Struggling with food can feel like a constant mental battle. You may find yourself thinking about food all day, feeling stuck in cycles of restriction or overeating, or believing that your worth is tied to what you eat or how your body looks. Managing disordered eating or an eating disorder can leave you feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and disconnected from yourself.
Recovery is possible, and you don't have to go through it alone. At Greenlight Counseling, I provide compassionate, evidence-based care to help you heal your relationship with food, reconnect with your body, and build a life that isn't controlled by eating disorder thoughts.
Common symptoms of an eating disorder include:
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Feeling a strong need to control food or experiencing a loss of control around eating
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Constant thoughts or worries about food, eating, calories, weight, or body shape
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Using compensatory behaviors such as excessive exercise, calorie counting, purging, fasting, or other attempts to "make up" for eating
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Feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety before, during, or after eating
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Increased body image distress, body checking, or fear of weight gain
For individuals with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), symptoms often center around a lack of interest in eating, food sensory sensitivities, or fear of negative consequences like choking or vomiting rather than concerns about body image or weight. Every eating disorder presents differently, and your experiences, symptoms, and recovery journey are uniquely your own.
Evidence-Based Approaches for Eating Disorder Counseling
At Greenlight Counseling, I hold the belief that every healing journey is different. To begin, we would determine whether outpatient therapy is the right level of care for your needs before creating a personalized treatment plan with you based on your symptoms, goals, and stage of recovery. Treatment may include a combination of the following evidence-based approaches:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
This approach will help you learn how to make choices that reflect your values and move you toward living a more recovery-minded life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Eating disorders are not a choice and neither are the thoughts that come along with it; however, CBT can help you decide how to respond accordingly. You’ll learn how to identify the unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that keep the eating disorder going, and gain tools to shift towards a more balanced mindset.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT provides practical skills to help you manage uncomfortable emotions without turning to eating disorder behaviors.
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP helps you gradually face foods, situations, or triggers that have become overwhelming while practicing new ways of responding. This might include in-session meal support, trying feared foods together, or working through situations that have felt impossible, helping you build confidence and reduce anxiety over time.
Mindfulness
This practice teaches you to slow down and notice your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and hunger and fullness cues without judgment. As you become more present and connected to your body, it becomes easier to respond to your needs with self-compassion instead of falling into automatic eating disorder patterns.
Multidisciplinary Care
Eating disorders affect both physical and emotional health, making comprehensive care an important part of recovery. When appropriate, your therapist will collaborate with a registered dietitian, primary care provider, and, if needed, a psychiatrist to ensure every aspect of your health is supported.
Eating Disorder Recovery: What to Expect
Therapy can feel abstract. We will often discuss thoughts, feelings, and experiences so let’s make the next steps tangible by breaking down the therapy process:
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20-Minute Consultation: Schedule a free, no-strings-attached consultation call to chat more about your therapy needs, answer questions, and see if we are a good fit.
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Intake Session: In your first appointment, we will explore what brings you to therapy, dive into your mental health history, and begin outlining a treatment plan.
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Tailored Treatment Planning: We will collaborate on motivations and goals for therapy to help in the treatment planning process.
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Ongoing Support: Weekly or bi-weekly sessions will focus on building rapport, addressing your concerns, and adjusting the plan to reflect your progress and current needs.
Why Getting Eating Disorder Help Matters
Living with an eating disorder can be all-consuming, often making it difficult to fully engage in the life you want to live. Therapy provides a safe, supportive space to understand the underlying factors contributing to your food concerns while building the skills needed for meaningful, lasting recovery.
Together, we can work to:
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Heal your relationship with food and eating
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Reduce eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and urges
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Build healthier coping strategies for managing emotions and stress
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Improve body image and develop greater self-compassion
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Reconnect with your values so you can live a fuller, more meaningful life beyond the eating disorder
Take the First Step in Your Eating Disorder Recovery in Durham, NC
Recovery doesn't require perfection, it simply begins with a willingness to ask for support. Whether you've been struggling for years or are just beginning to notice concerns in your relationship with food, you deserve compassionate care that meets you where you are.
At Greenlight Counseling, I can help you move toward a healthier relationship with food, your body, and yourself. If you're ready to take the next step in your healing journey, give yourself the “green light” to schedule a free consultation today!
Christine Schneider, LCSW is an eating disorder therapist in Durham. In-person therapy is available in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area; online therapy is also available across NC.