Disordered Eating and Eating Disorder Counseling

You’re sick and tired of spending all waking hours thinking about your next meal, or your last meal, or your meal two days ago. Your best eating intentions failed, and you found yourself reaching for those Oreos you threw away as though they were your lifeline. Maybe they were; you’ve known for a while that you’re in deep water. But you’ve got to lose weight, or at least not gain weight, and you’re still not where you want to be.

It was never supposed to get this way. The restriction/binging/purging was a balm for a sore mind, a way to earn acceptance, to get people off your back about your weight, to escape. For a while it was helpful. But the costs are adding up, and you can’t keep living like this.

Someone or some part of you thought therapy might just be a good idea to get this under control.

Maybe it won’t be your first time, but what you’ve tried in the past hasn’t worked. Or maybe you’re not even sure what the problem is, but you know you’re not okay.

I’m so glad you’re here and considering seeing a therapist who gets it and can help you begin your journey toward healing.

  • Eating a lot of food in a compulsive or trance-like manner

  • Feeling deep guilt and shame after eating

  • Striving for very low calorie or macro goals, skipping meals, or cutting out food groups to lose weight

  • Obsessing over body size and appearance

  • “Making up for” eating through purging behaviors

  • Overexercising

  • Distress when food plans change unexpectedly

Common experiences of my clients with eating disorders

White woman and Black male sitting together

If you relate to any of those experiences, you’re not alone. At least 9% of people in the United States will have an eating disorder at some point in their life, and this is likely an underestimation.

Maybe you think you couldn’t have an eating disorder because you don’t fit the mold of what you think people with eating disorders look like.

Did you know that…

Eating disorders usually begin or continue because they’re meeting a need, such as helping you feel in control, numb pain, or please others.

If you’re binging, your body may also be reacting to limited access to food or inconsistent nourishment, or it may be a way of coping with emotional turmoil.

You are not broken or alone.

How you could benefit from counseling

While everyone is different, here are some of the ways my clients have found healing through our work together:

  • Ordering what they truly want at restaurants (rather than what they think they “should” get)

  • Letting go of (and sometimes destroying!) their scales and the control they represent

  • Accepting social invitations where food is involved without guilt or anxiety

  • Thinking less about food and their body, and more about what truly matters in life

  • Letting go of their closet bullies (those too-small clothes you keep “just in case”)

  • Reducing or stopping binge eating

  • Embracing all foods without guilt or shame

“What if I don’t have an eating disorder but still have a crappy relationship with food?”

Most people fall somewhere in the middle between intuitive eating and full-blown eating disorders (i.e., they’re not having fun with food but don’t meet all the criteria for an eating disorder).

Fortunately, I’m not focused on labels; if you’re not happy with where you are, you deserve support.

I offer Intuitive Eating Counseling specifically for people with disordered eating (the middle of the eating spectrum). This weight-neutral framework focuses on the principles of intuitive eating, including how to dismantle diet culture, cultivate self-compassion, understand hunger and fullness cues, and heal from negative body image. Reach out with questions or if you’re ready to get started!

Ready to make peace with food and your body?

You don’t have to let disordered eating or societal pressures control your life anymore. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation today.