Serving Cary, Cornelius & Pittsboro | Virtual Across NC
Serving Cary, Cornelius & Pittsboro | Virtual Across NC
Eating Disorder Treatment in North Carolina.
Eating disorders can affect much more than eating. They can influence mood, anxiety, relationships, school or work, physical health, self-esteem, and a person’s ability to participate fully in everyday life.
At Krippa Family Psychological & Wellness Services, we provide individualized therapy for adolescents and adults struggling with disordered eating, body image concerns, and eating disorders. Treatment is tailored to each person’s symptoms, developmental needs, medical needs, and goals—not simply to a diagnosis.
Understanding Eating Disorders
When Eating and Body Image Begin to Take Over
Eating disorders do not always look the way people expect. A person may be struggling significantly even when their weight appears typical, they continue to attend school or work, or those around them do not recognize that anything is wrong.
Concerns may include restricting food, binge eating, purging, compulsive exercise, intense fear of weight gain, preoccupation with calories or food, avoiding certain foods, distress about body shape or size, or feeling out of control around eating. For some people, these behaviors become a way of coping with anxiety, perfectionism, difficult emotions, trauma, or a need for control.
Early support can help interrupt these patterns before they become increasingly entrenched and begin to affect physical health, emotional well-being, and daily life.
Eating Disorders And Concerns We Treat
Eating disorders can develop at any age and may involve a wide range of symptoms and behaviors. We work with adolescents and adults experiencing concerns including:
Anorexia nervosa and restrictive eating
Bulimia nervosa
Binge eating disorder
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)
Disordered eating that may not meet criteria for a specific diagnosis
Body image and body dissatisfaction
Fear of weight gain
Compulsive or excessive exercise
Anxiety, perfectionism, or obsessive thoughts related to food and eating
You do not need to wait until symptoms become severe or fit neatly into a diagnosis to seek help. Treatment can begin when eating, food, exercise, or body image starts interfering with physical health, emotional well-being, relationships, or everyday life.
An Individualized Approach to Eating Disorder Treatment
There is no single approach that is right for every person with an eating disorder. Treatment begins with understanding the individual—not simply the eating behaviors. We look at the factors that may be contributing to or maintaining symptoms, including anxiety, depression, perfectionism, obsessive thinking, trauma, family dynamics, sensory concerns, ADHD, and difficulties with emotional regulation.
Therapy may incorporate evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), exposure-based strategies, and trauma-informed interventions. For adolescents, parents and caregivers may also be involved in treatment when appropriate.
Our goal is to help clients develop a healthier and more flexible relationship with food and their bodies while addressing the emotional and psychological concerns underlying their symptoms.
Eating Disorder Treatment Often Requires a Team
Eating disorders can affect both emotional and physical health, which is why treatment may involve more than psychotherapy alone. Depending on the individual’s needs, care may include collaboration with a physician, registered dietitian, psychiatrist or psychiatric medication provider, and other healthcare professionals.
Our therapists can collaborate with outside providers when appropriate to help create coordinated care. Medication management is also available within our practice for clients who may benefit from treatment for co-occurring concerns such as anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
When medical or nutritional needs exceed what can safely be addressed through outpatient treatment, we will recommend additional services or a higher level of care. Our priority is helping each client receive the level and combination of support appropriate for their needs.
Eating Disorders and Co-Occurring Concerns
Looking Beyond Food and Eating
Eating disorder symptoms rarely exist in isolation. Many adolescents and adults also experience anxiety, depression, OCD, perfectionism, ADHD, trauma-related symptoms, low self-esteem, or difficulty managing intense emotions.
Effective treatment means understanding how these concerns interact. Restricting, binge eating, purging, rigid food rules, or compulsive exercise may provide a temporary sense of relief, control, or emotional regulation while ultimately reinforcing the cycle that keeps symptoms going.
By addressing both eating disorder behaviors and the concerns occurring alongside them, therapy can help clients develop healthier ways to cope, greater flexibility, and a stronger sense of self that is not defined by food, weight, or appearance.
Eating Disorder Treatment for Teens
Eating disorders during adolescence can affect physical development, emotional health, relationships, and functioning at home and school. Teens may also minimize their symptoms or have difficulty recognizing when eating or exercise patterns have become concerning.
We work with teens in a way that respects their growing independence while recognizing the important role parents and caregivers can play in recovery. Depending on the teen’s needs, treatment may include individual therapy, parent involvement, family support, and coordination with medical and nutritional providers.
Our clinicians focus on creating a therapeutic relationship where teens can talk openly about food, body image, anxiety, perfectionism, social pressures, and other concerns without feeling reduced to their eating disorder.
Body Image Is About More Than Appearance
For many people, eating disorder symptoms are closely connected to how they experience and evaluate their bodies. Body dissatisfaction may involve frequent comparison with others, checking or avoiding mirrors, repeatedly seeking reassurance, difficulty wearing certain clothing, or believing that weight or appearance determines self-worth.
