About us

Isis works with people over 17 with serious eating issues such as anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating.

We recognise that people can develop eating issues as a way of coping with a range of contributing social, individual, family and gendered factors, including issues of control, conflict, trauma or loss in their lives.

See more about Our approach.

Find out why we say 'eating issues' rather than 'eating disorders'

Our services

Isis offers a range of services to help those affected by eating issues in some way:

Some background

Isis began in 1996 as the first of its kind in Australia: an alternative therapeutic approach to the biomedical model of diagnosis and inpatient eating disorder treatment.

Isis is a Non Profit Community Organisation in Brisbane, funded by the Queensland Government, Mental Health funding and was funded specifically to research and develop empowerment based feminist approaches to working with people with Eating Issues.

For our first ten years Isis – The Eating Issues Centre Inc. was known as ISIS - Centre for Women's Action on Eating Issues Inc.

In 2009 we changed our name to Isis - The Eating Issues Centre Inc. While Isis has kept its focus for helping women Tuesday to Thursday, we now also broadened our service to people of any gender (including men, women, transgender and intersex) on Mondays and Fridays. (see Eating Issues Men’s Project information under Research).

More on our background: Our history/herstory & past projects

Our social action

Isis is passionate about creating social awareness, promoting understanding and inspiring positive change in our community when it comes to eating issues and body image.

We also see Eating Issues as Social Justice Issues

‘Eating issues warns us about a toxic, indeed unacceptable context for life. If we respond only in individualistic ways we risk reinforcing these and ignoring the broader social, cultural and economic issues and possibilities for social change.’
Canary in the mine theory, Helen Gremillion (2001)

Social Action at Isis seeks to promote acceptance of people of all shapes and sizes and challenge the unfair and unrealistic expectations relating to gender and cultural norms such as preoccupation with thinness and fat phobia that exists in our society. We also promote a balanced approach to health education and prevention that addresses the rises in eating disorders and obesity in western society.

Why are we called ‘Isis’?

The name ‘Isis’ was chosen for us by a reference group of young women with eating issues in 1996. This name was chosen because it is linked to Egyptian mythology. Isis is the name of an Egyptian goddess believed to ward off negativity. She also represents growth, nourishment, hope as well as life, resurrection and rebirth.

About our counsellors

Our counsellors are all specialists in the field of eating issues and body image. More information about our counsellors.

What’s at our centre?

At our centre in Brisbane’s West End is located in a welcoming house in the community. Isis has four counselling rooms, a group room, library and an art studio space, as well as a free borrowing library and access to information about a range of services and events available in the community.

Like to visit? Please contact us.

Why do we say ‘eating issues’ and not ‘eating disorders’?

An issue is something to be discussed, not by just one person and their therapist, but also amongst families, the media, politicians and the community in general.

Rather than being limited to diagnosis criteria or labels for ‘eating disorders’, we use a range of ways to explore and describe body image and eating issues and encourage people to use whatever words and descriptions fit best for them.

The feminist perspective at Isis means that our staff use non-blaming language that externalises the eating issues rather than locating them with the person. For example we say the person experiencing the eating issues, and recognise that there is much more to a person than their problems with eating. We use words that create space for an individual to explore their identity apart from the eating issue - rather than using words that can encourage identification only in terms of an illness label, like referring to someone as the mental health issue, such as the ‘Anorexic’.

The medically diagnosed ‘eating disorder’ labels tend to focus only on the individual pathology of a person related to ‘their’ ‘eating disordered’ symptoms, and genetics. At Isis we prefer to look at the whole picture. We use the word eating issues because it considers the person in context of the many factors that may have made them vulnerable to an eating issue entering their life. This gives space to explore the meaning and purpose of the eating issues, as well as finding new ways to express emotional needs (or issues) while respecting the person and their current way of coping - that is, their eating behaviour.

More information: About eating issues.

Want to talk with us about your situation? Please contact us.