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 climb out of this hole you’re in.

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

  • Feeling guilty and ashamed after eating

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

  • Obsessing about body size

  • “Making up for” eating through purging behaviors

  • Frequent body checking

  • Overexercising

  • Distress when there is a change in food-related plans

Common experiences of my clients with eating disorders

White woman and Black male sitting together

If you relate to 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 number is assumed to be 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 difficult emotions, or appease others.

If you’re binging, you might also be meeting physical needs resulting from limiting your food intake, having inconsistent access to food, or being restricted by others.

You are not broken or alone.

How you could benefit from counseling

While everyone is different, here are some things my clients have achieved in our work together:

  • Ordering what they want at restaurants (vs. what they think they “should” get)

  • Discarding or destroying their scales

  • Accepting social invitations where food is involved

  • Thinking less about food and their body

  • Letting go of their closet bullies (i.e., too-small clothing they’ve held onto “just in case”)

  • Reducing or stopping binge eating

  • Allowing all foods without guilt

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

Welcome to the club! Most people fall somewhere in the middle between intuitive eating and 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 whether you “meet diagnostic criteria”; if you’re not happy, you deserve help.

I offer Intuitive Eating Counseling specifically for people with disordered eating (the middle of the eating spectrum). Intuitive eating is a weight-neutral framework with ten principles focused on topics such as: impacts of diet culture, self-talk, hunger and fullness, coping with emotions, body-image, and health. Reach out with questions or if you’re ready to get started!

Ready to make peace with food and your body?

Don’t let disordered eating or oppressive body standards run the show any longer. Schedule your free 15-minute consultation today.