Eating Disorder Recovery For Teens

Compassionate nutrition support for your teen – and your family

If your teen is struggling with disordered eating, you’re not alone – and it’s not your fault. Watching your teen struggle with food, body image and eating can feel overwhelming, frightening and heartbreaking. You want to help, but you may not know how. You might also be struggling to find a dietitian, therapist and doctor to help your child recover.

I work with many teens and families navigating these exact challenges and I understand just how hard this process can be. I also know that recovery is possible. Together, we can help your teen rebuild trust with food, reconnect with their body, and find peace and freedom around eating — one step at a time.

As a dietitian, with experience in eating disorders, I work with teens and their families as part of a multidisciplinary team that includes doctors and therapists to ensure the best coordinated care possible.

My approach is compassionate, trauma-informed, body-affirming and evidence-based, and takes account of your family’s and your teen’s unique situation and needs. This is why when you choose to work with me, I first spend some time talking with you and getting to know your teen.

When we work together, you and your teen can expect a non-judgemental space. As the expert of your teen and family, you are your teen’s most important ally and I will support you to feel empowered in your teen’s recovery. Your teen can expect a space where they feel heard and where all bodies, identities and experiences are respected.

If you want to learn more about what to expect when we work together or about how nutrition support can help your teen, keep reading or book a 20-minute complimentary call with me. Your family deserves professional support that is free of shame, judgement, and diet culture.

Reasons* you might choose to work with me:

  • Your teen has been diagnosed with an eating disorder
  • Your teen hasn’t been diagnosed with an eating disorder, but you’ve noticed your teen is struggling with food and eating, they may have expressed shame or guilt around eating, they’ve lost weight recently (no matter their body size).
  • Negative thoughts about food are preventing your teen from enjoying life and being fully present at school and with the family and their friends.
  • Your teen is struggling with food and eating and you’re not sure how to approach meals and eating at home and want help taking the fear and guesswork out of what, when, and how much to feed your teen.
  • You are looking for a dietitian who models compassion and neutrality around food and bodies.
  • You want support from a dietitian who knows recovery isn’t *just* about weight restoration, but about rebuilding a healthy, flexible, and trusting relationship with food for the long term.
  • You want your teen to find joy and pleasure in eating again.
  • You want your teen to live a full life again, without food and body worry.

*Not a complete list.

It is possible for your teen to find peace with food, movement and their body. 

Who I support

I support teens across the spectrum of disordered eating and eating disorders including:

  • Anorexia nervosa
  • Bulimia nervosa
  • Binge Eating Disorder
  • Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
  • Orthorexia

But your teen doesn’t have to have a diagnosis of an eating disorder to work with me. Every teen – and family’s- situation and experience is unique – and valid. Even if your teen doesn’t have a formal diagnosis of an eating disorder, if their relationship with food is impacting their life, they still deserve support. They don’t need to look a certain way, and they don’t need to “tick all the boxes” of a particular eating disorder diagnosis to deserve support. I welcome teens at any body size, and regardless of background, gender and identity, including anyone who may have been told they’re “not sick enough” to deserve care. If food and body worry is interfering with your teen’s life, they need and are worthy of help.

Louise Pollard Nutrition: Intuitive Eating Programs

Support For Your Teen

Here are just some of the ways I can help your teen so food becomes a source of healing, strength and joy again:

  • (Ongoing) nutritional assessment and monitoring of progress.
  • Individualised mealplans tailored to your teen’s unique nutritional needs and stage of recovery.
  • Meal support.
  • Reducing anxiety around food and eating.
  • Challenging food rules and fear foods (food exposure coaching).
  • Expanding food variety.
  • Normalising hunger and eating.
  • Reducing bingeing, body checking, and other unhelpful behaviours.
  • Finding joy and pleasure in eating again.
  • Reducing eating disorder-related digestive distress.
  • Reducing and eliminating exercise compulsion.
  • Learning how food fuels growth and brain development, supports brain function, mood regulation, behaviour, hormones and physical health.
  • Building long term food skills.
  • Feeling confident about food choices despite confusing and conflicting nutrition information.
  • Building body trust so food rules are no longer needed.
  • And much more.
Request Appointment

Support For Your Family

Eating disorders don’t “just” affect teens, they affect the whole family. And, as your teen’s parents, you are their best allies in recovery. That’s why I also work closely with parents to empower you to take an active role in supporting your teen’s recovery and help you feel confident in the decisions you are making for your teen. It’s also essential for recovery: when parents feel calm and informed, it creates an environment in which teens feel safer to heal.

Take the Next Step

If you’re ready to get your teen the support they deserve, I’m here to help.

Request Appointment

What To Expect

A Sneak Peak Inside The Recovery Process

Strong Foundations

up to 4 sessions

Typically, we begin with one-two sessions just for parents. This gives you space to share what’s been happening, ask questions, and explore your concerns. It also allows me to share information about eating disorders, address common worries and outline how we can work together to support your teen’s recovery. I want you to walk away feeling informed, hopeful and knowing that recovery is possible for your teen.

This is followed by one-two sessions getting to know your teen better. These allow me to complete an nutritional assessment and focus on building trust, and creating a safe place for them to talk. As part of the assessment process, I will ask questions about their hobbies, sleep, stress, digestive issues, use of social media etc. so I can learn as much as possible to support them.

Based on what we talk about in these sessions, we’ll create a plan that supports your teen’s recovery while helping your family navigate mealtimes and communication with more confidence and understanding.

Progress

As many sessions as needed

Our follow-up sessions of 45 minutes take place according to your teen and your family’s individual situation and needs. Typically we begin with weekly or fortnightly appointments, later we assess the frequency of appointments needed. I will recommend additional medical assessments and tests to be carried out through your teen’s doctor as appropriate. Maintaining open communication with one another, while honouring the trust your teen places in me, remains vitally important during this time.We reflect on your teen’s progress towards their goals, work on reducing barriers to achieving those goals and/or consider implementing new/additional strategies. We also make time to celebrate their – and your wins!

Additional Support

Getting the support you need

I want you and your teen to feel understood and as supported as possible, right from the start, so you’ll both have email and telephone access to me for any question or concern between sessions. You will also both receive an email summary following a session with me.

Additional services that are extremely helpful in recovery that I can offer include: meal support and developing cooking skills.

Freedom & Ease

As many sessions as needed

Your teen is beginning to rediscover a more peaceful relationship with food – one built on trust, confidence, and self-compassion. Food no longer feels so hard. They feel more at ease around food and in their body, knowing they can and deserve to nourish themselves without fear or guilt. Blood tests, medical and other tests may show improvement. We reflect on and celebrate the progress they – and you have made. We may meet less often, but we’ll continue to work together as long as you like.

Request Appointment