Photo of Traci Henson, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in 43220, OH
Traci Henson
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, LPCC-S, LICDC
Verified Verified
Columbus, OH 43220
Starting your journey and looking for the right therapist can be overwhelming. I'm glad you're here! With my warm and non-judgmental approach, I hope to help you discover and understand the difficulties you are facing.
Starting your journey and looking for the right therapist can be overwhelming. I'm glad you're here! With my warm and non-judgmental approach, I hope to help you discover and understand the difficulties you are facing.
(740) 245-6157 View (740) 245-6157
Photo of Dominic Jontony, Counselor in 43220, OH
Dominic Jontony
Counselor, LPCC
Verified Verified
5 Endorsed
Columbus, OH 43220
As a former Ohio State wrestler, one of my greatest passions is in Sports Counseling - helping athletes and families reach their potential where anger, negative self talk and fear can often times speak so loudly. I help others realize they can silence those voices and take ownership of their actions and emotions so sports, relationships and life can be fun!
As a former Ohio State wrestler, one of my greatest passions is in Sports Counseling - helping athletes and families reach their potential where anger, negative self talk and fear can often times speak so loudly. I help others realize they can silence those voices and take ownership of their actions and emotions so sports, relationships and life can be fun!
(440) 540-4490 View (440) 540-4490
Photo of Jessica Cutshall, Counselor in 43220, OH
Jessica Cutshall
Counselor, PhD, LPCC-S
Verified Verified
Columbus, OH 43220
Jessica is an LPCC and has extensive teaching and clinical experience helping others overcome life struggles and achieve success. She has taught classes focused on success and critical thinking and brings this professional knowledge into her clinical work. She has worked with all ages and has special expertise and experience working with adolescents and young adults.
Jessica is an LPCC and has extensive teaching and clinical experience helping others overcome life struggles and achieve success. She has taught classes focused on success and critical thinking and brings this professional knowledge into her clinical work. She has worked with all ages and has special expertise and experience working with adolescents and young adults.
(614) 412-4217 View (614) 412-4217
Eating Disorders Therapists

What happens in therapy for eating disorders?

In therapy for eating disorders, patients typically describe their eating and exercise behaviors, their patterns of eating in relation to stress, their beliefs about their body, the ways their eating behavior affects their relationships, and their desire (or lack of it) to change. Such information helps the therapist understand the origins of the disorder and the role it plays in the patient’s life, important for guiding treatment. Attitudes and feelings about food and eating, body weight, and physical appearance are common topics of discussion throughout treatment.

What therapy types help with eating disorders?

Once any acute medical or psychiatric emergency is resolved, psychoactive medication is often prescribed, requiring the supervision of a psychiatrist. In addition, patients receive some form of nutritional counseling along with one or more forms of psychotherapy. For adolescents, family-based treatment is empirically validated and considered the first line of treatment; parents and their children meet weekly with a clinician as the adults are coached on how to nourish and psychologically support the young patient. Adults typically receive some form of individual psychotherapy, intended to resolve the cognitive and behavioral disturbances that underlie the disorder and to relieve the mood disturbances that accompany it. In addition, patients may also be helped by group therapy.

What is the goal of therapy for eating disorders?

The most immediate goal of treatment for eating disorders is to save the life of people who are on a path of starving themselves to death or engaging in eating patterns that are doing irreparable physical harm to their body. Once the acute medical danger is past, therapy is required to understand the nature of the disordered eating and/or exercise patterns, establish healthy eating behavior, and to tackle the many erroneous beliefs and distorted self-perceptions that underlie eating disorders and continue to pose a threat to health and life. Therapy also addresses the impaired mood that not only accompanies eating disorders but intensifies the danger to health and life.

What are the limitations of therapy for eating disorders?

Therapy can be very helpful for eating disorders—but that can happen only after people recognize they have a condition that must be treated. Especially with anorexia, the distortions in self-image that accompany the disorder can keep people from acknowledging they have a problem. Individuals may in fact see their eating disorder as a badge of self-control. Those with binge-eating disorder may feel too ashamed to seek help. Therapy cannot help those who do not avail themselves of it.

How long does therapy last for eating disorders?

Because of their complexity, recovery from eating disorders is usually a long-term process—measured in months and years— often marked by setbacks and relapse. Some form of help, such as individual or group therapy, may be advisable for much of that time. It is a general rule of thumb that the longer the illness has endured and the dysregulated eating behavior has taken root, the longer treatment is likely to be needed.