How Therapy Can Help You Recover from Binge Eating Disorder
Living with binge eating can be an incredibly difficult experience, constantly feeling stuck in overwhelming cycles of frustration and guilt, and no clear way out. You might find yourself feeling out of control, eating large amounts of food, sometimes very quickly and in secret, and then being left with all of the guilt and shame that comes afterwards. As exhausting and isolating as this is, the good news is that with the right support, recovery is absolutely possible. Counselling/Psychotherapy (sometimes just called ‘therapy’) is one of the most effective ways to help you get there.
As a qualified and experienced Eating Disorder Therapist, as well as someone who has fully recovered after years of binge eating, I want to offer some insights to help you understand why you’re struggling and what options you have for support. This blog post will explore what binge eating disorder is, why it develops, what keeps you feeling stuck, and how therapy can help you build a better, more balanced relationship with food.
What is binge eating disorder?
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in the UK and affects nearly 1% of adults across the world. It involves repeated episodes of eating large amounts of food in a short period of time, even when not physically hungry. Often people describe being out of control and are left with feelings of distress, guilt, or shame following a binge episode.
This isn’t the same as occasionally overeating but is a significant and recognised mental health issue, affecting both males and females, which can have huge impacts on your emotional health, physical health, and day-to-day life.
Common symptoms of BED include:
Eating large amounts of food in secret or when you’re not hungry
Feeling out of control and unable to stop eating
Guilt, shame, or feelings of disgust after eating
Emotional distress linked to food or your body image
Why binge eating disorder develops
It’s normal to want to find a reason for why you’re struggling but there isn’t one single cause of BED. As with all eating disorders, it often develops due to a combination of biological, emotional, and social factors.
Some of the common things that contribute to developing BED include:
Emotional regulation: Using food as a coping mechanism or to numb difficult feelings such as sadness, boredom, anxiety, guilt, or loneliness.
Dieting and restriction: Restrictive eating (including restricting calories, certain foods, or entire food groups) or dieting can trigger binge cycles.
Trauma or stress: Past trauma and chronic stress may make food feel like a source of comfort or control.
Family and cultural influences: Growing up in a household that emphasises dieting, demonising certain foods, and criticising certain types of bodies.
Genetic or neurochemical factors: Some people are biologically predisposed to experiencing difficulties that affect appetite and impulse control.
Personality traits: Certain personality traits such as perfectionism and impulsivity.
Neurodivergence: Neurodivergent individuals are more likely to experience binge eating, particularly those with ADHD
Effective therapy doesn’t just treat the symptoms but addresses all of the factors that are maintaining the problem and helps you to live a full, rich, meaningful life.
How therapy works for binge eating disorder
There are many different approaches to therapy which can be helpful. Regardless of the type of therapy, it’s important to access support from someone who has knowledge, training, and experience in eating disorders.
Some therapies can be very structured whilst others are much more flexible; which one is most suitable can depend on your own personality, situations, and needs. However, any effective therapy will offer a compassionate space to explore your relationship with food and help you better manage difficult emotions. Some of the therapy approaches that are often used to help include:
Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT-E): Helps identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behavioural patterns related to food, weight, and self-worth.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): Builds emotional regulation and distress tolerance skills.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Helps to improve psychological flexibility so that you can better manage difficult thoughts and feelings, reduce the power of urges/cravings, and do more of what truly matters to you
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT): focuses on cultivating self-compassion and soothing the inner critic that often fuels shame and self-blame around eating.
Schema Therapy: Explores patterns of maladaptive thoughts, feelings, and behaviour that developed in childhood and may be affecting your relationship with food.
Many therapists, including myself, are also trained in Humanistic models of therapy and take an integrative approach as we recognise that different people need different things, and one size doesn’t fit all. Before working with a therapist, don’t be afraid to ask them about their training and approach – the relationship between you and your therapist is one of the most important factors, no matter what type of therapy they offer.
Regardless of the approach, effective therapy for binge eating will usually include:
Helping you establish regular eating patterns
Identifying triggers and strategies to manage these
Teaching practical coping skills
As a therapist specialising in binge eating recovery, I take an approach that tailors therapy to your unique needs, helping you feel understood, supported, and empowered to make lasting changes and live a life that feels more meaningful.
Therapy strategies that help with binge eating
Therapy for binge eating disorder focuses on behaviours, emotions, and developing psychological flexibility (the ability to better manage difficult inner experiences and have the freedom to take actions more in line with the kind of person you want to be). Key strategies include:
Breaking the binge–urge cycle: Learning to pause and respond differently to urges.
Building emotional regulation: Managing strong feelings without turning to food to try and “get rid” of them.
Changing your relationship to difficult thoughts: Rather than just trying to distract from, ignore, or rationalise unpleasant self-critical thoughts, techniques such as cognitive defusion helps to reduce their impact so you can make different choices.
Developing body neutrality: You don’t have to love your body but you can learn to accept it as it is right now whilst still engaging in actions that align with your values
Dealing with shame and poor body image: Challenging critical self-beliefs and fostering body neutrality or acceptance.
Improving your relationship with food: This can include learning to better recognise and respond to hunger and fullness cues, eat more intuitively, or make more balanced choices.
When to seek professional help (and how to find the right therapist)
If binge eating is causing distress, guilt, or impacting your health and relationships, it may be time to reach out for help.You don’t have to have a diagnosis in order to get help.
Therapy can provide a confidential and effective space to explore your relationship with food, your emotions, and yourself, whilst helping you move towards a life of more meaning and purpose.
Some tips for finding the right therapist:
Look for someone who specialises in eating disorders or disordered eating
Look for specific qualifications in counselling/psychotherapy or clinical/counselling psychology
Ask about their approach (e.g., ACT, CBT-E, Schema Therapy, person-centred)
Consider whether you prefer in-person or online sessions (both are equally as effective)
Check specialist directories such as the BEAT helpfinder https://helpfinder.beateatingdisorders.org.uk or TREDD https://tredd.org.uk
Recovering from binge eating disorder is absolutely possible and you don’t have to live this way forever, no matter how long you’ve struggled. Therapy offers an effective way to understand what might have contributed, what’s keeping it going, and to develop the skills you need to overcome your challenges.
If you’re ready to take that next step, you’re welcome to reach out for a free consultation to explore how therapy with me could support your recovery. I work online across the UK and worldwide (including Europe, Asia, Australia, and Sputh America).