What I help with

An eating disorder is a mental illness, not a diet that went too far. What you can see around food is only part of the picture. Underneath may sit fear, rules, control, body image or patterns that have gradually become difficult to step outside of. Treatment works with both what is happening around food and what is keeping it going. You do not need a diagnosis, a particular body type or a certain level of severity to start.

Anxiety is not a flaw in the system; it is the system doing its job too often and too well. It can exist on its own or become closely intertwined with eating, body image, control and the rules of an eating disorder. Either way, there are patterns that keep anxiety going. Understanding those patterns gives us something we can work with, rather than simply telling you to relax or think more positively.

OCD is not about being tidy. Nearly everyone has intrusive thoughts; what makes it a disorder is what you have to do to make them go away, and the relief that follows — because relief is what teaches the thought to come back louder. Treatment works on the response, not on the thought. Most of it is invisible from the outside.

Stress and burnout are not quite the same thing. Stress often builds when the demands on you begin to outweigh the resources you have to meet them. When that continues for too long without enough recovery, exhaustion can become harder to shift. Time away may help, but recovery often means looking beyond the tiredness at the pressures, expectations and patterns that keep bringing you back to the same place.