Blog

  Media – Published Articles Shelley Treacher (as seen in Better After 50 and the Counselling Directory)  is BACP accredited, with a Master’s Degree in Somatic Counselling Psychology (CIIS). She is also a certified specialist in binge & overeating recovery (Julia Buckroyd, Emeritus Professor) and a certified coach specialising in finding engaged love (Katherine Woodward […]

Do you feel the burden of responsibility because you put others' needs first? We all want to love and be loved. But, the emotional eater tends to be someone who supports other people, rather than asks for help. Can you relate to this? In this podcast, I talk about how putting other people first can [...]

Another diet is not how to lose weight in January 2021! If you're sick of diets, want to lose weight and get fitter in 2021, but can't make yourself stop emotional eating, this article is for you. It's thought that the relentless cycle of binge-eating and dieting makes you put on more weight. The body [...]

  Covid Christmas loneliness This article is about the difficulties we face this Christmas. So, here you’ll find ways to approach Covid Christmas loneliness and other challenges that we face this year. Loneliness is easily triggered at this time of year. But this isn't a normal year. Some of us won’t be able to meet [...]

Coping with Covid Christmas and comfort eating   This article is about the difficulties we face this Christmas. So, here you’ll find ways to approach Covid Christmas challenges, and how to manage Christmas binge or comfort eating. In a normal year, we eat at least twice as much as usual at Christmas.   This isn’t […]

Overeating and Binge Eating Podcast Introduction In this introductory episode  I help you to understand why it’s so hard to stop yourself overeating, and explain how you can recognise what’s behind your eating.   Blame. Binge. Shame. Repeat – The self critic behind the binge eater In this episode I continue to explain what makes […]

To make therapy tips accessible to more people, I hand over the tips to my cat, Mia, for a while! Short videos featuring Therapycat Utilising the sensitivity, calm, healing and joy that cats bring, with a serious human message. Helping people with anxiety, loneliness, binge eating, and love & relationship concerns, to feel better.   […]

This is Part 2 of 'Comfort Eating Recovery Quick Tips Series' Tips 10 - 19   In reaction to Boris' war on obesity, I'm producing quick comfort eating recovery tips in video, every working week day. Understanding and managing the emotional and psychological side of comfort eating is very much overlooked. Please share this series, [...]

In reaction to Boris’ war on obesity, I’m producing quick comfort eating recovery tips in video, every working week day. Understanding and managing the emotional and psychological side of comfort eating is very much overlooked. Please share this series, or any of these videos, to reach anyone who might need some support. Your comments and […]

Shelley Treacher BACP Accred   These articles are all written for people who are suffering in difficult relationship or dating patterns, or who are unhappily single and alone. Here you will learn more about coping with loneliness, what causes loneliness, how to manage it, and how to find love and happiness. Coping with Lockdown loneliness [...]

Shelley Treacher BACP Accred 'Managing comfort and binge eating - Short article series' is an ever-increasing library of articles & video, where I speak about understanding and managing comfort and binge eating, overeating, stress eating or food obsession. Here are all of my articles, in one place, for your convenience.   Start with this one! [...]

Shelley Treacher BACP Accred My videos on managing overeating or binge eating help you to understand, and work towards naturally choosing to stop overeating and binge eating Video 1 – Are you an overeater, comfort eater, or binge eater? Questions to help you start to explore and understand why it’s hard to stop yourself eating. […]

Shelley Treacher BACP Accred For the first few weeks of Covid-19 lockdown in England, I produced a video each week, and one mindfulness audio. These are videos of support, with helpful tips,  about coping  with the anxiety,  loneliness and overeating, experienced during isolation. Video 1 – Coping with Covid-19 isolation – Comfort eating My honest, […]

Here, I talk about coping with Covid-19 overeating. I’ll show you what’s behind overeating, and how to start to understand and change it. This video is for you if you feel bad about your eating, and could do with some help on coping with Covid-19 overeating.   Since the lockdown began I’ve seen posts every […]

Taking care of your mental health in Corona Virus related loneliness   Working with clients online over the past few weeks, since the Corona Virus hit the UK, there’s one thing I’ve noticed above all.  In the words of one client: ”Talking gave me permission to understand what I’m feeling” As one writer put it, […]

Most people who come to see me, who are frustrated with the compulsion to overeat, ask “Isn't it just a habit?” As if that's an end to the subject. It is a habit. Overeating is usually something that was learned very early on, and has been practised (perhaps interspersed with periods of dieting) for most [...]

