A Registered Dietitian, or RD, undergoes rigorous training and holds a degree in nutrition from an accredited university. Dietitians are regulated health professionals and are held accountable to standards of practice to provide ethical and competent care. Dietitians who practice in Alberta are registered with the College of Dietitians of Alberta.

In Alberta, the terms Dietitian and Nutritionist are protected titles and may only be used by professionals who have met the strict standards for registration with the College.

I am currently registered with the College of Dietitian’s of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario and can provide services across these provinces in Canada.

Somatic Experiencing is a body-oriented approach developed by Dr. Peter Levine to resolve the symptoms of chronic and traumatic stress. It’s based on the idea that overwhelming experiences can lead to  cause dysregulation in the nervous system, which can keep individuals stuck in the survival states of fight, flight or freeze.

Being stuck in these survival states can directly impact our digestive systems and our capacity to eat food. Sometimes these survival states express themselves in the form of disordered eating behaviours like restrictive eating, binge eating, or purging. 

I use Somatic Experiencing by working with you to identify when the survival states of fight, flight, or freeze show up, especially in relation to food and eating. And these states show up more often than we may think! Sometimes in our sessions, just talking about food can lead to feelings of frustration and irritation with ourselves and our bodies (fight response). Or sometimes there may be fear or anxiety when we’re around certain foods that we try to avoid (flight response). Or, at the end of a long day, we may feel shut down, lacking the energy to prepare supper (freeze response). 

Once we identify these survival states (and trust me, we all experience them), I gently guide you to notice, name, and hang out with different sensations that you might notice inside your body. This practice helps to release you from the “stuckness” of these survival states.  

Over time, Somatic Experiencing can support increased nervous system regulation and capacity. For our work, this means it’s easier to eat food and take care of our nutrition needs. It also means that we learn to befriend and make peace with our bodies.

Health at Every Size is an approach to health that celebrates the diversity of bodies and supports individuals to improve health regardless of body shape or size. Health At Every Size serves to separate out health from weight (because these two concepts are often conflated together). It recognizes the negative impacts of a weight-centric health care system and brings awareness to the harms of weight stigma and weight bias. It challenges scientific and cultural assumptions around body weight. 

My approach is aligned with Health At Every Size principles and I am committed to supporting your here-and-now body.

Your body weight may decrease, increase, or stay the same during our work together. I take a non-diet and weight-inclusive approach. I believe that bodies of all sizes deserve full nourishment and respect. This means we work towards meeting your biological nutrition needs so that you are fully nourished. Focusing on weight loss often leads to the binge-restrict cycle of deprivation and guilt that puts us right back into the fight with food. I believe that if we fuel our bodies with consistency and respect hunger and fullness cues, most of the time, our bodies will take care of weight.

Part of this work is challenging common diet rules and societal norms. If you’ve struggled with your body size or shape for a long time, you may very well want to lose weight to feel more comfortable in your body. Part of body image healing involves cultivating trust and respect for your here-and-now body. Pursuing weight loss takes us out of our bodies and back into the diet-binge cycle. Perhaps instead we can learn to develop appreciation and kindness towards the bodies that we currently have.

Many people often wonder how long the journey of befriending food & body will take. The answer: it depends! It depends on your past history and experiences with food. It depends on what support you have around you and what your goals are. It depends on where you’re at along the journey before meeting with me. I generally work with clients long term. It’s not unusual to work with me for 6 to 12 months (or longer).  

Many health insurance providers cover the cost of services from a Registered Dietitian. Coverage is often found in extended health care plans under the paramedical services. Dietitian services are also covered under Health Care Spending Accounts. Contact your provider to ask about coverage details.

Dietitians are recognized as authorized medical practitioners by the Canada Revenue Agency and services may be tax deductible if claimed under health care expenses on your income tax return.