Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing
In-Network Insurance Companies:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
- Aetna PPO
- United Healthcare/UMR PPO
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Specialties & Areas of Focus:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
- Trauma and Complex Trauma (PTSD and CPTSD)
- Relationships
- College students and young adults
Modalities & Theoretical Lenses:
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Self-Compassion
- Intersectional Feminist and Feminist Therapy
- Fat Liberation
- Health At Every Size
- Antiracist
- LGBTQ+ Affirming
- Trans+ Affirming
Age Groups Served:
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
Additional Populations Served & Allied Groups:
- LGBTQIA+
- BIPOC
- Perfectionists
- College Students
- Chronic Illness/Disability
Languages Services Offered In:
- English
- English
My Philosophy of Care
I have special interest in working with people who struggle with self-criticism and desire greater self-compassion and better understanding of themselves. One of my goals for all my clients is that they foster the same genuine compassion toward themselves that they so readily offer to their loved ones. Past clients have shared that our therapy work has felt consistently compassionate, warm, informal, and sensitive to the impact of culture and identity.
I value exploration of impactful early experiences to help clients better understand themselves and their challenges. This includes exploring the impact of various social identities and marginalized experiences, like racism, fatphobia, misogyny, and ableism. Equipped with this insight, I work with clients to explore new ways of approaching their problems.
When working with clients who may struggle in relationship to their bodies, I utilize a Health At Every Size (HAES) approach. This means that I de-emphasize the importance of weight/body size, center holistic health and body inclusivity, and denounce size discrimination. Through this approach, I support clients in the development of a relationship to their bodies characterized by flexibility, acceptance, pleasure, and compassion.
About Me & My Practice
I first encountered ASDAH and Health At Every Size while training on the eating disorders treatment team during my doctoral internship at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Learning to treat eating disorders as a clinician-in-training, led me to a very personal process of confronting the harmful diet culture beliefs I had unknowingly internalized about others' bodies, as well as my own.
Challenging the harms of diet culture and integrating the principles of Health At Every Size has been deeply challenging and personally liberating. I've become passionate about integrating these principles into my work as a therapist, particularly with my clients of size, who may have received messages their whole lives about the inherent "wrongness" of their bodies. I believe that bearing the stigma and shame of diet culture moves us further away from true health. Instead, I support my clients in finding a version of health that is not merely a performance for others, but an authentic practice of rest, nourishment, play, and joy.
Accessibility Considerations
At the moment, my therapy practice is fully virtual. Sessions are held over a HIPAA-secure teletherapy platform which can be accessed by a smartphone or computer with a webcam. Clients must be located in the state of Illinois snd in a private location.