Mindfulness is becoming a buzzword in our culture. Today I'm going to write about how mindfulness can be used to manage binge eating, and as a preparation for helping to learn how to manage feelings a different way.   Slow down and notice Mindfulness, in regard to binge eating, is the practice of eating with [...]

Take extra care of yourself at Christmas Some of my client work involves talking about Christmas all year round. Most of us are going back to our families; to the places where we learned how to relate. Some of us don't have family or partners at all, and will be spending Christmas alone. On the [...]

Keep a higher purpose in the forefront of your mind You've got to have a really good, personally meaningful reason, to give up what comforts you. For me it's connecting to what I really want in life. Whether this be empowering people through really talking about things that don't get talked about; feeling strong, fit [...]

13 Strategies for self soothing These are particularly for you if you experience urges to binge eat, or to obsess over romantic partners   When you feel an urge coming on, to binge eat or to text that guy or girl you've been obsessing over, stop for a second. Just stop. Just for a second. [...]

Loneliness is a big problem According to Douglas Nemecek, MD, chief medical officer for behavioural health, Cigna, ''Loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous   than obesity.'' In this article, I will show you how to address feeling so alone.   Everyone feels lonely Through [...]

 Feeling the sting of loneliness? Looking out of my Bristol window today, I can see the grey clouds. As we go into the dark and cold of Winter,  it strikes me that today might be a good day to focus on inner warmth. Maybe this is a good day to reflect on the love that [...]

Comfort eating and self criticism Watch my video to see the link between self criticism and binge eating, and how you can start to overcome it:     In my work with binge eating, what I see most, is people who are really hard on themselves. This is one of the main reasons that people [...]

Watch my video to find out... If you want more, fill out my questionnaire: Loading… Today I'm asking 'Are you an emotional eater?' I'm going to share with you some questions that'll help you start to understand why it's hard to stop yourself eating. And it is hard! This will start to open up a [...]

  What you need to know about losing weight steadily There are a lot of reasons why losing weight is hard. Food is widely and cheaply available. From the checkout counter at Next, to the petrol station, we would have to actively go out of our way to not be tempted while we're going about [...]

Do you focus on the negative? Have you ever found yourself dwelling on the one negative thing that happened, the criticism or mistake, instead of all the nice things you might have done that day? According to neuroscience, our brains are hardwired to have a bias towards negativity. This bias means that we are naturally [...]

Willpower is not enough to overcome overeating There is a social assumption in much of our culture that people who are overweight could just stop overeating, and do some exercise. Lots of people come into my office with stories of how their Doctor, Personal Trainer, or friends have told them to just cut down on […]

Are you nervous of attending that social event? I've run a social group for people not currently in relationship, for 9 years.   People are nervous The most common thing I get messages about, is how nervous people are about coming to one of my events. Not everybody puts themselves in this category, but I [...]

One of my friends wished me 'Happy chocolate day!' on Easter Sunday. I've heard it said that there are 3 days of the year that you can have chocolate for breakfast; Christmas, your Birthday, and Easter Sunday. How difficult is it to resist that social norm?! This pervasive attitude is just one of the MYRIAD [...]

How to deal with neediness, or codependency urges. This is a list of things that you can try if you have the excruciating, stomach wrenching experience of feeling rejected and unable to let someone go. There are lots of different ideas here so keep reading. One or two may strike a chord with you!   [...]