Sarah Rzemieniak is a Carolyn Costin Institute-certified eating disorder recovery coach and former registered dietitian. Learn more about Sarah below

What is your current position?

I’m an eating disorder recovery coach in my own private practice in Vancouver, BC Canada and work with clients locally and virtually worldwide.

How did you get started in your career?

I struggled with my own eating disorder throughout my teens and early twenties and was lucky enough to have many treatment providers who had a profound influence on me. I’m sure in large part because of this I always knew I wanted to go into a helping profession of some kind, and I spent my university years volunteering in sexual assault support centres and crisis phone lines, as well as doing eating disorder recovery mentoring once I was in a strong enough place. I considered many different career options and ultimately decided on nutrition, motivated by the thought of being able to help others heal their relationships with food and their bodies like so many treatment providers had helped me. I worked as a registered dietitian for several years, mainly in the outpatient setting seeing individuals with eating disorders as well as clients with a wide range of other health concerns as it was a small hospital in a small town. I loved this work, but after some time I realized that my true passion was in the more counselling aspects of the dietitian work, and I considered going back to school to become a therapist. However, while taking some time off from dietetics to decide what I wanted to do next, I learned about Carolyn Costin’s then-new Eating Disorder Coach Training Program and knew this was the path that felt right for me. The training was amazing, and I love this work that I get to do.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field?

Be gentle with yourself. I know for myself the drive can be strong to want to fix everyone and take their pain away, and this can create intense and unrealistic pressure on myself (and them!). Focus on what you can control and on being the most caring, authentic, competent provider you can be, and then know that this is also everyone’s own journey. Find ways of loving the work for the connections it allows you to make with amazing individuals and for how neat it is to be able to be a part of their journeys, whatever path it takes.

Learn more about Sarah at the links below