Therapy for chronic illness, body image, and disordered eating
Living in a body that hurts, or one you are constantly negotiating with, takes effort that is hard to explain to anyone else. Therapy here works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Which body and health concerns can therapy help with?
Three areas, and they rarely arrive alone. Each section below explains what the experience can look like, what therapy aims to change, and who here works with it.
Autoimmune conditions and chronic pain
Pain, fatigue, or a condition that reshapes your days, alongside the frustration of being told nothing more can be done.
arrow_forward
Body image
Thinking about how you look before almost anything else, avoiding mirrors or photos, or feeling fine until one comment lands.
arrow_forward
Eating disorders and disordered eating
Rules around food that have taken on a life of their own, eating that has become a source of shame, or recovery you want support with.
arrow_forward
How does therapy help with chronic pain and autoimmune conditions?
Therapy does not treat the condition itself and does not replace medical care. What it can change is how much room the condition takes up in your life, and what it costs you emotionally to keep going.
What it can look like
Pacing a day around pain or fatigue, canceling plans again, grief for the body or life you expected, or anger at appointments where you were not believed.
What therapy aims to change
Less strain between you and your body, more honest boundaries with work and people, and somewhere to put the frustration that has no obvious outlet.
How it is usually worked with
Somatic therapy, embodied recovery, and HeartMath are used here, alongside practical planning for days that vary. We will ask what your medical team is already doing and keep the work aligned with that.
What does body image work involve?
Body image is not about how you look. It is about how much attention your appearance takes up, and what you believe it says about you. The work does not ask you to love your body, only to stop organizing your day around it.
What it can look like
Checking mirrors or avoiding them, editing photos before sharing, refusing to be photographed, or a day that is fine until you catch a reflection.
What therapy aims to change
Less of your attention spent on monitoring yourself. That usually means noticing where the standard came from, and practicing being seen without first fixing anything.
How it is usually worked with
IFS and embodied recovery are often used, with attention to how shame shows up in the body. You will not be weighed, given a food plan, or told to change your appearance here.
How is disordered eating worked with in therapy?
Eating difficulties are not a discipline problem, and therapy here does not focus on weight or appearance. The work is about what food and control have come to do for you, at a pace that does not moralize about either.
What it can look like
Rigid rules about what or when you can eat, secret eating, guilt after meals, bingeing, purging, or a body that feels impossible to inhabit.
What therapy aims to change
More flexibility around food and less shame attached to it, and a relationship with your body that leaves room for something else to think about.
How it is usually worked with
IFS and AEDP are used to work with the part of you that reaches for control, and with the feelings it has been managing. Where eating has affected physical health, therapy sits alongside medical and nutritional care rather than replacing it, and we will say if that is needed.
Which therapists work with body and health concerns?
Three clinicians work in this area, in person at either office or online. None of them will comment on your weight or tell you what to eat.
What do people ask about therapy for body and health concerns?
The questions that come up most often before a first appointment, answered directly.
Will therapy cure my chronic pain or autoimmune condition?
No, and we will not suggest otherwise. Therapy works alongside your medical care on the emotional side of living with a condition, which can change how much it takes from your day.
Do I need to be diagnosed with an eating disorder to get help?
No. Plenty of people come with difficult patterns that do not fit a diagnosis. You can describe what is happening and we will work from there.
Will you talk about my weight, or give me a food plan?
No. These are not part of therapy here. If nutrition or medical support would help, we will say so and encourage you to see someone qualified in that area rather than filling the gap ourselves.
Can therapy help if my health is not going to improve?
Yes. Much of the work is about living well within limits rather than waiting to be fixed, and about having somewhere honest to talk about illness that other people find hard to hear.
How do I start therapy for body and health concerns?
Request an appointment and we will arrange a free 15 minute phone call. You can describe how things are now, ask whether a clinician is a good fit, and decide afterwards. Sessions start at $150 an hour, insurance is accepted, and online sessions are available if travel is difficult.