What I Treat
Eating Disorder & Self-Harm Specialization
Choosing the right clinical support is a critical first step toward healing. As a specialist, I provide evidence-based treatment for adults and adolescents navigating eating disorders and self-harm, utilizing a highly collaborative approach to care.
Core Eating Disorder Treatment
Anorexia & Bulimia Nervosa
I offer comprehensive treatment for anorexia and bulimia using a multidisciplinary team approach. To ensure the highest quality of care, I maintain weekly communication with your outside providers (such as physicians and dietitians) to keep your treatment seamlessly coordinated.
Family-Based Treatment (FBT) for Adolescents
When working with teenagers, I utilize Family-Based Treatment (FBT). This evidence-based model empowers parents and families to play an active, supportive role in their child’s recovery at home.
Complex & Emerging Conditions
Disordered eating takes many forms. My practice provides specialized clinical care for less commonly recognized conditions, including:
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Overcoming cycles of restriction and shame to build a balanced relationship with food.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
Supporting individuals navigating sensory sensitivities, fear of adverse consequences, or restricted food intake.
GLP-1 Medication Support
Providing targeted clinical intervention for individuals who have developed patterns of misuse or disordered behavior following a GLP-1 prescription.
Self-Harm Recovery
Beyond eating disorders, I specialize in treating adolescents and adults who engage in self-harm.
In my practice, I have found that the psychological mechanisms behind eating disorders and self-harm parallel one another—both often serving as coping strategies for intense emotional distress. Because these struggles frequently overlap, addressing them concurrently allows me to treat the whole person rather than an isolated symptom.
Psychotherapy
I am often asked, “How do you treat an eating disorder? What will help me to get better?” These are not questions that come with simple answers, but without question, a trusting therapy relationship is often vital in recovery. But, at the same time, therapy feels intimidating, and maybe, overwhelming. I am confident, however, that you will find therapy to be warm and caring, while also providing the push necessary to overcome these difficult disorders.
Therapy services are overseen by Wendy Hoyt, PhD. One of my additional goals is to provide training to other therapists seeking knowledge or expertise in eating disorder treatment. As a result, I may have other pre-licensed and licensed therapists available to provide services under my supervision.
Treating Teenagers and Their Families
When a teenager develops an eating disorder, recovery is most successful when the entire family is involved in the treatment process. The gold standard approach for adolescents is Family-Based Treatment (FBT), an evidence-based model that empowers parents to play an active role in helping their child recover while remaining at home, in school, and connected to their daily life.
Through FBT, parents learn how to support their teenager in restoring healthy eating patterns and challenging eating disorder behaviors. Treatment typically includes individual therapy, family therapy, nutritional guidance, and ongoing medical monitoring, all coordinated through a multidisciplinary treatment team.
While this process can feel intensive and overwhelming at times, families do not have to navigate it alone. With the support of an experienced treatment team, most adolescents can successfully recover without requiring residential treatment. Remaining at home throughout recovery often leads to stronger long-term outcomes, as healthy habits and coping skills are developed and practiced within the environment where daily life takes place.
Treatment for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
ARFID is an eating disorder that typically develops in children and teens, and can have major physiological impacts, leading to significant weight loss, avoidance of eating enough food, and even more so, avoidance of eating a range of foods. Most young kids will have a stage where they are very picky; this is not the same as ARFID. Older kids and teenagers who have develop ARFID will have never grown out of their picky eating stage, and as a result, they continue to struggle to eat enough, and fail to gain appropriate weight as they age. In addition, they are very frightened of many foods, not due to a fear of weight gain, but due to taste, texture and/or other sensory concerns. Treatment for ARFID, like any other eating disorder, includes working with the family to first correct any weight loss/failure to gain, and then moved to expose the child/teen to a wider range of foods so that their comfort with food increases.
It is possible for someone to have both ARFID and anorexia or bulimia; in these cases, the eating disorder cascade typically begins with ARFID but evolves into a fear of weight gain also. Fortunately, competent care can help the teenager become healthy in spite of the complex presentation.