Support Her Clients in Eating Disorder Recovery

I have had the honor of watching our empowered eating dietitians blossom into an amazing nutrition professional. She started with our practice over ten years ago while she was a dietetics student at the University of Maryland. She had already been in recovery from her own eating disorder for about five years and was ready to help others begin their journey of treatment of their own eating disorder. We bring an enormous amount of knowledge, compassion and empathy into her work with clients each day. She brings enormous passion and dedication to help her clients heal from eating disorders and also helps them discover tools to help clients live a rich and meaningful life as they separate themselves from their eating disorders.

How can we help?

As our team helps clients face their food fears, she will help clients manage their anxiety around food and will even share meals and snacks with her clients as they learn to push past their fears and nourish themselves. She has an incredible ability to meet clients where they are and to nudge them to go outside of their comfort zone and take the next right step toward recovery, she brings such genuine caring and kindness to each session, her clients are able to tolerate and eventually even enjoy food again. Our clients LOVE our dietitians!

How do we support you?

If you are working with us, we are available on a daily basis using a special phone/tablet app call Recovery Record. You will be able to communicate your thoughts, feelings and beliefs around food while tracking what you are eating throughout the day. We believe using the Recovery Record is a available tool to stay connected to her and keep recovery a priority.

Her incredible patience and intuition will help you feel safe as you learn to find your voice again and become who you are meant to be without having to rely on your eating disorder to cope. She will help empower you to use food in a loving, caring, self-nurturing way.

How do we stay on top of the field of nutrition and eating disorders?

We are consistently fine tuning her skills and adding to her wheelhouse of tools for clients to foster recovery. She is an active member of these professional groups and she also visits eating disorder treatment centers across the country to keep abreast of which treatment centers will best meet the needs of her current and future clients.

•  has completed and maintained advanced specialization in the treatment of eating disorders with her certification from the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IADEP).
• is an active member of numerous professional groups:
  • International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians (IFEDD)
  • Washington Society for the Study of Eating Disorders (WSSEDO)
  • Behavioral Health Nutrition Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Board Member of the Eating Disorder Network of Maryland (EDN)
• has visited 8 treatment centers across the United States and has regular contact with the clinicians of even more treatment centers so that she can make the best recommendations if you or your loved one needs a higher level of care.

How do we give back to the community?

As a Board Member of the Eating Disorder Network of Maryland (EDN), we spend hours each week donating her time to this local non-profit organization to spread awareness and education about eating disorders throughout the state of Maryland, reaching out to health professionals, educators and the general public about the importance of prevention of eating disorders, recognizing and early intervention of eating disorders before the illness becomes entrenched in our loved-ones.

We also participates regularly with:

• Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) support group for family members
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) fund-raising including numerous walks to increase awareness of eating disorders
• Mothers Against Eating Disorders (MAED)
• Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders (F.E.A.S.T.)

How do we support family and loved ones?

In addition to her strength as a positive role model to clients and families, she is available to help families through their individual road bumps on the road to recovery. She is available to meet with families as needed and she also leads a quarterly free support group open to families struggling with eating disorders. (We also provide weekly client support groups where families are invited to participate if desired).

How does we raise awareness of the importance of prevention, early intervention and treatment of eating disorders?

Recently we have:

• Reached out to teachers in Howard County delivering eating disorder awareness packages
• Reached out to a local ballet group to provide awareness of the risk of eating disorders in this population
• Connected with numerous therapists and other health professionals about eating disorders

Thanks to our Empowered Eating team and all they do be be extraordinary to our clients.

To learn more about us and if you are interested in meeting with us, please fill out this contact form.

Note: This blog was edited and re-posted from January 2020.