Eating Disorders

Eating disorders encompass a range of serious mental health conditions, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED). These conditions involve complex relationships with food, body image, and self-worth that require specialized, compassionate treatment.

Understanding Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are not about vanity, willpower, or seeking attention. They are serious mental health conditions characterized by persistent disturbances in eating behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. Individuals may engage in restrictive eating, binge eating, purging behaviors, or a combination thereof. Body dissatisfaction, preoccupation with food and weight, and intense fear of gaining weight are common features.

In today’s society, unrealistic beauty standards, diet culture, and the pervasive influence of social media can exacerbate these struggles, contributing to the development and maintenance of eating disorders. At BeWELL Psychotherapy and Wellness, we understand that eating disorders serve as coping mechanisms for deeper emotional pain and provide specialized treatment that addresses both the symptoms and underlying causes.

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Symptoms of Eating Disorders:

Restrictive eating patterns or severe calorie restriction – Limiting food intake dramatically, cutting out entire food groups, following rigid food rules, or eating only “safe” foods in very small portions.
Binge eating episodes followed by feelings of guilt or shame – Consuming large amounts of food in a short period while feeling out of control, often followed by intense emotional distress and self-criticism.
Compensatory behaviors such as purging, fasting, or excessive exercise – Using methods like vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, or compulsive exercise to “undo” eating or control weight, driven by fear and anxiety.
Distorted body image perceptions – Seeing your body as larger than it is, focusing obsessively on perceived flaws, or basing self-worth entirely on body shape and weight.

Preoccupation with food, weight, and body shape – Constant thoughts about calories, weight, meal planning, or body size that consume mental energy and interfere with being present in your life.
Withdrawal from social activities or situations involving food – Avoiding meals with others, declining invitations, isolating yourself from friends and family, or experiencing intense anxiety around social eating.
Physical symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, and gastrointestinal issues – Feeling weak or lightheaded, digestive problems, hair loss, brittle nails, feeling cold constantly, or menstrual irregularities.
Mood swings, irritability, or anxiety related to food and eating – Emotional volatility, particularly around mealtimes, intense anxiety before or after eating, or distress when food plans change unexpectedly.

Types of Eating Disorders We Treat

At BeWELL Psychotherapy and Wellness, our therapists specialize in treating all forms of eating disorders with evidence-based, compassionate care:

Anorexia Nervosa – Characterized by food restriction, intense fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Individuals often maintain significantly low body weight and may have rigid rules around eating.
Bulimia Nervosa – Involves cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors like purging, fasting, or excessive exercise. The cycle often feels impossible to stop despite knowing the health consequences.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – Recurrent episodes of eating large amounts of food with a sense of loss of control, followed by distress and shame, but without regular compensatory behaviors.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) – Limited food intake not driven by body image concerns but by sensory sensitivities, fear of adverse consequences, or lack of interest in eating.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) – Eating disorder symptoms that cause significant distress but don’t meet full criteria for other diagnoses, including atypical anorexia, purging disorder, and night eating syndrome.

How Eating Disorders Affect Your Daily Life

Eating disorders profoundly impact every aspect of daily functioning. Mentally, your thoughts become consumed by food, weight, calories, and body image, leaving little mental space for work, relationships, or activities you once enjoyed. The constant preoccupation is exhausting and isolating.

Physically, eating disorders take a serious toll on your body. You might experience extreme fatigue, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, digestive problems, disrupted sleep, and weakened immune function. The physical complications can become life-threatening, making eating disorders among the deadliest mental health conditions.

Socially, eating disorders create profound isolation. You might avoid social situations involving food, cancel plans because of eating or exercise rituals, or withdraw from loved ones who express concern. Relationships become strained as the eating disorder increasingly controls your decisions and priorities. The shame and secrecy surrounding eating disorder behaviors intensify the isolation.

Professionally or academically, eating disorders interfere with performance. Brain fog from malnutrition makes concentration difficult. You might miss work or classes due to medical appointments, rituals, or feeling physically unwell. The perfectionistic thinking common in eating disorders can either drive overachievement that leads to burnout or create paralysis and avoidance when standards feel impossible to meet.

Emotionally, eating disorders often mask deeper pain related to trauma, anxiety, depression, or low self-worth. The eating disorder becomes a way to cope with overwhelming feelings, exert control when life feels chaotic, or punish yourself for perceived inadequacies. Recovery requires addressing these underlying emotional issues, not just changing eating behaviors.

How BeWELL Can Help You Recover from Eating Disorders

At BeWELL Psychotherapy and Wellness, our licensed therapists in Manhattan, Hoboken, and online specialize in eating disorder treatment using evidence-based approaches that address both the symptoms and root causes of these complex conditions.

Evidence-Based Eating Disorder Treatment

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E) is an evidence-based approach specifically designed for eating disorders. It helps you identify and change the thoughts and behaviors that maintain the eating disorder, develop a healthier relationship with food, and build skills for long-term recovery.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotion regulation skills, distress tolerance, and mindfulness practices. This approach is particularly helpful for managing the intense emotions that often trigger eating disorder behaviors and for developing healthier coping mechanisms.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you develop psychological flexibility and build a life based on your values rather than eating disorder rules. You’ll learn to observe difficult thoughts and feelings without acting on urges to restrict, binge, or purge.

Family-Based Treatment (FBT) involves family members in recovery, particularly effective for adolescents and young adults. This approach empowers families to support recovery while the individual rebuilds a healthy relationship with food.

Intuitive Eating and Body Image Work helps you reconnect with internal hunger and fullness cues, challenge diet culture messaging, and develop body acceptance and compassion.

Comprehensive Care Coordination

Eating disorder recovery often requires a team approach. We coordinate care with:

Registered dietitians specializing in eating disorders
Psychiatrists for medication management when needed
Medical doctors to monitor physical health
Support groups and higher levels of care when appropriate

What Eating Disorder Treatment Looks Like

Treatment begins with a thorough assessment of your eating disorder symptoms, medical status, psychological factors, and treatment history. Together, we’ll create a personalized recovery plan that respects where you are in your readiness for change while moving toward sustainable recovery.

Early in treatment, we focus on interrupting eating disorder behaviors, establishing regular eating patterns, and developing alternative coping skills for managing emotions. This foundation is essential before deeper therapeutic work can occur.

As recovery progresses, we address underlying issues like perfectionism, trauma, relationship patterns, or identity struggles that fuel the eating disorder. You’ll learn to separate your identity from the eating disorder, challenge distorted beliefs about food and body, and rebuild a life aligned with your authentic values.

Flexible Treatment Options

In-person eating disorder therapy in Manhattan (Flatiron District) and Hoboken
Online therapy throughout NY, NJ, CT, PA, RI, and CA
Individual therapy tailored to your specific eating disorder
Coordination with your treatment team
Flexible scheduling to accommodate work, school, or medical appointments
Free 20-minute consultation

Recovery from eating disorders is possible. With specialized treatment and support, you can develop a peaceful relationship with food, reconnect with your body, and reclaim the life your eating disorder has taken from you.