Mary Wood

Therapist (Eating Disorders Therapist)

I’m a UKCP-registered therapist who’s practised in the field of eating disorders and eating problems for almost 10 years.

My extensive experience in the field of eating disorders includes the treatment of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder as well as helping clients with the complex issues associated with eating disorders including body image, nutrition and compulsive exercise.

The needs of those with eating problems often requires an approach which includes family and significant life partners. I wrote A Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders to describe the importance of this approach in recovery. Equine-assisted therapy can also help recovery, and I’ve have seen how the power of horses helps people achieve self-knowledge and self-confidence.

Through my one-to-one counselling and workshops in schools I help teens, women and the increasing number of men who struggle with their eating. ‘The Body Project’ is a workshop which focuses on body image, eating and self-esteem, so helping to prevent disordered eating in young people. It has been successfully delivered in secondary schools.

My most recent television appearance was on Sky TV’s Secret Food Diaries (you can see a short edit on YouTube). The programme shows me helping a woman who’d had a long struggle with an eating disorder which transformed her into a reclusive binge eater. Articles about my work with adolescents have been featured in You magazine, Psychologies and Young People Now. I was extensively quoted in an article about orthorexia in the Guardian.

Seeing the need to reach young people affected by eating disorders led me to establish the charity Foundations UK (www.foundationsuk.org). As its chief executive, I can promote an understanding of the psychological and medical needs of people with eating problems. Foundations delivers treatment and preventative programmes which aim to motivate people to look after themselves by nurturing a positive attitude to their whole self, mind and body.