Eating Disorders

Recovering from eating disorders and/or changing disordered eating habits through anti-diet lens; Health at Every Size; restriction; fat stigma; body image; social justice framework

At The Couch Therapy, we are a therapy practice that offers health at every size (HAES) therapy for eating disorders or disordered eating. We believe in a gentle approach to helping those struggling with disordered eating. When working with a HAES aligned therapist, you can expect to sit in a safe space to process the timeline of your relationship with food, process significant moments in life that influenced your beliefs, and remind you to release the petri dish of shame you’ve been holding.

Weather you've been diagnosed with an eating disorder, or struggle with your relationship with food, I've got you covered. I draw on my training as a Body Trust® Provider and HAES practitioner. You also don't need to be 100% ready to let go of your eating struggles as I also practice from a harm reduction standpoint.

Eating disorders are typically a symptom of something much bigger we have struggled with in our lives. Living with an eating disorder typically looks like constantly maintaining control in a world where you constantly feel out of control. You may filter "food noise" every moment of the day, whether that's counting down to the next time you eat or guilting yourself for the last thing you ate. Healing looks like control in healthy ways and freedom from the noise.

I use a blend of approaches to help people break free from eating disorders such as binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, and negative body image. As a Health at Every Size-aligned therapist, I support body diversity and acknowledge the structural forces that impinge on wellbeing. I utilize weight-neutral, evidence-based approached such as Intuitive Eating, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Mindful Self-Compassion, & Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Over the past year I've worked with multiple clients struggling with anorexia. Together we've been able to find a balance between addressing symptoms such as calorie restriction, body-checking, and strict rules around food consumption, as well as understanding the purpose these behaviors serve in terms of control, distraction, and self-soothing.

During my master's program, I spent much time writing papers and researching eating disorders. EDs are a major concern for the adolescent and emerging adult communities. I completed my capstone project/presentation on EDs in order to spread awareness and knowledge to other young counseling professionals on the risk factors for these populations as well as ways in which to best treat these disorders within these two populations.

I have over 3 years of experience working with individuals diagnosed with an eating disorder and their support system/family members. I have experience in inpatient, partial hospitalization and outpatient. I am happy to incorporate exposure and response prevention in our therapy process!

Early relational trauma: loneliness, unreliable caregivers, abuse, abandonment, shaming, -can result in lifelong patterns of disordered eating and substance abuse. Bulimic binging, Anorexic restricting, or using an addictive “drug of choice” fills-in for an insecure attachment until we break the pattern. We work to find the “right fit” in Relational Therapy, Archetypal Analysis, Psychoanalysis, Brainspotting, -re-connecting to the Soulful identity you were meant to be!

Societal pressures oftentimes reinforce the beliefs that for an individual to struggle with an eating disorder it must be physically apparent and symptoms must be "extreme." All-or-nothing thinking fuels engagement in eating disorder behaviors. Whether it is restriction, bingeing, bingeing & purging, and/or focus on eating "healthy" foods, I believe that each person's recovery will be unique. My philosophy is that all foods fit. Orthorexia

For the past seven years, I have worked with clients struggling with eating disorders at the partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient level. After working as a milieu therapist, primary therapist, and group therapy facilitator at an eating disorder treatment center, I began working as an outpatient therapist in private practice specifically focusing on members of the LGBTQ+ community who struggle with body image and eating disorder behaviors.

As a nutritionist and mental health provider, I am able to provide integrative care to folks who are struggling with various forms of disordered eating. This can include restriction, bingeing, compensatory behaviors, and other symptoms that impact our relationship with food. My hope is to explore this relationship with you and find a path forward that feels less rigid and in support of your individual health needs. I am an intuitive eating provider who acknowledges the impacts of diet-culture.

I specialize in treating anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and also offer support for those choosing to undergo bariatric surgery. For more information on my treatment approach to each, please visit my website, LATraumaCounseling.com, and look under Therapy Services / Adult and Adolescent Therapy.

I am a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) through iaedp (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals) and have been working specifically in the eating disorder field since 2017, but have experience beyond that. I have over a year and half experience in eating disorder treatment at the partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient levels of care and then joined a primarily eating disorder focused private practice.

I shifted from work in Clinical Nutrition in the acute care setting to Psychotherapy when I knew I wanted to treat Eating Disorders. The miracle of recovery that I experienced in a relatively short time, inspired me to learn how that came to be. Anorexia, Bulimia, and Compulsive Overeating are issuer related to Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma; they result in medical issues related to nutrition- so this expertise is essential as well.

I am a certified eating disorder specialist, trainer and educator