A day in the life of a people-pleaser often begins with rushing to meet everyone else’s needs before your own, saying yes when you long to say no, and collapsing into bed late at night drained and unseen….

Writing a self-compassionate letter is one way to interrupt this pattern. It might sound simple, but putting pen to paper allows you to hear another voice: one that is gentler, supportive, and on your side.

That’s why I created “Unmasking the Inner Critic: Reclaiming Self-Worth”, an 8-week group therapy course designed to help you step out from behind the mask, understand where that harsh voice came from, and begin to build a kinder relationship with yourself.

If someone lets you in on their secret, it’s not a failure, it’s an act of courage. Your role isn’t to fix them, but to be steady, soft, and safe. That presence, more than any advice, can help break the cycle of silence and shame.

You wake up, hand instinctively reaching to your stomach before you’ve even opened your eyes…………

A deeply honest look at the secrecy, shame and silent comfort of binge eating.

When you’ve lived in that deep, dark place, when you’ve gone days without washing your hair, when your to-do list feels like a list of failures, when your skin crawls at the thought of being seen. self-care can feel confronting.

Not because you don’t care.

But because it brings you face to face with all the ways you’ve been neglected, sometimes by others, sometimes by yourself. That kind of reckoning can be painful.

This is a guest blog by Becky Stone - Teen and Adult Eating Disorder Therapist

When we talk about binge eating, we often picture an adult quietly battling food urges behind closed doors. But what if I told you that I see the very roots of binge eating,  the emotional triggers, the body shame, the dopamine-seeking,  starting in children as young as Year 8?

Hi lovely, 

You’re doing it. You’re starting to feel a little better. A little clearer. You’ve been letting your guard down just enough to imagine something different, a life that feels softer, freer, maybe even joyful.

But suddenly… it’s terrifying.

You walk into a room, and before you’ve even sat down, the scan has already begun………..

Because while BED is the most common eating disorder, it’s also the most overlooked. Not because it isn’t serious.Not because it isn’t painful. But because so many people are deeply convinced it’s their fault.

You say yes with a smile, but your stomach twists……….

I developed an eating disorder at 15. It would be over two decades before I made my way to a more peaceful place with food, my body, and myself. For years, I swung between restriction, bingeing, self-loathing, and desperate attempts to shrink myself into acceptability.

And now, in my 40s, after all that hard-earned recovery, I find myself faced with something new, something I didn’t see coming.