Nutrition & Dietician Counselling

Dieticians at Broadview Psychology work collaboratively with therapists in providing treatment to clients whose mental health issues (including eating disorders, depression, and anxiety) interfere with healthy eating. She also provides assistance to any client who wishes to work on eating or body acceptance-related goals. She provides nutritional education to enhance healthy and intuitive eating. She may also help clients in developing individualized meal plans and facilitating eating exposures. She takes into consideration digestive issues and food intolerances/allergies, as well as dietary restrictions due to culture or religious backgrounds while helping you improve your eating for optimal health.

Services

Dietitian services provided at Broadview Psychology focus on:

Enhancing recovery from eating disorders, including Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, and ARFID
Reducing disordered eating behaviours, including restricting, binging, purging, excessive exercise, laxative use, and body checking
Improving eating in clients who are struggling with depression, anxiety, OCD, addictions or other mental health conditions
Promoting a healthy relationship with food and eating
Improving body acceptance and compassion
Increasing healthy eating (portion sizes, meal planning, and building balanced meals and snacks)
Providing nutritional support for individuals who experience medical or metabolic conditions that impact eating
Providing nutritional support for athletes and performing artists (actors, dancers, musicians)

What To Expect When Working With A Registered Dietitian

All clients who would like to start working with a Registered (RD) will first be scheduled for an initial assessment. This appointment usually lasts one hour in duration and is a great opportunity for the dietitian to get to know you, your medical history, lifestyle, and goals, and also for you to get to know the dietitian and ask any questions you may have. Before your initial assessment, you will be asked to fill out an online form to collect some personal information that the dietitian will review prior to your assessment and use to make customized recommendations for your nutrition care plan.

After the initial assessment, you will be encouraged to see the dietitian for follow up appointments. These appointments will be used to check in with your progress, problem-solve any challenges you may be encountering as you work towards behaviour change, and prioritize next steps towards achieving your treatment goals. Follow up appointments vary in length from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

What’s The Difference Between A Dietitian And A Nutritionist?

If you’ve ever wondered about this, you are not alone! The simplest way to put it is that all dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionists are dietitians. Dieticians must be registered with a professional college and have undergone extensive and comprehensive training related to treating clinical conditions with regard to food and eating habits whereas, nutritionists are not required to have specific credentials or training.

Registered Dietitians Are Regulated Health Professionals

In Ontario, Canada, the title Registered Dietitian is a protected title. This means only people with specific education and qualifications can call themselves this. Nutritionist, on the other hand, is not a protected and regulated title. This means anyone can call themselves a nutritionist regardless of education and qualifications they may or may not have.

What does all this really mean when it comes to choosing a health care provider to help you with food and nutrition? When you choose to work with an RD, you know exactly what you’re getting. Registered Dietitians are regulated health professionals just like doctors, pharmacists and nurses. They belong to a professional college that provides the license to practice and protects the public by making sure all practicing RDs are up to date on their education and training.

Registered Dietitians Practice “Whole-Istic” Health Care

Nowadays many people are looking for a more natural and holistic approach to health care, so it makes sense that if you value this type of care you might go looking for and choose to work with a practitioner such as a holistic nutritionist. Just because the word holistic isn’t part of a dietitian’s official title doesn’t mean we don’t practice in this way.

Dietitians assess the client as a whole person. They will take into account all aspects of your lifestyle, because your food choices and eating habits are often a reflection of the realities of your life – your work, family, stress, living conditions, food accessibility, mental health, and social support systems.

Most importantly, dietitians take a client-centered approach. This means that your values and wishes come first. Dietitians work with you to provide nutrition care according to what is most important to you. They will provide recommendations based on the best available science because they know how to evaluate research and separate the good from the not-so-good. If natural remedies and supplements are of interest to you, a dietitian can help by guiding you through the available research in a way that is easy to understand so you can make the safest and most informed decision that is right for you.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition care. You and your needs are so different from your friends, family members, and neighbors. Dietitians have the skills to assess your unique needs and come up with a plan customized to you to help you reach your goals and improve your health and well-being.