Eating Disorders
Does your relationship with food feel… complicated?
Do you find yourself reaching for snacks not because you're hungry, but because you're sad, anxious, angry, or just plain overwhelmed?
Do thoughts about food, calories, your weight, or your body take up way more space in your head than you'd like?
Do you sometimes eat large amounts of food in a short time — and then feel flooded with guilt, shame, or regret?
Do you try to "make up for it" by restricting, skipping meals, or over-exercising?
Do you find yourself bouncing between bingeing and dieting, like you’re stuck on some frustrating and exhausting merry-go-round?
Maybe people who care about you have gently (or not-so-gently) mentioned concerns about your eating habits or weight. Maybe you’ve even been given a diagnosis: Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia, Anorexia, or another eating disorder.
Or maybe you haven’t — and part of you wonders if it “counts” because your weight is technically “normal,” or because you manage to keep up appearances. Still, you can’t shake the feeling that food has become your most significant relationship, quietly edging out your connections with others… and even with yourself.
If this resonates, please know: You are not alone. And you're not broken. You're human.
Food is deeply woven into our emotional lives. From the moment we’re born, food is linked with comfort, care, and connection. So of course it makes sense that, in moments of distress, we might reach for something sweet or crunchy or creamy to soothe the ache.
But when food (or strict control over food) becomes our main way of coping — the go-to tool in our emotional toolbox — it can start to take a toll. It may numb the pain for a while, but it can also disconnect us from joy, purpose, and the people we love.
Some people try to get life under control by micromanaging every bite. Others let food do the heavy emotional lifting. Either way, eating struggles are rarely about vanity — they’re usually about pain, protection, and survival.
Eating disorders come in many forms. You may be familiar with some of the big names — like Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. But there are other, lesser-known but equally real eating issues:
ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder): Often misunderstood, this involves a lack of interest in food, or strong aversions to textures, smells, or appearances.
Pica: Cravings for non-food items like chalk, soap, or dirt.
Rumination Disorder: The repeated regurgitation of food — not exactly dinner-table conversation, but very real and treatable.
OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder): This catch-all category includes several subtypes, like atypical anorexia, low-frequency bulimia or binge eating, purging disorder, and night eating syndrome.
One increasingly common pattern is orthorexia — an obsession with “clean” or “healthy” eating that becomes all-consuming and rigid.
And then there’s disordered eating, which doesn’t always meet clinical criteria for an eating disorder, but still disrupts your life. It’s the grey area that includes:
Constant dieting or calorie-counting
Avoiding social events because of food
Working out to “make up for” eating
Feeling guilt or shame after meals
Letting the number on the scale determine your worth
Disordered eating might not scream for attention — but it whispers all day long, draining your energy, joy, and sense of ease.
Why does this happen? The reasons are complex and varied. For some, it’s about trying to manage anxiety or grief. For others, it’s about control in a world that feels out of control. Some common threads include:
Difficulty sitting with uncomfortable emotions like anger, sadness, or uncertainty
A history of trauma or neglect
A drive for perfection and black-or-white thinking (“I ate a cookie, might as well eat 12.”)
A desire to numb out, escape, or soothe without anyone noticing
Sensitivity — emotionally, physically, and neurologically (being “highly tuned” can be a gift, but also exhausting)
A loss of purpose or connection, and a longing for something more
Ultimately, food becomes the stand-in — for comfort, for control, for pleasure, for something to look forward to. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Recovery is possible. Truly.
There’s no one-size-fits-all path, and healing doesn’t happen overnight. But with support, curiosity, and a willingness to get to know your story — rather than judge it — you can build a new relationship with food, your body, and yourself.
In therapy, we’ll explore not just what you’re doing around food, but why — with compassion and zero judgment. We’ll work together to discover what you’re really hungry for, and how you can meet those deeper needs in nourishing, sustainable ways.
I draw from evidence-based approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT), and somatic tools like Polyvagal Theory. Translation: we’ll work with your mind, body, and emotions — not just “fix” your eating behaviors in isolation.
I believe every person has a wise, loving part of themselves — a part that knows how to care for you. My role is to help you reconnect with that part and bring it to the surface.
Healing doesn’t mean never having a bad body image day again. It means being able to ride the waves of life — stress, grief, joy, change — without turning against yourself. It means rediscovering peace, purpose, and connection.
If any of this sounds familiar, let’s talk. You don’t have to walk this road alone.