Constantly Starting Over
Food takes up more space in your life than you want it to. The day gets organized around trying to be “good,” avoid losing control, fix what happened yesterday, or finally get back on track. Restriction feels hopeful until it becomes exhausting. Emotional eating feels relieving until the shame sets in again.
There is overthinking before eating, guilt after eating, and a constant mental negotiation happening in between.
You know the cycle logically. That has never been the problem. The problem is how hard it is to sit with emotions, uncertainty, self-criticism, loneliness, overwhelm, or the feeling that you are somehow still not enough. Food becomes both the coping skill and the thing you blame yourself for needing. At some point, it becomes less about food and more about the exhausting relationship you have with yourself.
Therapy Can Help You Understand The Cycle Instead Of Staying Trapped In It
Emotional eating and restriction are often treated like behaviors that simply need more control, discipline, or willpower.
But lasting change usually happens when we slow down enough to understand what the behaviors are doing for you in the first place.
Together, we look at the patterns underneath the cycle:
the pressure to be “good”
the fear of losing control
perfectionism
emotional overwhelm
self-criticism
shame
Therapy is not about judging your behaviors or forcing rigid rules around food. It is about building awareness, learning alternative ways to cope, and creating a relationship with yourself that feels less chaotic and punishing.
Getting Relief
As the cycle begins to loosen its grip, many people notice they are spending less time obsessing over food, their body, or trying to stay in control.
There is less anxiety around eating, more trust in hunger and fullness cues, movement that feels enjoyable instead of punishing, and more ability to be present with the people and experiences that matter to them.
Many clients also notice they stop spending so much emotional energy, time, and money trying to “fix” themselves.
The goal is not perfection. It is building a relationship with yourself that feels more peaceful, flexible, and connected.
Why People Choose To Work With Me
Alivia Flewellen LCSW
If you’re looking for someone who is going to nod silently while you spiral about carbs for 50 minutes… I’m probably not the therapist for you.
I work with women and men ages 18+ who are ready to dismantle what diet and beauty culture has taught us about food and self-worth.
Sessions with me include honesty, curiosity, accountability, self-reflection, and humor. I will equip you with the tools needed to reduce anxiety and guilt, and walk along side you as you discover a new way to relate to your body and food. I also know meaningful change is possible when people feel understood instead of judged.
I have experience working with disordered eating across residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient levels of care. I enjoy helping clients challenge diet culture in creative and realistic ways while building a relationship with food, movement, and themselves that feels less rigid and punishing.
My goal is not to help you become “perfect” with food. It’s to help you stop fighting yourself all the time.