Body Image & Disordered Eating Therapy
You may have learned to use food to comfort yourself, cope with trauma, feel in control, or numb your painful emotions. Ultimately, this might have led to more pain, shame, embarrassment, and out of control feelings. You might have made progress in past eating disorder therapy, but want to deepen your recovery.
Perhaps you feel like you are constantly comparing your body to others, measuring your worth based on what you look like, or don’t feel like you can be truly comfortable around other people because you are afraid of them judging your body.
Body image and disordered eating therapy can help you change and heal your relationship with food and your body, release shame and self-judgment, become more confident, and cope with painful emotions more effectively.
What we can address
Body shame and self-judgment
Body image concerns impacting sexual satisfaction
Emotional Eating
Binge eating
Dieting
Healing from painful experiences and messages around body image and food
Developing a healthier relationship with food
Developing tools to deepen and maintain recovery from disordered eating or eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder
Please note that I do not currently provide therapy for clients who are in need of intensive eating disorder support.
How we can meet your goals
Self-compassion skills: Oftentimes, we can be our most intense critics. You might feel overwhelmed by self-judgment, perfectionism, and comparison. Through developing self-compassion, you will be able to connect with yourself in a new and softer way. Research has shown that self-compassion can reduce stress and support body image and disordered eating recovery.
ACT and DBT skills: Disordered eating and body image therapy incorporates concrete, evidence-based skills from therapies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Through these skills, you will be empowered to cope with difficult emotions more effectively, deepen self-compassion, and develop strategies to truly meet your emotional and physical needs.
Mindfulness: Through mindfulness strategies, you will develop deeper self-awareness, less self-judgment, and more softness towards yourself and your inner experience. You will also learn to enjoy food from a present place through intuiting eating and mindful eating practices.
Somatic therapy: Through somatic therapy and embodiment practices, you can connect with your body from a place of presence and compassion. This can be particularly powerful when working around sexual concerns and body image.
Body neutrality: There may be times when the idea of accepting or loving your body feels overwhelming or unattainable. Through body neutrality practices, you will learn to focus on the present moment and connect with your body with gratitude.
Trauma informed therapy: After experiencing trauma, we may cope through behaviors such as disordered eating or developing shame around our bodies. Through a trauma-informed approach, I will support you in coming back to your body from a place of safety, empowerment, and healing.
Sex therapy: If your body image is impacting your sex life, confidence, or your relationship, sex therapy can support you. Through a safe, sex-positive environment, you will develop practices to feel more pleasure, presence, and connection to your sensuality and body.
My approach
Health at Every Size (HAES): We will work on your relationship with your body just as it is— not from a place of trying to change your body, judging your body, or restricting or shaming your food. A HAES approach is weight-inclusive and focuses on your overall health and wellbeing instead of numbers on the scale.
Eating disorder informed: While I am not currently working working with clients in need of intensive eating disorder support, I have extensive experience working with eating disorder recovery in multiple settings, including an intensive eating disorder outpatient program. If you are in recovery from an eating disorder, it is important to have an experienced and trained therapist who knows about the recovery process and can properly support you as you deepen your healing and recovery.