It's rarely really about food
Disordered eating usually begins as a solution before it becomes a problem. Restricting, bingeing, purging, or constant tracking can quiet anxiety, create a feeling of control, numb grief, or meet a need that had nowhere else to go. Body hatred often works the same way — a loud, focused place to put pain that otherwise has no words. None of this means you are vain, broken, or lacking willpower. It means something in you learned to survive this way.
That is why advice like "just eat normally" or "love your body" so often falls flat. If the behavior is doing a job, willpower alone cannot retire it. In therapy, we get curious about the job instead: What does the food struggle protect you from feeling? What would the critical voice say if it were not busy commenting on your body? When the underlying need is finally heard, the old strategy often loosens its grip on its own.
How we work together
Internal Family Systems, or IFS, is my primary approach. Rather than waging war on the part of you that restricts, binges, or criticizes your reflection, we listen to it. That part usually carries a story — a fear of rejection, a need for safety, a way of coping that once made sense. Alongside IFS, relational and attachment work explores where you learned what your body had to be in order to be loved, and humanistic work makes room for who you want to be beyond appearance and achievement.
Culture and family often live inside this struggle too. Comments about weight at the dinner table, food as the language of love, ideals from two cultures at once — we make space for all of it without blaming the people who taught you. For immigrants and adult children of immigrants, body image can carry questions of belonging that deserve more than a diet-culture answer.
What progress can look like
Recovery is not a straight line, and it does not require you to adore your body every day. For many people it looks quieter than that: eating becomes less charged, the inner commentary softens, a hard day no longer has to end in a binge or skipped meal. You begin to notice the difference between hunger, emotion, and habit — and to have more choices in each moment.
I work with disordered eating patterns, body image distress, and the shame and anxiety wrapped around them. If you have a diagnosed eating disorder that needs medical monitoring or a higher level of care, I will say so honestly and help you find a team — your safety comes before keeping you as a client. Therapy with me can be one part of that support.
A place to start
Meeting from your own space often makes it easier to talk about things that carry shame — you do not have to sit in a waiting room first.
A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to begin. You can message me through my Psychology Today profile to arrange it. We can talk about what you are hoping for, what has and has not helped before, and whether working together feels like a good fit. If you are in immediate crisis, call or text 988; for a medical emergency, call 911.
Your body is not the enemy. It has been carrying you the whole time.