Eating Disorder Therapy

You already know more about calories than most dietitians. You do not need information. You need the thing in your head that runs the rules to loosen its grip, and you have not been able to make that happen alone. That is not weakness. That is what an eating disorder is.

What it actually is

An eating disorder is not vanity and it is not a diet gone too far. It is a way of coping with something, control, anxiety, shame, a body that has been criticized or harmed, that has taken on a life of its own. The food is the surface. Underneath is almost always something that had nothing to do with food when it started.

It takes many forms. Restricting. Bingeing. Purging. Eating in secret. Rules about what, when, and how much that you cannot break without panic. Exercising to earn food. For some people it looks like a health kick from the outside, which is part of what makes it so hard to see and so hard to ask for help with.

A word about your body

Eating disorders affect the heart, the bones, the gut, the brain. If it has been going on for a while, you may need a doctor alongside a therapist, and we will say so plainly if we think that is the case. We would rather have that conversation early than pretend therapy alone is enough when it is not.

What we do

We do not start with your weight and we do not start with a meal plan. We start with you. What the rules are protecting you from. What the disorder gives you that nothing else does. From there we work, at a pace that does not feel like losing control, toward a relationship with food and your body that does not run your life. We coordinate with your medical providers when that is needed.

This page is for you if

• Food, weight, or your body takes up more of your thinking than you want it to

• You have rules about eating that you cannot break without anxiety

• You binge, purge, restrict, or exercise in ways you hide from people

• Someone who loves you has said they are worried and you got angry

• You have tried to stop on your own and could not

How to reach us

Call (808) 640-6252 or send a message through our contact form. We see clients at our Hilo office, our Honolulu office, and by telehealth anywhere in Hawaiʻi.

We are in network with HMSA, HMSA QUEST, HMAA, UHA, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

If you need someone right now

If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, please do not wait for an appointment. Call or text 988. If your phone does not have an 808 number, call Hawaiʻi CARES at (808) 832-3100 or (800) 753-6879. In an emergency, call 911.