Eating Disorders & Body Image
My expertise lies in the treatment of eating disorders and body image issues. As a Health At Every Size®-aligned helping professional I am committed to promoting safety, respect and access to health care services for people of all backgrounds, sizes and shapes.
HAES® is a weight-neutral framework of care that advances the right to be at peace in one’s body. Health is considered an evolving resource that shifts over time, is based on circumstances and is not a prerequisite or obligation. Health status does not define a person’s intrinsic worth. For more information on HAES® please visit The Association For Size Diversity and Health.
I am also a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and a Certified Body Trust® Specialist. Body Trust® is both a radical paradigm shift for helping professionals and a specialized, practical intervention for healing body shame and disordered eating that addresses internalized weight stigma and moves towards resilience and liberation from individual, cultural and systemic body oppression.
As a lead therapist and coordinator of the Day Treatment Program at Balance Eating Disorder Treatment Center, I guided individuals of all backgrounds and ages towards increased acceptance of their bodies and flexible and attuned eating habits. Over the past decade I continued to help clients heal from disordered eating and body shame in my private practice.
Why Eating Disorders?
As a student in conservatory training for theater, I was troubled by the preoccupation in the industry with body weight, shape and size causing chronic stress and anguish about body image. Observing the pain of artists motivated me to return to the roots of theater, ritual and healing, to support and enhance artists’ and individuals’ creativity, power, and physical bodies.
Body Acceptance and Food Freedom
Healing from disordered eating and body shame is possible! It’s challenging because of the pervasive emphasis on body control, thinness, “perfect” eating and health in our culture. In this climate it is understandable to feel discouraged about letting go of dieting and simply accepting your natural weight and size and just being.
Learning about diet culture and related societal and systemic injustices that affect the ability to feel at home in your body brings awareness, understanding and relief. When we accept that body diversity is a fact of life, we honor our humanity and can let go of self-blame.
Your body was not and is not the problem. Check out this onion doodle that pictures the many influences that stand in the way of food freedom and body acceptance. When you learn what disrupted your relationship with your body the repair work begins.
Published Works
Disordered Eating and Body Shame in the Performing Arts
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Eating Disorder Recovery Metaphors
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The Role of Community in Eating Disorder Recovery
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