- What is your current job title? Owner of Private Practice: Dietitian and Therapist
- What are your current educational credentials? MSRD LMHC LPC CEDS-C LDN
- What inspired you to become a clinician in the field of eating disorder treatment? I grew up as a competitive dancer. In this world, there was a lot of importance put on body size and the motto was “whatever it takes”. I witnessed and experienced a lot of body harm in the name of being thin. When I went to college, I took a nutrition class and for me, it was freeing to learn what our bodies needed. I knew then that I wanted to become a dietitian specializing in Eating Disorders to give back what I had gotten and walk the healing path with others.
- Tell us about your journey as a clinician from your first role to your current role. Through this wor, I also had the opportunity to lead support groups. I fell in love with this as I witnessed the healing power that occurred. This also sparked my passion to learn about the underlying issues and therapeutic tools to help one’s journey. Therefore I went back to school to get training to become and Licensed Therapist. All of this has been an incredibly rewarding journey to come alongside others in differing capacities as they courageously journey toward healing.
- What do you currently see as the greatest barriers to eating disorder treatment and recovery? Unfortunately, there are many; however, one that is all-encompassing is diet culture. Diet culture is the water we swim in. It is difficult to recover when all around you is a discussion of who’s lost weight, who’s gained weight, the best diets etc. There are many wonderful voices out there doing great advocacy work against diet culture, however, the pervasiveness is still a great barrier to many.
- What is your proudest moment as an eating disorder clinician? I might not use the word proud, but I would say the most gratifying moments are the moments when my clients begin to internalize recovery and say things like “It was so strange, I went the day yesterday without worrying about what I ate” or “I went out with my friends and truly enjoyed them and did not think about my body size” etc. Those are the magical moments.
- What do your clients love most about MyClearStep? If my clients forget to weigh, they can just jump on right at the beginning of our session. Because the scale is right there, there is less planning involved which helps decrease the dread
- What has changed since adding MyClearStep to your practice? MyClearStep has been incredibly helpful since transitioning to a virtual practice. It helps me have the data without putting the client in danger of seeing their weight. Working on an outpatient level can be tricky to have all the data (blood work, growth charts, weights, vitals etc) to come alongside clients in the most attuned and containing way. Having Clear Step makes this process much smoother.
- What advice would you give to those considering a career in eating disorder treatment? Working with this population is incredibly rewarding. You will meet some of the most intelligent, creative, lovely humans doing this work. Also, seek out lots of training and supervision. This is specialized work, and knowing the intricacies of it is important. There is so much good training and support out there, seek it out.
- What are some of your passions and hobbies outside of work? Outside of work, you will typically find me at coffee shops with friends, reading a really good book, volunteering at church, shopping, or hiking.
