecision and not knowing and wondering can go on for years and years and years, and before you know it you're 37, like I was, and you still have an eating disorder.

So the key thing is to just start. Start by seeing your doctor, get some advice from them, get all your blood tests done and make sure your health is okay. Then maybe you'll want to see a therapist, a psychologist, a counsellor and see how talk therapy goes for you. I went to therapy on three separate occasions, and for me, just talking about things wasn't effective, it didn't have any real impact on me, because it was really just dealing with things on a cognitive basis - it wasn't dealing with what was really going on energetically and subconsciously. But for some people talk therapy works and it's helpful. So you could try that, it's usually the first path that people take. Some people also go to eating disorder clinics, others need dieticians and nutritionists. And then if none of that works, I highly recommend trying alternative therapies, which are totally my jam, and it's what I do with my clients. In fact, try these first if you dare ;)

Alternative therapies are things like hypnotherapy. There are also different forms of trauma therapy, I practice one called TRTP (The Richards Trauma Process). There's also coaching, which isn't therapy, but it helps you work towards your goals and change your thoughts and habits. There's EFT, which is Emotional Freedom Technique, it involves tapping on different Meridian points on your body - it's actually a beautiful way to release trapped emotions, and sometimes there are emotions that you don't even know are being stored. There's also EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing - I've seen people that have had had really good results from EMDR, especially to treat trauma. There are a ton of things out there!

Try everything until you find the thing that works for you, because as I said, everyone's different. There's no one size fits all approach,

But the key is to find the thing that works for you because everyone's different. So just keep trying different things, do some research on the internet about things that have worked for others, follow different people (like me), get different perspectives, different ideas, and open your mind to different possibilities of healing. Try everything until you find the thing that works for you, because as I said, everyone's different, there's no one size fits all approach. This is part of the reason why I studied so many different modalities (apart from the fact that I'm REALLY interested in them all), it's because I know that what works for one person may not work for another.

DON'T GIVE UP. If you want to recover enough, then you'll find a solution. I promise. But remember that everyone's journey is different. My journey will be different to your journey which will be different to the next person and the next person.

If you are interested in alternative therapies, I offer a number of modalities. My work is solution-based, so I find out your exact problem and then I work with you to find the best solution for you, to guarantee the best results. I currently practice Hypnotherapy, TRTP, Breath work, Coaching, NLP and Yoga (although that is more from a lifestyle perspective rather than a treatment perspective :)). So contact me if you are interested in exploring any of these further, I'd love to hear from you!