Helping Your Child With An Eating Disorder

Eating disorders are complex and involve comprehensive training. Please do not assume that all therapists are trained in working with eating disorders, even if they advertise that they do. In the course of my career, I have seen clients who have been harmed by therapists, coaches, and loved ones who have said the wrong things, resulting in pushing a person deeper into their eating disorder.

Anyone with an eating disorder is experiencing deep mental suffering and it should be taken seriously. Eating disorders are not about the food. It’s a perfect storm of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors. We know more about eating disorders than ever before, yet the prevalence rates continue to rise and eating disorders remain the most complex mental health disorders to treat and overcome.

I’ve spent 25 years treating eating disorder clients and working with their families. I nearly died from Anorexia after years of starvation and laxative abuse, leading to heart surgery at 21 years old. So when I work with eating disorder clients, I get it both professionally and personally. My doctoral dissertation consisted of creating a parent-daughter eating disorder curriculum and I’ve added a lot more to my therapy and coaching skill set since 2003.

Although I’ve spent the majority of my career working directly with clients suffering from an eating disorder, in recent years I’ve switched my focus to providing coaching to parents who have an eating disordered child. I also provide training to medical organizations and offer supervision and consultation to other professionals.

I have strong training in psychodynamic, interpersonal, attachment, and trauma theories. As I’ve moved through my career in working with eating disorders, it’s become clear: the clients who recovered fastest and fully had healthy parental involvement. Most often, a supportive mom who was active in her child’s recovery. Now that I’m a mom myself, I understand how difficult it is to watch your child struggle and wanting to do all you can to help them.

Being a mom is the hardest, heart-wrenching, important, and rewarding job in the world. Trying to help your child recover from an eating disorder can be defeating, lonely, scary, and stressful. You don’t have to do this alone.

Book a one-on-one, intensive, coaching consult. We will spend 90 minutes diving into all things related to your child’s eating disorder. I will leave you with clarity and direction for moving forward. Navigating the complexities of an eating disorder is extremely difficult, let me help you make this process a little less overwhelming.