Restrictive eating & rigid food rules
Rules around when, what or how much you can eat, fear foods, chronic restriction, or anxiety when eating does not go according to plan.
Eating disorders & body image
Your relationship with food and your body carries a story.
Specialized eating-disorder and body-image psychotherapy with Saleha Javed for adolescents and adults struggling with food, body image, control, shame and self-worth. Together, we explore the emotions, relationships, identity, family and cultural experiences that shape the eating concern.
More than food
Eating concerns rarely exist in isolation.
I work with adolescents and adults whose relationships with food, their bodies, control or self-worth have become sources of distress. These concerns can be connected to perfectionism, shame, identity, trauma, culture, family messages and ways of coping that once served an important purpose.
Our work makes room for the full experience, not only the behaviour. I offer compassionate, non-judgmental therapy that supports a more trusting relationship with your body, emotions and sense of self. When appropriate, psychotherapy can work alongside medical and nutritional care as part of coordinated support.
You may recognize yourself here
You do not have to look unwell for this to be affecting your life.
Food rules or thoughts about eating take up more mental space than you want.
Your mood or sense of worth changes with how you feel about your body.
Restriction, binge eating, compensating or exercise can feel difficult to interrupt.
You carry shame or secrecy and worry that others will not understand.
You are functioning on the outside but feel consumed or exhausted within.
You keep wondering whether your experience is “serious enough” for support.
What we can work with
You deserve care that does not ask you to simplify your experience.
Binge eating & loss of control
Episodes of eating that feel difficult to stop, eating in secrecy, emotional eating, or cycles of restriction followed by bingeing.
Compensatory behaviours & compulsive exercise
Feeling driven to compensate for eating through restriction, exercise or other behaviours, or feeling guilty when you cannot exercise.
Body image, checking & avoidance
Preoccupation with weight, shape or appearance; checking, comparison or reassurance seeking; or avoiding mirrors, clothing, photographs or situations.
Food anxiety, shame & guilt
Anxiety before eating, guilt afterward, labelling foods as “good” or “bad,” or feeling that what you eat says something about who you are.
Perfectionism, control & self-worth
When eating, appearance, productivity or discipline become intertwined with feeling successful, acceptable or “good enough.”
Culture, family & identity
How family, culture, migration, beauty standards, gender expectations and belonging can shape your experience of food and your body.
Recovery & relapse support
Support when you are beginning recovery, returning after a setback, or noticing old thoughts and behaviours becoming louder again.
Culture, family & identity
Food and body image do not exist outside of culture.
The way we learn to think about food and our bodies begins long before we consciously develop an opinion about either. For some people, that story includes food being an expression of love while weight is openly commented on; being encouraged to eat and then criticized for gaining weight; or being compared with siblings or relatives.
It can also include messages about which bodies are considered attractive, feminine, masculine, disciplined or desirable; different beauty ideals across cultures; and conflicting expectations about how your body should look while participating fully in family and cultural traditions around food.
For immigrants and people navigating bicultural or multiple cultural identities, ideas about beauty, health, gender, family and belonging may not translate neatly from one environment to another.
Culture is not treated as a footnote to your eating disorder. When it matters to your experience, it becomes part of understanding it.
Saleha’s approach
Understand the pattern. Then begin changing it.
The work is compassionate, curious and non-judgmental. Rather than treating an eating concern as a failure of willpower, we begin with an individualized understanding of your particular pattern: what happens before an eating-disorder behaviour, what it provides in the moment, what happens afterward and what keeps the cycle going.
Depending on what you are experiencing, therapy may involve reducing rigid food rules and restriction; understanding binge patterns and emotional triggers; challenging beliefs about food, weight and shape; addressing body checking or avoidance; and developing a greater capacity to tolerate difficult emotions. We may also work with perfectionism, shame, control and self-worth, alongside relevant relational, identity, trauma, family and cultural experiences.
The work is collaborative, individualized and evidence-informed. Where appropriate, it may draw from eating-disorder-focused CBT principles, ACT, DBT-informed strategies, mindfulness and relational approaches. Psychotherapy can also be coordinated with medical and nutritional care when needed.
The goal is not perfection around food. It is greater flexibility, safety, choice and freedom.
More about Saleha’s clinical work →Recovery in everyday life
What can recovery actually look like?
Recovery does not always look dramatic. It does not require loving your body every day or never having another difficult thought about food.
Food taking up less mental space.
Eating something unplanned without trying to compensate afterward.
Eating socially with less anxiety and responding to hunger without questioning whether you are “allowed” to.
Moving your body without needing to earn food or undo what you ate.
Letting clothing size and body evaluation have less influence over how you feel about yourself.
Coping with difficult emotions without restriction, bingeing, exercise or food becoming the only available response.
Difficult thoughts may still appear. Recovery can mean they become quieter—and have less authority over the life you choose to live.
You do not need the right label
You can begin with what has become difficult.
You do not need to decide whether your experience is “serious enough” before reaching out. A discovery call offers a private, low-pressure place to ask questions and consider the next step.
Questions before beginning
Clear information can make reaching out feel more possible.
Do I need an eating-disorder diagnosis to reach out?
No. You can seek support if thoughts about food, weight, shape, exercise or your body are taking up too much space—even if you do not have a diagnosis or are unsure how to describe what is happening.
What happens when I begin?
A free discovery call gives you space to ask questions and explore whether Saleha’s approach fits what you need. Early sessions focus on understanding what is happening now, your wider story and what you hope can become different. You will not be expected to disclose everything at once.
Does psychotherapy replace medical or nutritional care?
No. Psychotherapy focuses on the emotional, behavioural and relational parts of recovery. Eating disorders can also affect physical health, so medical monitoring, nutritional care or a higher level of support may be important. When appropriate, therapy can be one part of coordinated care.
Can I attend virtually?
Yes. Secure virtual sessions are available to clients located across Ontario. In-person appointments are available in Downtown Toronto and Pickering.
Can I reach out for someone I care about?
Yes. You can contact the practice to ask about available support and possible next steps. We cannot discuss another person’s private care, but we can offer general guidance about accessing services.
A gentle first step
Your struggle deserves care before it becomes easier to explain.
A free 15-minute discovery call is a chance to share what is bringing you here and decide which therapist or service feels like the best fit.