Evidence Based Treatment In-Person in Chicago and Online Across Illinois

Body Image & Disordered Eating

Let’s work towards a state of acceptance & compassion together.

If you’re tired of keeping up a facade that everything’s fine but secretly feeling like you’re missing out on life, you’re in the right place.

When we start working together, we’ll talk about all the ways your worries about eating and your body have impacted your life. What does your day-to-day life look like with these thoughts constantly swirling in your mind?

Once we understand how you’re affected by these feelings, we’ll look at the behaviors that are keeping you stuck in this unwinnable game. I’ll gently challenge you to try new behaviors in place of the old ones, and give you tools that can help while you adjust. We’ll stay in close contact through this process and you’re always welcome to be honest about how things are going—I’m not here to judge, I’m here to help.

Over time, we’ll start to figure out how focusing on your body actually interferes with being able to connect with others and enjoy your life. I also want to help you understand just how many of these ideas were created and are upheld by our patriarchal society, and empower you to stop buying into what they’re selling.

Therapy will help you…

  • Learn to eat intuitvely and trust yourself.

  • Accept your body as it is.

  • Stop seeing food as “good” or “bad.'“

  • Have more compassion and understanding toward yourself.

  • Stop worrying about food, how you look, or what others think.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

  • “Disordered eating” refers to a range of irregular eating behaviors that may not meet the criteria for a diagnosed eating disorder but can still negatively impact physical and emotional well-being. Eating disorders, on the other hand, involve more severe and persistent patterns of disordered eating that often require professional treatment to address. I have years of experience treating both, and would be happy to discuss your symptoms and options in a free consultation call. Click here to schedule one.

  • Body image, or how we perceive and feel about our bodies, can have a significant impact on mental health. Negative body image can contribute to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and disordered eating behaviors. Through therapy, I aim to help my clients reach a state of acceptance and neutrality about their bodies, which allows them to decenter body image in their perception of themselves and understand that their physical and mental health are what’s most important.

  • Disordered eating encompasses a wide range of behaviors related to food and eating that may indicate an unhealthy relationship with food or body image. This can include restrictive dieting, binge eating, compulsive exercise, or preoccupation with food and weight. While disordered eating behaviors may not meet the criteria for a diagnosed eating disorder, they can still have negative effects on physical and mental health, and those struggling with them can benefit greatly from therapy.

  • Eating disorders occur in people of all sizes. I provide treatment to people of all body sizes and do not make assumptions based on one’s body size. I value each person’s lived experience and acknowledge the harmful impact of size discrimination.

  • This happens when your brain is malnourished. Your brain knows you need food to survive and wants you to focus on it. However, if you are stuck with trying to restrict your eating, you may interpret your biological hunger cues as a failure to control your weight and increase your efforts to restrict your diet, only perpetuating this harmful cycle. 

  • Body dysmorphia, also known as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), is when someone becomes overly preoccupied with perceived flaws in their appearance, even if these flaws are minimal or nonexistent to others. It's like having a distorted lens through which they see themselves, often creating much stress and worry. People with body dysmorphia may spend a lot of time trying to hide or fix these perceived flaws, which can impact their self-esteem and overall well-being. Therapy can help those struggling with body dysmorphia feel neutral about their physical appearance and start to value their health and joy over looks.