How we help
Counselling, Family Support and Dietetics in Ivanhoe East
Helen Dean is an experienced Registered Counsellor and Accredited Practising Dietitian, providing compassionate, evidence-informed support for children, adolescents, adults and families in Ivanhoe East and across Melbourne.
Counselling support is available for anxiety, stress, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, self-esteem, family relationships, parenting challenges and navigating life's difficulties. Helen offers a calm, supportive and non-judgemental space to explore concerns, develop coping strategies and work towards meaningful change.
Alongside her counselling work, Helen has extensive experience supporting individuals and families experiencing eating disorders, ARFID, feeding difficulties, body image concerns and complex relationships with food.
With over 25 years of clinical experience, Helen brings together counselling, therapeutic skills and nutrition expertise where appropriate, recognising that emotional wellbeing, relationships and physical health are often interconnected.
Appointments are available in person in Ivanhoe East and via telehealth.
Children & Teen Nutrition
Children and teenagers can experience nutrition difficulties for many reasons
and they don't need to have an eating disorder to benefit from support.
I work with children, teens and their families around growth, low appetite,
limited food variety, nutritional adequacy, busy schedules, sports nutrition and changing nutrition needs through adolescence.
My approach is practical, reassuring and individualised. Rather than focusing on weight or creating more rules around food, we look at what your child needs to grow, develop and feel well and find realistic ways to make nutrition work within everyday family life.
Support may include: growth and nutrition assessment, meal and snack ideas, improving nutritional adequacy, low appetite, selective eating, teen and sports nutrition, and practical family strategies
ARFID & Feeding Difficulties
When eating is extremely limited, stressful or frightening, simply telling a child to “try something” rarely helps.
I support children and young people with ARFID, selective eating, sensory sensitivities, fear of choking or vomiting, low interest in food, and anxiety around eating or unfamiliar foods.
We start by understanding why eating feels difficult. From there, we work gradually and without pressure to support adequate nutrition, reduce anxiety and, when appropriate, build confidence with new foods.
Parents are an important part of this work. I help families understand what is driving their child's eating and develop practical strategies that reduce pressure and conflict around food.
Eating Disorder Treatment & Recovery
Eating disorders can affect nutrition, emotions, relationships, school, sport and
family life. Recovery therefore involves much more than simply being told to eat
more.
As both an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Registered Counsellor, I provide
integrated nutrition and therapeutic support for young people and adults
experiencing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder,
restrictive eating and other eating difficulties.
Support may include nutritional rehabilitation, establishing regular eating, meal
planning and support, food fears, eating disorder thoughts, body image and
moving towards a more flexible relationship with food.
Where appropriate, I work collaboratively with parents, GPs, psychologists,
psychiatrists, paediatricians, schools and other members of the treatment
team
Neurodivergent Eating
Autism and ADHD can influence eating in ways that are often misunderstood.
Sensory sensitivities, difficulties noticing hunger and fullness, executive functioning, medication effects, food preferences, routines and anxiety can all make eating and mealtimes more complicated.
I provide neurodiversity-affirming nutrition support that looks beyond what a young person eats to understand why eating may be difficult.
Together we develop strategies that work with the young person's needs rather than expecting them to simply “eat normally”. The aim is to support nutrition, reduce stress around food and make eating more manageable for both the young person and their family
Counselling & Emotional Wellbeing
Sometimes difficulties with food are only one part of what a child or teenager is experiencing.
I provide counselling support for young people experiencing anxiety, low selfesteem, body image concerns, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism and
difficulties coping with everyday life.
Having training in both counselling and nutrition allows me to consider the
whole young person, particularly when anxiety, emotions, neurodivergence and eating difficulties overlap.
Sessions are adapted to the age and needs of each young person, with the aim of helping them better understand themselves, develop practical coping
strategies and feel more confident managing difficult thoughts and emotions.
Parent & Family Support
When a child or young person is struggling with eating, parents can quickly find themselves wondering:
Should I encourage them to eat or back off? Am I making things worse? How much should I insist on? What do I do when they refuse?
You don't have to work this out alone.
I offer parent-only and family sessions to help parents understand what may be driving their child's difficulties and feel more confident responding at home.
Depending on your family's needs, we may work on mealtime structure, reducing conflict and anxiety around food, responding to eating disorder behaviours, supporting food exposures, communication and helping the whole family feel less overwhelmed.
For eating disorder recovery, family involvement can be an important part of treatment. For ARFID and selective eating, supporting parents to change the environment around food can often be just as important as working directly with the child.
Client Reviews
Helen has been a constant and reliable support for my daughter with anorexia. We have seen Helen on average every 3 weeks for over two years. Helen is able to connect well with young people. Very quickly my daughter came to trust and enjoy sharing teen and school ups and downs. Helen is the only professional my daughter looks forward to seeing. We are both very grateful for Helens support and assistance.
5/5
After all the years I’ve been struggling with anorexia, being referred to Helen at Stepping Stones is the first time I’ve been able to speak freely and openly to someone who actually does know and understand the monumental battle I face every day. To realise that here is someone who truly does know how I feel, is empowering and most of all encouraging and supportive. Helen’s empathy and commitment is enormously helpful. The mountain can be climbed one step at a time
5/5
Helen is very approachable and calm with my 12 year old daughter who struggles with ARFID. It is still early days, but my daughter seems quite receptive to Helen, and happily attends her appointments, despite the 1hr drive to see her.
Amanda T
5/5
