Restriction, binge eating, purging or food fear
Support for patterns that feel distressing, rigid, chaotic, secretive or difficult to change.
Nedlands + telehealth across Australia
Eating disorder therapy in Nedlands
Body Belonging Clinic provides eating disorder therapy, body image therapy and mental health social work for people whose eating and body image concerns are connected with identity, culture, neurodivergence, trauma, family systems and recovery.
Based in Nedlands and offering telehealth across Australia, Body Belonging Clinic supports adults, adolescents and families experiencing eating disorders, disordered eating, body image distress, recovery fatigue and recovery-related challenges.
Led by Lauren Lynch, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker, Medicare provider and ANZAED Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician, Body Belonging Clinic offers therapy that is culturally safe, identity-affirming, trauma-informed, neuroaffirming, LGBTQIA+ affirming, trans-affirming and size-inclusive.
AMHSWANZAED credentialedMedicare providerCBT-E trained
Whole-person eating disorder support
Eating disorder therapy that holds the whole person.
Many people arrive at eating disorder therapy feeling like parts of their story have been missed, misunderstood, minimised or pathologised.
At Body Belonging Clinic, eating disorder support includes food and body concerns while also making room for the wider context around them.
This may include identity, culture, gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, trauma and family systems. It may also include relationships, school, work, community and access to care.
This can be especially important for people whose eating disorder or body image distress is connected with shame, masking, sensory overwhelm, gendered body distress or gender dysphoria, minority stress, family stress, cultural disconnection, trauma or feeling like they do not fit neatly into standard treatment spaces.
You do not need to have a formal diagnosis or feel “sick enough” to make an enquiry. If Medicare Eating Disorder Plan access is being considered, eligibility and diagnosis must be assessed by the relevant medical practitioner.
Support may be helpful for
Eating disorders, disordered eating and body image distress.
Therapy is available for adults, adolescents and families navigating eating and body concerns, recovery fatigue, relapse worries or distress that has not felt understood in standard treatment spaces.
Body checking, avoidance and comparison
Support for shame, distress, avoidance, comparison, body-based anxiety and feeling unsafe in or around your body.
Recovery fatigue or feeling stuck
Support for relapse concerns, motivation, routines, care-team communication and rebuilding recovery in a way that fits real life.
Neuroaffirming eating disorder therapy
Recovery support that respects neurodivergent bodies, brains and lives.
Neurodivergent people can experience eating disorders, disordered eating and body image distress in ways that are often misunderstood.
Neuroaffirming eating disorder therapy does not treat autism, ADHD or other neurodivergence as the problem. Instead, therapy considers how eating, body distress and recovery may be shaped by sensory needs, interoception, executive functioning, routines, transitions, masking, burnout, demand overwhelm, emotional regulation, communication preferences and lived experience.
- sensory distress around food, textures, smells, fullness, body sensations or eating environments
- difficulty noticing or interpreting hunger, fullness, nausea, pain or emotional cues
- food rules, routines, rigidity, sameness or distress when plans change
- executive functioning barriers around shopping, cooking, eating regularly or attending appointments
- shame linked to masking, burnout, social eating, school, work or family expectations
- recovery plans that need to be practical, concrete, collaborative and adapted to the person’s neurotype
The aim is not to force a neurotypical version of recovery. The aim is to build support that respects the person’s body, brain, communication, sensory needs, identity and life context.
LGBTQIA+, queer and trans-affirming eating disorder therapy
Support that does not treat identity as the problem.
For LGBTQIA+, queer, trans, gender diverse and non-binary people, eating disorder and body image support may need to hold more than food and weight concerns.
Dysphoria, euphoria and body distress
Therapy can make room for gender dysphoria, gender euphoria, body boundaries and the ways body image and recovery may interact with gendered safety.
Shame, safety and healthcare harm
Support can consider discrimination, misgendering, family rejection, social pressure, medical systems and previous invalidating experiences in care.
Names, pronouns and lived experience
Therapy respects names, pronouns, identity, culture, body boundaries and community connection while supporting recovery goals.
Trans-affirming eating disorder therapy does not treat gender diversity as a symptom of an eating disorder. It creates space to understand how eating disorder behaviours, body image distress, gender, safety, control, shame and care systems may be interacting.
Evidence-informed and collaborative care
Clinical care with a strong systems lens.
Eating disorder therapy at Body Belonging Clinic is informed by eating-disorder-specific training, CBT-E training, mental health social work practice, ANZAED Credential standards and ongoing professional development.
Lauren works from a warm, collaborative and non-shaming approach. Therapy may draw on evidence-informed eating disorder treatment principles while adapting support to the person’s needs, readiness, identity, neurotype, family system and care context.