Therapy can help clients recognize rigid or distorted patterns of thinking, reduce behaviors that reinforce body preoccupation, and develop a more balanced relationship with their bodies. The goal is not to convince someone that they must love every aspect of their appearance, but to help body size and shape occupy less emotional space in their life.
Treatment also addresses the social, cultural, and interpersonal pressures that can contribute to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
Medication and Eating Disorder Treatment
Medication can be an important part of care for some individuals. Medication may be considered when eating disorder symptoms occur alongside anxiety, depression, OCD, difficulties with emotional regulation, or other mental health concerns.
For some eating disorders, medication may also be used as part of the treatment of the eating disorder itself. Decisions about medication should take into account the individual’s symptoms, physical health, nutritional status, other medications, and overall treatment plan.
Medication management is available through our practice, allowing clients to receive psychiatric care that can be coordinated with their therapist and, when appropriate, other members of their treatment team.
Nutrition and the Mind–Body Connection
Nutrition and mental health are closely connected. Inadequate or inconsistent nutrition can affect concentration, sleep, mood, anxiety, energy, and emotional regulation, while psychological distress can make eating regularly and flexibly more difficult.
Eating disorder treatment is not about prescribing a particular diet or labeling foods as “good” or “bad.” When nutritional support is needed, we encourage collaboration with a registered dietitian experienced in eating disorders who can address nutritional needs while therapy focuses on the emotional, behavioral, and psychological aspects of recovery.
For some clients, medical conditions, sensory differences, gastrointestinal concerns, or other individual factors may also influence eating. These concerns should be considered as part of the larger clinical picture rather than assuming every difficulty with food has the same cause.
When Outpatient Therapy Is Not Enough
Finding the Right Level of Care
Not every eating disorder can be treated safely with outpatient therapy. Significant weight loss, medical instability, severe restriction, frequent purging, inability to maintain adequate nutrition, or other serious symptoms may require more intensive treatment and medical monitoring.
When a higher level of care is needed, we will talk openly with clients and families about our concerns and help identify appropriate next steps. This may include intensive outpatient treatment, partial hospitalization, residential treatment, or inpatient medical or psychiatric care.
The goal is not to provide more treatment than someone needs—or less. It is to help each person receive the level of support necessary to protect their health and give treatment the best opportunity to be effective.
When an Evaluation May Be Helpful
Eating disorder symptoms can overlap with or be influenced by other concerns, including anxiety, OCD, ADHD, autism, depression, trauma, and sensory differences. Understanding the complete clinical picture can be important when symptoms are complex or previous treatment has not been effective.
When appropriate, comprehensive psychological evaluation can help identify co-occurring conditions and clarify factors that may be affecting treatment and recovery. Our practice provides psychological evaluations for children, adolescents, and adults, with recommendations tailored to the individual.
Getting Started
You Don’t Have to Wait Until It Gets Worse
You do not need to be certain that you or your child has an eating disorder before reaching out. If concerns about food, eating, exercise, weight, or body image are beginning to interfere with daily life, relationships, physical health, or emotional well-being, it is appropriate to ask for help.
We will talk with you about what is happening, determine whether outpatient treatment with our practice is an appropriate fit, and discuss other resources or levels of care when needed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Eating Disorder Treatment
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to seek help. If thoughts or behaviors related to food, eating, exercise, weight, or body image are causing distress or interfering with daily life, therapy may be appropriate.
Yes. Our clinicians work with a range of eating disorders and disordered eating concerns. Whether outpatient treatment is appropriate depends on the individual’s symptoms, medical stability, and level of support needed.
Parent involvement is determined by the child's age, needs, symptoms, and treatment plan. We respect adolescents’ need for a confidential therapeutic relationship while recognizing that parents and caregivers play an important role in treatment and recovery.
Not everyone will need the same treatment team. Because eating disorders can affect physical and nutritional health, we may recommend evaluation or ongoing care with a physician or registered dietitian. When appropriate and with permission, we can collaborate with other providers involved in treatment.
If we believe a client needs more intensive treatment or medical monitoring than we can safely provide, we will discuss this directly and recommend an appropriate higher level of care.
Take the First Step Toward a Healthier Relationship With Food and Your Body
Eating disorder recovery is possible, and you do not have to wait until symptoms become severe to seek support. Whether you are concerned about yourself, your teen, or a young adult in your family, we can help you determine an appropriate next step.
Our clinicians provide individualized eating disorder treatment for adolescents and adults, with additional services available when appropriate, including psychological evaluation and medication management.
Copyright © 2021 Kristin A. Krippa, M.A., - All Rights Reserved. COUNSELING, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT, Psychological Evaluations, Group therapy CHILDREN, TEENS, ADULTS, ATTACHMENT PARENTING, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, RELATIONSHIPS, STRESS, PARENTING CONSULTS, CARY, NC
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