What Counts as an Eating Disorder
The Valens Clinic treats three main types of eating disorders, and getting the distinction right shapes everything that follows.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa involves severely restricting food intake alongside a distorted body image. The pattern can bring substantial weight loss and physical complications that reach beyond the psychological side alone.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa involves cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through vomiting, fasting or excessive exercise. The binge and the purge function as a pair, and treatment addresses each part of the cycle rather than one alone.
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder involves repeated episodes of eating without purging, and the person is left distressed and out of control afterward. No compensatory behaviour follows the binge, which is what separates this pattern from bulimia.
A psychologist’s first job is working out which pattern fits, since the right treatment depends on getting that distinction right. Left untreated, any of the three carries real physical risk, from malnutrition and gastrointestinal problems to cardiac complications, alongside depression and anxiety, which commonly accompany disordered eating.
The Psychologist’s Role: Addressing What Sits Behind the Behaviour
Medication and nutritional counselling treat the physical side of an eating disorder. A psychologist at The Valens Clinic addresses the psychological and emotional factors driving the disordered eating in the first place, whether that means distorted body image, control, anxiety or another underlying pattern. Psychotherapy is where that work happens, session by session.
A psychologist’s focus stays fixed on thoughts and behaviour, not on food itself. A dietitian addresses nutrition and eating patterns directly. That work covers the physical relationship with food, which sits alongside the psychological one. The division keeps each professional working from a distinct area of expertise, rather than one clinician trying to cover nutrition science and psychological therapy at the same time.
Where a Dietitian and a Psychiatrist Fit In
Nutritional counselling helps a patient rebuild a workable relationship with food and correct the physical effects of malnutrition, led by a clinical dietitian rather than the psychologist. Medications such as antidepressants or antipsychotics may also be added to treat a co-occurring condition such as depression or anxiety, prescribed by a psychiatrist rather than the psychologist directly. Severe cases involving serious physical risk may need hospitalisation to stabilise the person first, before the psychological work can continue safely.
What the First Consultation Involves
A consultation can start with a dietitian, a psychiatrist or a psychologist, and does not commit a patient to any specific treatment path in advance. The clinician listens, reaches a diagnosis, and lays out the options rather than prescribing a fixed plan on the spot. The Valens Clinic is explicit that its eating disorder treatment does not mean forced dieting or starvation. The clinic builds each plan around the individual case instead.
When a Parent Books for a Child
Patients under 18, or a parent who suspects a child has an eating disorder, are directed to the clinic’s child psychiatrist or its dietitian rather than the adult pathway. A parent booking on behalf of a relative still needs to make that relative aware of the appointment, and the booking itself goes under the parent’s name rather than the relative’s, since The Valens Clinic asks that of anyone scheduling for someone else.
Talk to a Psychologist About an Eating Disorder
Book a consultation for eating disorder treatment at The Valens Clinic to find the right starting point for your situation.