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Girl in Therapy

Eating Disorders Clinic 

Disordered eating involves too much focus on weight, body shape, & food and can include restrictive eating, compulsive eating, irregular or inflexible eating  patterns, impulsive or out-of-control eating eating to regulate emotions. It can also include anxiety around new or different foods, textures, consistencies, color, etc ... resulting in picky and restrictive eating patterns.

 

 These types of eating patterns may develop for a variety of reasons (e.g., societal standards about weight or shape, athletic requirements or competitiveness, emotion dysregulation, anxiety/perfectionism, feeling overwhelmed, distorted thinking). If not treated effectively, eating problems can have profound effects on our mental and physical well-being, even resulting in death. 

 

Our team of specialists at PBH is dedicated to providing compassionate, evidence-based treatment for individuals struggling with eating disorders. Through a supportive and empathetic approach, we help clients develop healthier relationships with food, body image, and self. We employ the  following empirically supported treatments:

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— Cognitive Behavioral Therapy –Eating Disorder (CBT-ED)

— Interpersonal Psychotherapy  for Bulimia and Binge
     Eating (IPT)

— Maudsley Family Based Therapy (for youth and bulimia)

— Maudsley Model of Anorexia Treatment in Adults (MANTRA)

— Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM) for
     Eating Disorder

— Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Eating Disorder

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Does this sound like you or a loved one?

Physical Symptoms

  • Loss of period or menstrual dysfunction, or delayed puberty

  • Bloating or constipation

  • Hyperthermia

  • Fatigue and muscle weakness

  • Skin problems

  • Hair loss

  • Dizziness

  • Poor sleep

  • Calluses on knuckles from vomiting

  • Teeth loss or weakness in tooth enamel

  • Mild anemia​

  • Low blood pressure, slow breathing and pulse

Behavioral symptoms

  • Restrictive eating or dieting

  • Skipping meals or snacks, making excuses to not eat

  • Avoiding certain foods, restrictive diet

  • Frequent checking in the mirror

  • Excessive exercise

  • Exercising despite injuries or training restrictions

  • Restlessness

  • Binge-eating

  • Use of laxatives

  • Excessive weighing or monitoring

  • Wearing oversized clothes

  • Eating in secret

Psychological symptoms

  • Self-critical thoughts, especially related to body weight, shape, or size

  • Low self-esteem

  • Low energy and poor concentration

  • Need for sense of control

  • Depressive thoughts

  • Fear or anxiety around weight gain

  • Distress relating to weighing

  • Desire to perform better and
    weigh less

  • Thought of food affects level of concentration

  • Don't recognize hunger cues

  • Suicidal thoughts/urges

  • Use food as a means of gaining control

Potential causes

  • Genetics/biology

  • Family history

  • Presence of other mental health issues (e.g., anxiety disorders, OCD, trauma, depression, impulse control)

  • Athletic demands (leanness associated with competitiveness)

  • History of bullying or harassment around weight

  • Stress

  • Social pressure for thinness

  • Unhealthy dieting 

Specialists on our Team

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Co-Director

Kourtney Lecher Ullrich
MS, LPC

Master of Science in Clinical Psychology

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