1:1 Recovery Support for Disordered Eating
1:1 Sessions online over Zoom
Hello, I’m Harriet Wilson.
I help people to find freedom from patterns of disordered eating & to create a more compassionate relationship with themselves.
I’m a Registered ACT Therapist, Mindfulness Teacher and Internal Family Systems Coach, specialising in disordered eating and body image issues. I work with people of all genders, ages and body sizes. I aim to be inclusive, trauma informed, anti racist, LGBTQIA+ friendly and supportive of people with disabilities and neurodiversity.Areas of expertise
Patterns of binge eating, restriction, bulimia, emotional eating and body image issues
Neurodiversity
Attachment and relationship issues
Dating and barriers to intimacy
Co-occurring addictive processes
How do I know
I can help?
I support people with their mental health, but I’m human first.
I’ve been learning how to feel well for over twenty years.
I learned that controlling how I ate as a child felt comforting, knowing that I could push away feelings of low self worth.
I became obsessed with numbers - calories, the steps I’d walked that day to the point that my life revolved around food and exercise. I would oscillate between control and rules to pendulum swinging the other way into binge eating - which left me stuck a cycle of self perpetuating shame.
Over a decade into trying to fix this - after another failed attempt, I realised that I was grasping at peace. It dawned on me at that moment of disappointment that outsourcing the solution was futile and that I needed to let go of the striving If I was to recover. With the help of a couple of very wise teachers, I learned that paradoxically - If I learned to drop the internal conflict, I could soothe my seemingly broken nervous system and in turn change my pattern around eating.
I learned that real transformation was actually about doing less, not more.
As I started making steps, then strides towards the realm of wellbeing, I learnt lots of tools for living more fully and intentionally. But it was only after years of research and discovery that I managed to leave the “cusp” - letting go of my frenetic attempts at perfection and finally creating the fulfilling, healthy life I wanted.
My teachers helped me to develop agency and shift my belief from “there’s something wrong with me and and I can’t change this” to “I can recover and I’m deserving of self compassion”
When I learnt how to regulate my emotional state and develop compassion for the parts of myself that I felt frustrated with - it was life changing.
It took a lot of falling back down and picking myself up again to get here but what I’m really passionate about now, is sharing the tools I've learnt to help others on their path to feeling well.
These experiences have given me a level of insight and empathy in all the therapeutic work I do.
In my work, I use an integrative approach including mindfulness and nervous system regulation work as well as therapeutic coaching and the Internal Family Systems framework. I draw from Compassion focused therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). I keep up to date with the latest neuroscience and psychology research and undertake regular clinical supervision as well as continued professional development.
I want to help you:
To Re-think and better understand the parts of yourself that you don’t like; the inner critic, the one drawn to over eating, the over-thinker - so that you can begin to resolve the inner conflict.
To Reboot your mental health by teaching you tools to self soothe and regulate your nervous system - so that you have the power to choose before you decide to restrict or eat to “zone out”.
To Reconnect with yourself so that you can cultivate a sense of self compassion and begin to change the destructive behaviours.
Book a free call
I’d love to talk you through how we could work together. On the call - we’ll make sure that this is the right support for you and explore whether we feel that we’re a good fit to work together. It will also give you the opportunity to get to know how I work and ask any questions you might have about my approach.
What my clients say:
Dear Harriet, Finding the time to write about how much you’ve helped me has been weirdly challenging, I’ve never been very good at saying goodbyes, even if they’re temporary! I sit here now though, at my desk, writing freely to say a massive thank you for everything you’ve done.
You helped me discover myself in so many ways. When we first met, I was unsure if I’d be able to get any better or make much headway. I was absolutely certain that there were some things I wouldn’t be able to talk about, for fear of shame, disappointment and perhaps some deluded hope that those aspects would disappear as I got ‘on with it’ and better. I wouldn’t need to talk about them at all.
But you created a space for me to feel safe, heard, and supported. You helped me uncover those things and bring them to the sessions. I can’t explain what skill and kindness you showed in allowing me to access those parts of myself, my disorder and to still make me feel accepted with the belief that I can get better.
You are a very talented, generous, patient and thoughtful therapist. You have provided a platform for me to practice compassion and kindness on myself. You have helped me see how judgements and cycles are so closely interlinked and, above all else, you have taught me how little me, younger Ruth is someone to be close to, ally with and accept. You have helped reduce the fear I feel and welcome the hurt and habits of protection in, so I can get closer to making peace with them all as one. I can tell you, that’s pretty impressive.
I also want to say thank you for listening to me swear like a sailor! As well as tell jokes to help me manage my discomfort. It’s been one of the most affecting and positive partnerships I’ve had therapeutically, I respect you enormously and cannot thank you enough.
Thank you for showing it can be possible.
- Ruth, 36
'I reached out to Harriet when I was struggling with binge eating. Harriet helped me to reframe the behaviour as a trauma response and develop a more compassionate inner voice to respond to the coping mechanism. Harriet has helped me to slow down and take the time to recognise what my body needs. She has taught me to navigate food boundaries, to recognise mental restriction and the limitations diet culture that perpetuate my food and body image difficulties. Thank you so much Harriet, your support has been invaluable to me'
- Lucy, 31
"Working with Harriet on becoming more mindful has been a very relaxed experience. Instead of rushing to solutions, she quite naturally has a way of slowing you down, taking a step back and just acknowledging what is right in front of you. She has really helped me untangle the mess that was in my head by listening first and then asking the right questions. By giving me easy tools to work with, I managed to become a lot more mindful and aware in my day to day. I now know I have a choice in how I feel, which is very liberating."
- Lisanne, 35
“When I came to Harriet, I felt anxious all the time, my eating patterns were really out of control and I couldn’t see a way forward. Over the last few months, she’s helped me to see things from new perspectives and re-build my confidence. I’ve learnt how to be less reactive and how to calm myself when I notice anxiety popping up. Life is flowing again and I know what I need to do to keep myself on track. I always leave the session feeling hopeful and looking forward to the future.”
— Anna, 33
It's been a strange couple of months but I cannot thank you enough for helping me get through them. You've helped me re-find both myself and the simple joy of life that seemed locked away for so long. You have taught me so many useful things and lessons that I will carry with me for many years, for whatever challenges the future may hold. So I thank you again and I hope you continue to share your knowledge with the world as I'm sure you will, helping many more and spreading your compassion and kindness. Thank you so much, Harriet