About us
We are passionate about providing you with treatment that is flexible and can realistically fit in with your lifestyle.
We are unique from other services because we provide highly specialist treatment that is based on an integrative therapy approach.
In other words, we offer treatment that addresses you as a whole person, considering your past, present and future challenges that may be holding you back from achieving your own recovery.
We look forward to working with you,
Rachael & Clare
Clare M Steedman
Clinical Director
HCPC and The Royal Collage of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) registered
Clare is a leading Specialist Occupational Therapist within the field of Eating Disorders, as well as a Systemic Psychotherapy Practitioner, EMDR Therapist and the Co-Founder of TEDS. She is also the Co-Chair of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Interest Group in Eating Disorders and has a passion in supporting individuals to heal from Trauma.
Clare has extensive experience of working alongside adults with Eating Disorders & Trauma, both within in-patient, day patient and community contexts and is a former Lead Specialist Occupational Therapist at Vivre Care. She has conducted various Eating Disorder training seminars throughout her career and has also been involved in research within the field. Clare is also trained and highly experienced in administering the Eating and Meal Preparation Skills Assessment, which is the only tool of its kind that focuses on how an individual engages in all food-related tasks.
As a result of this vast experience, Clare identified that there was all too often a lack of provision for adults who were living in the community with Eating Disorders & Trauma. Many years of collaborating with clients and their families in various Eating Disorder Services provided Clare not only with the insight into how life can be negatively impacted by these illnesses, but also how individuals can make a full recovery and live an amazingly meaningful life if they can access treatment which is tailored to their individual needs.
Hence, when sharing these ideas with a colleague Rachael, who was working alongside Clare within an Eating Disorder service, a mutual passion for improving community Eating Disorder provision was established, as well as a friendship. TEDS was thus founded, based on the fundamental aim of providing a compassionate community service for adults who are living everyday life with an Eating Disorder and would like to learn the skills to be able to move into their own recovery.
To further the TEDS journey, Rachael and Clare took the decision to rebrand, as our reflections based over the past few years continually highlighted that our therapy service was not only isolated to providing therapy to those with Eating Disorders, but also in healing Trauma. In 2025, TEDS therefore made a wee tweak, and we grew into the Trauma & Eating Disorder Specialists, TEDS.
Rachael Alder-Byrne
Clinical Director
Rachael is a specialist Art Psychotherapist within the field of Eating Disorders, as well as an EMDR Therapist and the Co- Founder of TEDS.
Rachael studied fine art and design having a creative background and focused much of her work around the subtle intricacies of what makes us human, thus sparking a long curiosity of the human mind which led to completing a BSc in Psychology. During this time, she worked alongside a mental health charity followed by supporting families overseen by social services. Having focused her dissertation around eating disorders and body image, and closely following the research thereafter, Rachael worked in a private setting offering support to individuals struggling with severe and enduring eating disorders. This is where she met Clare where they soon bonded a friendship.
Seeing the impact that a therapeutic space using creativity as a means of expression, combined with her areas of passion, she decided to complete a master’s degree in art psychotherapy during which the opportunity arose to work alongside residents in that capacity whilst training. Rachael also gained experience working in community mental health services in the NHS, offered group and 1:1 art psychotherapy within a secure psychiatric unit and spent time within a hospice supporting adults in palliative care and their families.
After working in mental health for fourteen years, specialising in eating disorders for twelve, Rachael undertook a qualification in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 2020 after recognising it as a useful tool whilst working with trauma; being a passionate advocate for trauma recovery and determining a significant aspect of her role.
Rachael and Clare continued being close friends as well as building a strong professional therapeutic team, linking and complimenting their skills to support those suffering with complex eating disorders. Seeing a much-needed gap in community support, and for those struggling to access services at the right time with the right approach for them, Rachael and Clare focused their knowledge and experience to reach people who may be looking to recover from an eating disorder whilst managing the demands of busy life, and thus TEDS was born.
Four years on in 2025, Rachael and Clare recognised that whilst eating disorder treatment requires specific understanding of the nuances involved, we were focusing many of our approaches to supporting individuals to heal from traumatic experiences. We felt compelled to open our doors to others whose trauma may not have manifested into an eating disorder but could equally benefit from the person-centred, unique approach that TEDS can offer to someone in their recovery from trauma. We agreed that Trauma & Eating Disorder Specialists was a more accurate reflection of what we offer, and with this change we hope to eliminate even more barriers in accessing treatment and embrace many more individuals seeking their recovery journey.