Eating Disorder Psychologist in Melbourne

Q: How do payments work?

Payment is due on the day of your appointment. For in-person appointments, payment is made by EFTPOS. For telehealth appointments, I’ll email you an invoice with my bank details so you can make payment via bank transfer.Once I have received payment, I will process your Medicare rebate for you. You will receive a receipt by email which includes the Medicare claim receipt.

Weight-inclusive therapy to help you understand what’s going on with food, your body and everything tangled up in between.

Food and your body taking up far too much space in your life?

You’re thinking about food more than you want to.

Feeling anxious around eating.

Bingeing, restricting or avoiding certain foods.

Or you know that something about your relationship with food and your body just doesn’t feel right.

If you’re a parent, you might be watching your child struggle with eating and wondering what to do next.

And a lot of the time, eating is only part of what’s going on.

Anxiety, depression, perfectionism, shame and the ways you’ve learned to cope get mixed up with food and body image, making it really tricky to know where to start.

Especially when you’ve already tried so many things and still feel stuck.

But,

You don’t need another person telling you what you “should” be doing

Because I’m guessing you do enough of that yourself.

My approach to therapy for eating disorders is evidence-based, weight-inclusive and centred on you as a whole person.

Your weight doesn’t determine the severity of an eating disorder or whether you deserve help.

Therapy with me is a space you can talk openly about food, your body and your experiences—including experiences of weight stigma or bias within healthcare—without adding another layer of judgement.

And rather than only focusing on the eating behaviour in front of us, we can get curious about what’s underneath it.

We’ll work together to understand what’s happening for you, then decide what makes sense to focus on first.

Individual psychology for eating disorders and body image

If you’re looking for an eating disorder psychologist in Melbourne, I work with children, adolescents and adults experiencing eating disorders, body image concerns or a difficult relationship with food.

In-person appointments are available in Collingwood and Camberwell, with telehealth available Australia-wide.

I can help with:

Appointment Fees & Rebates

50-minute appointment: $270

Medicare Rebate: Available with an eligible Mental Health Treatment Plan or Eating Disorder Management Plan.

Private Health Insurance: Please check with your provider

Eating disorder recovery often involves a team of health professionals working together. While we’re working together, I ask that you have regular medical monitoring with a GP and be seeing a dietitian.

Eating disorder care backed by clinical training and an understanding that goes beyond textbooks

I’m a Clinical Psychologist with more than 10 years of experience working with children, adolescents and adults.

I hold a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) from Monash University, where I completed the clinical child, adolescent and family psychology specialisation. I also hold the ANZAED Eating Disorder Credential, am a Certified Individual Schema Therapist (ISST) and have training in CBT-E, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, FBT and SSCM.

But I also know qualifications aren’t the only thing you might want to know about the person you’re working with.

Hi, I’m Jess

HAES-informed Psychologist

I’m also a human with lived experience of an eating disorder and of living in a higher-weight body. I know that can matter when you’re choosing a psychologist to support you during recovery.

Particularly if you’ve had experiences where your concerns were dismissed because of your weight or every health conversation somehow came back to weight loss.

My lived experience won’t be the focus of your therapy, but it does inform the kind of space I want to create: one where weight doesn’t determine how seriously your food and body struggles are taken or the quality of care you receive.

As an eating disorder psychologist, I’m down-to-earth, non-judgemental and collaborative.

I bring my clinical knowledge. You bring the expertise about you.

What can you expect when working with an eating disorder psychologist?

01.

Tell me a little about what’s going on

Send through an enquiry and let me know whether you’re seeking support for yourself or your child, along with your preference for Collingwood, Camberwell or telehealth.

02.

Before the first appointment

Once your appointment is booked, I’ll send you an email confirming the date and time, along with an online form for you to complete before we meet.

If you have a Mental Health Treatment Plan or Eating Disorder Management Plan, please send this through before your appointment too.

And because life is busy, I’ll send you a text reminder two days before each session.

03.

During the first appointment

Your first 50-minute appointment gives us a chance to talk about what’s happening now, your history and the things that might be contributing to or maintaining the difficulties you’re experiencing.

At the end of the session, I’ll share my impressions of what you’re finding challenging and together we’ll discuss your therapy goals, the approach I recommend and how frequently we meet.

04.

Subsequent appointments

When there are several things going on at once, we’ll decide together where to start based on what feels most important and what you’re ready to work on, while keeping your main therapy goals in mind.

Frequently Asked Questions

A few things you might want to know before reaching out

If you need support now:
contact your GP, call the Butterfly National Helpline on 1800 33 4673 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call 000. I’m not an emergency or crisis service, and I reply to enquiries within two business days.

What eating disorders do you work with?

All of them—anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID and OSFED. I also work with people experiencing disordered eating or who feel like they have a challenging relationship with food and their body image.

Do you see children or teenagers with eating disorders?

Yes, I work with eating disorders from preschool age through to adulthood.

Do you work with ARFID?

Yes. I work with ARFID in both children and adults. Please note that an Eating Disorder Treatment Plan does not cover an ARFID diagnosis.

Do you offer FBT?

Yes. I offer Family-Based Treatment (FBT), including for adolescents diagnosed with anorexia nervosa.

Do I need a referral?

No, you can make an appointment to see me and pay privately.

If you are referred by a GP, psychiatrist or paediatrician under a Mental Health Treatment Plan, you are eligible for Medicare rebates for up to 10 individual sessions and 10 group sessions per calendar year.

If you are referred by a GP or psychiatrist under an Eating Disorder Management Plan, you may be eligible for Medicare rebates for up to 40 individual sessions (sessions are granted in blocks of 10 with reviews with your referring provider in between, along with a review by your psychiatrist or paediatrician before session 20).

How many appointments I need?

Eating disorder therapy can take time. At the end of your first appointment, we’ll discuss the approach I recommend and how frequently it makes sense to meet. We’ll keep checking in on this as therapy progresses.

Can I claim a rebate on my psychology appointments?

I will need a copy of your current Mental Health Treatment Plan or Eating Disorder Management Plan for you to be able to claim a Medicare rebate.

You’ll need to check whether your private health extras cover includes psychology appointments.

Note: You must choose whether to apply for the Medicare rebate or private health cover rebate; you cannot receive both. The Medicare rebate is typically higher, so people generally claim their appointments under Medicare first and then use private health insurance once their Medicare-rebated appointments have run out.

How do payments work?

Payment is due on the day of your appointment. For in-person appointments, payment is made by EFTPOS. For telehealth appointments, I’ll email you an invoice with my bank details so you can make payment via bank transfer.

Once I have received payment, I will process your Medicare rebate for you. You will receive a receipt by email which includes the Medicare claim receipt.

Do you offer a concession rate?

A small number of concession sessions may be available if you are experiencing financial hardship. Places are limited and reviewed periodically. Please let me know when you enquire so we can have a conversation about your options.

What happens if I need to cancel or change my appointment?

Please give at least two business days’ notice to cancel or reschedule. Weekends and public holidays don’t count. For example, for a Monday appointment, I’d need to hear from you by the Wednesday before. Cancellations with less than two business days’ notice are billed at 100% of the appointment fee.

You don’t need to wait until things get worse to ask for support

Whether you know you have an eating disorder, you’re worried about your child, or you just know your relationship with food and your body isn’t where you want it to be, you don’t have to figure out where to start before reaching out.