Where appropriate, Body Belonging Clinic can work alongside GPs, dietitians, psychiatrists, paediatricians, schools, support coordinators, family members, carers, kin and other providers.
Medical monitoring and level of care
Outpatient therapy, with care-team collaboration where needed.
Eating disorders can involve physical and psychological risk. Some people may need GP involvement, medical monitoring, dietetic support, psychiatric review, paediatric involvement or a higher level of care.
Outpatient therapy
Body Belonging Clinic provides outpatient mental health therapy. It is not a crisis service, medical service, dietetic service, inpatient service or emergency response service.
Care-team communication
Where medical stability, risk or nutritional concerns are present, therapy may need to occur alongside a broader care team.
Referrer information
Referrers are welcome to include medical monitoring, risk, current supports, Medicare pathway, family involvement, sensory considerations and communication needs.
Adolescents, parents, carers and families
Support for the person and the system around them.
Body Belonging Clinic supports adolescents experiencing eating disorder symptoms, disordered eating, body image distress or recovery-related concerns.
Where appropriate, therapy can include parents, carers, kin and family members. Family involvement may support communication, meal and recovery support, understanding distress, reducing blame and strengthening the system around the young person.
For adolescents and young people, Body Belonging Clinic can also liaise with GPs, dietitians, schools, paediatricians, psychiatrists and other members of the care team where consent and referral arrangements are in place.
Medicare and referral pathways
Eating Disorder Plans, Mental Health Care Plans and other access pathways.
Eligible clients may be able to access Medicare rebates with a valid referral pathway, including an Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plan, a Mental Health Treatment Plan, or an eligible psychiatrist or paediatrician referral.
Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plans are arranged and reviewed by a GP, medical practitioner, psychiatrist or paediatrician. Your GP or medical practitioner can help assess eligibility, medical stability and referral requirements.
Self-funded appointments, selected private health rebates and NDIS self-managed or plan-managed pathways may also be available where appropriate. If you are unsure which pathway applies, you are welcome to make an enquiry before booking.
Referrals welcome
GPs, dietitians, schools, families and care teams can refer.
Body Belonging Clinic welcomes referrals from GPs, dietitians, psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists, school counsellors and wellbeing teams, Aboriginal health workers, community services, LGBTQIA+ services, support coordinators, allied health and individuals or families.
In-person in Nedlands
Appointments are available in Nedlands by appointment.
Telehealth across Australia
Online therapy may suit people outside Perth, people who prefer online appointments, or people seeking an identity-affirming and neuroaffirming approach.
Referrer details
Include eating disorder symptoms, medical monitoring, current supports, Medicare pathway, family involvement, communication needs and sensory considerations.
Frequently asked questions
Eating disorder therapy questions.
Do I need a diagnosis to make an enquiry?
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to make an enquiry. If Medicare Eating Disorder Plan access is being considered, eligibility and diagnosis must be assessed by the relevant medical practitioner.
Do you offer neuroaffirming eating disorder therapy?
Yes. Body Belonging Clinic offers neuroaffirming eating disorder and body image therapy. Support can consider sensory needs, interoception, executive functioning, routines, masking, burnout, communication preferences and recovery plans that need to be adapted to the person’s neurotype.
Do you support autistic and ADHD clients with eating disorders?
Yes. Body Belonging Clinic supports neurodivergent clients, including autistic and ADHD clients, with eating disorder, disordered eating and body image concerns. Therapy is adapted to the person’s needs, communication style, sensory profile and care context.
Are you LGBTQIA+ affirming and trans-affirming?
Yes. Body Belonging Clinic is Aboriginal and LGBTQIA+ led, trans-affirming, neuroaffirming, size-inclusive and trauma-informed. Therapy respects names, pronouns, identity, culture, body boundaries and lived experience.
Can I use a Medicare Eating Disorder Plan?
Eligible clients may be able to access Medicare rebates with a valid Eating Disorder Treatment and Management Plan and referral. Your GP, medical practitioner, psychiatrist or paediatrician can help assess eligibility and referral requirements.
Can GPs, dietitians and schools refer?
Yes. Referrals are welcome from GPs, dietitians, psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists, schools, support coordinators, allied health providers, community services, families and individuals.
Book or make an enquiry
Begin with a booking, question or referral.
You can book online or contact Body Belonging Clinic to ask about fit, referral pathways or appointment options. Body Belonging Clinic is not a crisis service. If there is immediate risk, medical instability or urgent mental health concern, please contact emergency services, a local crisis service or the person’s GP or medical team.