MY APPROACH
How I work and what that means for you
Eating disorders are not really about food. They are complex, layered responses to pain, identity, attachment, and the search for safety. Before we can address what you are eating or not eating, we have to understand what the eating disorder has been doing for you and what it has been protecting you from.
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That understanding is where my work begins.
What it's like to work together
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My sessions are exploratory and collaborative. I don't come in with a script. I follow what you bring: the things you haven't been able to say out loud, the patterns you've started to notice, the moments that surprised you. And I work alongside you to understand what they mean.
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I am warm and direct in equal measure. I will create space for things to unfold slowly when that's what's needed. I will also name what I'm seeing when I think it will help. If something feels important, I'll say so.
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Many of my clients have spent years feeling unseen or misunderstood, by providers, by family members, sometimes by themselves. I take that seriously. My job is to earn your trust, stay curious, and make this a place where you don't have to edit yourself.
Therapeutic approaches
​​My clinical framework is integrative. I draw from multiple modalities depending on what each person needs. Here is how I think about the tools I use:
Psychodynamic Therapy
This approach explores the deeper emotional roots beneath eating disorder behaviors. Together, we look at patterns that developed over time, how early experiences and relationships shape the way you think and feel today, and what the eating disorder may be communicating that words haven't been able to say yet.
Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E)
CBT-E is one of the most researched and effective treatments for eating disorders. It focuses on identifying the specific thoughts, behaviors, and maintaining mechanisms of an individual’s eating disorder and gradually replacing them with more flexible, helpful ways of thinking about food, body, and self.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Practical skills for managing intense emotions, tolerating distress without turning to harmful behaviors, and building more stable relationships. Especially useful when emotions feel overwhelming or when the eating disorder is connected to self-harm, impulsivity, or difficulty regulating feelings.
Attachment Theory
Attachment theory helps us understand how early relationships with caregivers shape a person's sense of safety, self-worth, and connection to others. In therapy, we use this lens to understand how those early patterns may be showing up now, and to build a more secure foundation from the inside out.
Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT)
For families and parents who want to become active, confident participants in their loved one's recovery. Rather than stepping back, family members are guided to step in, supporting difficult emotions and meals in a way that deepens connection and accelerates healing.
Intersubjective Theory
Healing happens in relationship. This approach pays close attention to what unfolds between us in session: moments of connection, misunderstanding, and repair, as living examples of how relationships can feel safe. It is particularly useful for people who have felt chronically unseen.
Weight-neutral, HAES-informed care
My practice is rooted in Health at Every Size (HAES) principles and informed by intuitive eating. I do not use weight as a measure of health or recovery progress, and I will not encourage restriction or dieting in any form.Instead, we work toward rebuilding trust with your body, making peace with food, and releasing the rules that have kept you stuck. Many of my clients have been harmed by weight-focused care before reaching me. I want you to know that will not happen here.The goal is not a number on a scale. It is a life where food takes up less space in your mind, and you take up more.
A note on ambivalence
Most people who come to eating disorder therapy are not entirely sure they want to be there. A part of them does. Another part is frightened, attached to the disorder, or not convinced that recovery is possible for them. That is not a problem. That is the work.I will not push you toward a version of recovery you haven't had a chance to want yet. We start where you actually are.
What early sessions look like
Early in treatment, I often recommend meeting more frequently. This is not about intensity for its own sake. It is about building the kind of consistency that interrupts entrenched patterns before they can reassert themselves. Research shows that early progress, even small shifts, is one of the strongest predictors of long-term recovery.
Our first full session is a comprehensive assessment. I want to understand your history, your relationship with food, your support system, what you've tried before, and what you are hoping for. It is also a chance for you to get a sense of what working with me feels like.
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From there, we build a treatment plan together, one that reflects your goals, your pace, and where you are right now. As things become more stable, we adjust the rhythm to fit your life and support ongoing growth.
Have questions about whether my approach is a good fit? Schedule a free 15-minute call No commitment, just a conversation.