Therapy for Eating Disorders

“There is no real beauty without some slight imperfection”

Eating disorders can feel profoundly isolating. They have a harmful impact on physical health, emotional health, and social well-being. If an individual is struggling with an eating disorder, they may feel uncomfortable in their own body, that their actions and behaviors around food are out of their control, and that thoughts of food dominate their life.

The causes of eating disorders tend to be complex and the way eating disorders present vary widely from person to person. This means that the best treatment option will vary as well.

I have specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (DBT-E). I provide these treatments for adults who are medically stable and appropriate for outpatient care.

As a part of treatment you can expect that we may:

  • Identify triggers for eating disorder behaviors and thoughts

  • Gently and gradually challenge unhelpful eating habits/rules

  • Challenge distorted thoughts about food and body image

  • Build mindful and intuitive eating practices

  • Reconnect to hunger and fullness cues

  • Build coping skills to manage stressful situations and difficult emotions

  • Practice boundary setting with others in your life

  • Cultivate body compassion

  • Explore other aspects of your identity beyond food and body

Eating Disorder Treatment FAQs

  • Eating disorders are complex and having expertise in one area does not always mean a clinician has the expertise or level of care and supervision to provide care in another area. I provide eating disorder treatment for the following diagnoses:

    • Binge eating disorder

    • Emotional eating / stress eating

    • Bulimia, including exercise bulimia

    • Restrictive eating disorders that do not meet full criteria for anorexia

  • I work with adults of any gender who are medically stable and appropriate for outpatient treatment.

  • Absolutely. It's vital to coordinate care to receive the best possible treatment. If you have a medical doctor, psychiatrist, nutritionist, or other provider I am happy to work with them.

  • In an effort to reduce one of the many barriers to starting therapy, a medical clearance is not required prior to starting therapy. However, in order to ensure you receive adequate care, your provider may ask you to complete a medical evaluation during treatment. This would be most likely to occur if your provider is worried that outpatient care no longer provides you with sufficient support.