Frequently Asked Questions
Some quick answers to the most common questions we receive about how our partnership works and what you can expect.
Common Questions
You are showing your members you genuinely care about their complete wellness, and not just physical fitness. Members feel truly cared for, and they naturally tell friends about a gym that offers something different. This creates loyalty that goes beyond equipment and classes.
All our therapists are professionally registered therapists who are specifically trained to work with eating disorders and body image issues. Our therapists use evidence-based approaches including CBT-E (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – Enhanced for eating disorders), CFT-E (Compassionate Focused Therapy for eating disorders), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), Gestalt, Somatic Therapy and more.
Many of our therapists are also former fitness professionals or active gym-goers themselves, so they genuinely understand fitness culture from the inside.
Our team includes specialist therapists and nutritional therapists, all trained to work with disordered eating and body image. As we progress, we aim to keep extending the team with registered dietitians and other health professionals who understand disordered eating from a pro-fitness perspective. This means your staff and members get comprehensive support that addresses both the psychological and nutritional aspects of healing.
Members access our service through a simple booking system that comes with your gym membership. They can book 1:1 sessions with our professional disordered eating therapists via secure video calls from home or anywhere convenient.
Everything is completely confidential, GDPR-compliant, and data-protected. Members book directly, and we handle all the therapy delivery, scheduling, and follow-up support.
No! We handle absolutely everything. Your only job is to share the service with your members. We manage:
- All therapist recruitment and vetting
- Member booking system and scheduling
- Session delivery and clinical notes
- Member support and queries
- GDPR compliance and data protection
Research shows that around 1 in 5 gym members are at clinical risk of disordered eating or body image struggles. Of these, we expect 10-15% to actively engage in 1:1 therapy sessions, while a wider group will benefit from our growing library of online resources.
But here’s what matters: even members who never use the service benefit from knowing it’s there. Think of it like a physio on-site — most members will never need one, but its presence gives members peace of mind, whether they use it or not.
The service positions you as a complete wellness facility, not just a place with equipment — and that alone improves retention
We don’t believe in putting a timeline or pressure on healing — everyone’s journey with food and body image is different, and recovery isn’t linear. What we do know is that many members feel supported and understood from their very first session, and having consistent, ongoing support (one session per month, 8 sessions per year) gives them the space to work through things at their own pace, without judgement or urgency.
Members who access support tend to stay more engaged with their fitness journey and more motivated to keep working toward their goals. What matters most isn’t a measurable outcome or milestone — it’s members feeling genuinely supported in their complete wellness journey.
No! While we absolutely support members with eating disorders, most members use our service for “everyday” struggles:
- Binge eating on weekends after restricting all week
- Feeling guilty after eating certain foods
- Obsessing about “clean eating” or macros
- Comparing their body to others in the gym
- Using exercise to “compensate” for eating
- All-or-nothing thinking about fitness
Our service is preventative as well as therapeutic, helping members build healthy relationships with their body, food and fitness before it develops into something serious.
- All packages GDPR Compliant & Secure
- 8 x 1:1 therapy sessions per member per year
- Online Resources
- Easy booking link
- Competitive pricing
- Professional setup & integration
- Scale and grow model
Founding Partner Offer: First 15 gyms lock in these rates for 24 months!
Online resources are being developed on an ongoing basis as the service grows
Yes. Founding partners have a 6-month minimum term, and all other partners have a 12-month minimum term. After that, you can cancel with 60 days’ written notice. We don’t believe in locking anyone into a long contract — if something isn’t working, we’d rather know so we can put it right.
That said, we’re confident that once you see the difference it makes to your members, you’ll want to stay.
General counsellors often don’t understand fitness culture; they might tell members to stop exercising or avoid gyms. Our therapists are eating disorder specialists who genuinely love fitness and understand that movement is part of wellness, not the problem.
We specialise in the unique challenges of gym members: the pressure to look a certain way, the “earn your food” mentality, cheat meals disguised as “healthy eating,” and exercise compensation. General therapists simply don’t have this specialised knowledge.
All our therapists are trained to work with eating disorders, so in non-crisis cases, we would find a way to support the member within Food Body Freedom — that’s why we are here! Our therapists are trained to recognise when someone is at clinical risk and needs more intensive care than we can safely provide within a gym partnership.
In these cases, we discuss with the member the importance of self-referral to appropriate clinical services, such as their GP, eating disorder clinics, NHS mental health teams, or any other specialist support. We support them through this process and explain why additional medical intervention is necessary.
We only coordinate with health services when clinically necessary and always with the member’s full consent and involvement.
That’s exactly what our free consultation is for. We’ll discuss your gym’s specific demographics, member needs, and the types of support that would be most valuable for your community. We’ll show you exactly how our service would integrate with your facility and support your members.