Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing
Alex Raymond, RD, LD, CEDS-S
(she/her)
Registered Dietitian
Courage to Nourish
Columbia,
Maryland,
United States
Contact Me:
Make an Appointment:
Special Instructions: We will get back to you within 24 hours (unless it's a Friday-Saturday). If you are leaving us a voicemail, please include your email address if you'd like for us to follow up via email.
Sliding Scale Available
Additional information about where I can practice: We have 3 in person locations. College Park, MD, Columbia, MD and Alexandria, VA.
Specialties & Areas of Focus:
- Eating Disorders
- Weight Inclusive Nutrition Therapy
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
- Binge Eating Disorder
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)
- Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
- Relative Energy Deficiency In Sport
Modalities & Theoretical Lenses:
- Health at Every Size
- Intuitive Eating
- Anti-Diet
Age Groups Served:
- Children (birth through 12 years)
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
- Children (birth through 12 years)
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
Additional Populations Served & Allied Groups:
- LGBTQIA+ Community
- BIPOC Community
- Jewish Community
Languages Services Offered In:
- English
- English
My Philosophy of Care
One thing I most enjoy as a HAES dietitian is supporting my clients in recognizing and then challenging fat phobic or diet culture beliefs they hold. My role is to provide guidance as I support my clients to do the deeper work in exploring their relationship with food, body and movement. HAES is important to me because I’ve seen firsthand how this framework supports clients in reaching levels of recovery they never thought possible. I’ve seen the relief when clients realize that weight doesn’t have to be the center of their healthcare/recovery. I take the approach of supporting clients in deciding what feels “right” to them - and this of course looks different for everyone and might look different for the same person on different days! We might discuss principles of intuitive eating and how there is an abundance of nuance in these principles. HAES has opened many doors for me to challenge myself and provide quality nutrition care to my clients. As a person with many privileges, I never had to think about different definitions of “health.” Or how oppression, including weight stigma, can negatively impact health. HAES has helped to guide me in keeping my clients and their needs at the front of my mind, instead of trying to come into my sessions with an agenda.
About Me & My Practice
My alignment with HAES, as it does for many people, has shifted and grown over the years. As a college student, I knew I wanted to help people live "healthier" lives and feel better about themselves. What that statement means to me now (10 years later!) surely has shifted! I know now that "health" looks different for everyone (and it also isn't a priority for everyone!). And while helping people "feel better about themselves" sounds great, I realize there are many layers of complexity with the various systems of oppression in our culture.
I learned about HAES through reading the Intuitive Eating book. Once I dove into the research about dieting, there was no turning back! While I live life in a thin body, and can't understand what it's like to experience levels of weight stigma fat individuals do, I have worked with many fat and superfat+ clients. Like I do with all clients, I let my fat clients lead the way when talking about their food, health care and body experiences. I am not an expert on anyone else's body, nor do I try to be. Advocating for clients is part of my job. This could mean making phone calls to clients doctors or supporting them in finding a local HAES-aligned physician.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my husband and pets! We currently have a dog named Marlon and cat named Poe. We love the Ravens and trying new restaurants in DC. I can't get enough of reading psychological thrillers (but at this point I can almost guess the twist at the end!)
Accessibility Considerations
Our three different in person offices are wheelchair accessible. We also took into account accessibility for individuals of higher weights. We do share an office with an integrative medicine doc in College Park, however, we are not associated with them (they also have their own office space, so if they do have scales they are hidden). In our Columbia and Alexandria offices, the bathrooms are labeled "men" and "women." Unfortunately, we do not have control of this, but we understand this language/bathroom requirements aren't inclusive.