When it comes to food, do you feel “out of control”? Do you not trust yourself? Do you experience intense guilt and shame related to your eating habits? Do you often eat past fullness to the point of pain?

You are not alone. Binge eating is extremely common yet many people avoid treatment due to its fatphobic-steeped stigma. Binge eating is an emotional coping response; it is a (brilliant) strategy for survival. In therapy, we will explore and honor the underlying psychological mechanism beneath the binge eating. We will discuss diet culture, fatphobia, neurodivergent-affirming intuitive eating, and your definition of nourishment. Overall, you will be met with compassion and validation as you navigate this chapter.

Do you find that you have rigid or restrictive food rules? Do you exercise excessively or past your capacity? Do you use laxatives, appetite suppressants, or vomiting in an attempt to change your body? Do you purge due to an unknown or intense emotional urge?

Your pain and concerns are valid. It can be incredibly confusing to live with an eating disorder like Anorexia or Bulimia, especially when our culture sends such strong messages about thinness and worthiness. If you are trans, these behaviors and thoughts may be related to gender dysphoria, as attempts to align your physical body to your internal feelings. You deserve to feel safe, nourished, and euphoric in your body. In our work together, we will explore the emotional roots driving these thoughts and behaviors and move towards recovery.

Have you noticed your relationship with exercise has become loaded with anxiety and pressure? Do you avoid exercise or movement? Do you fear inaccessibility or size exclusion at gyms and studios? Does movement feel almost interchangeable with diet culture, fatphobia, and weight loss?

Although movement is a birthright, our culture has not made it easy to have a loving, balanced relationship with movement. In therapy, we will unpack your fear and/or avoidance of movement in order to reclaim your right to move with joy. We will detangle diet culture from movement. We will use somatic exercises and exposure therapy to support you feeling safe and trusting in your body.

Does eating feel more challenging for you than other people? Do you have difficulty eating a variety of foods based on factors like texture or low appetite? Does food feel associated to fears of choking or vomiting? Do you find that planning meals and snacks feels overwhelming or impossible?

You may be coping with ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), an eating disorder that creates difficulty with amount and type of food you can consume. You may struggle to prioritize eating and need support with neurodivergent-inclusive intuitive eating. In therapy, we will build understanding for your specific food-related challenges. We will bring compassion and courage to these conversations in order to support you finding nourishment and balance with food.

Do you find your relationship to your body to be troubling, stress-inducing, or shameful? Do you feel like your body image gets in the way of enjoying life, including movement, romance and sex, and self-expression? Do you feel affected by our culture that promotes fatphobic, sexist, racist, transphobic, and ableist messaging? Does body acceptance feel especially challenging due to your identities or lived experience (such as being trans, queer, disabled, POC)?

Body image concerns are not to pushed aside or labeled “frivolous.” Body image distress deserves attention and compassion. In therapy, we will make space for the parts of you that carry these body image-related burdens. In time, you will feel more clarity on what you need to feel more accepting and kind towards your body.