Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing
Kate Morris, LICSW
(she/her)
Clinical Social Worker / Therapist
Among the Trees Counseling and Wellness
Virtual,
Vermont,
United States
Contact Me:
Make an Appointment:
Waitlist Available
Specialties & Areas of Focus:
- eating disorders
- disordered eating
- family feeding
- intuitive eating
- anorexia nervosa
- bulimia nervosa
- binge eating disorder
Modalities & Theoretical Lenses:
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Relational Cultural Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
- Intersectional Feminism
- Fat Liberation
- Trauma-Informed Care
Age Groups Served:
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
Additional Populations Served & Allied Groups:
- parents
- perimenopausal women
- LGBTQIA+
- college students
- people with eating and/or body image disturbance
Languages Services Offered In:
- English
- English
My Philosophy of Care
I believe that my clients are the experts on their own lives and that their lived experiences and decisions, especially those made to prioritize their safety, are paramount to any perspective I have. Primary of my tasks, then, is listening, creating a relationship that is safe, respectful, and growth-fostering. I draw from Feminist Theory and Relational Cultural Theory to do this well.
That said, I also believe we live in a world that capitalizes on the marginalization of vulnerable people, and that in a context convinced of their unworthiness, it can be hard for many of my clients to find a counternarrative. For that reason, I rely on Health at Every Size® (HAES®). Its insistence on the worth and dignity of all bodies and its expanded definition of health IS the counternarrative.
Recent research by Meadows and Higgs (2022) found that people who believed that weight stigma was justified were more likely to experience internalized weight stigma and have lower self-worth as a result. However, people who recognized that weight stigma was wrong were protected from this.
So I rely on HAES® as a protective, more humane context in which clients can begin to conceive of themselves. I use it alongside Internal Family Systems, which validates internal parts that form to protect clients (e.g., a self-critical part), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which allows for the possibility of accepting thoughts without acting on them and instead choosing behavior driven by one’s values.
That said, I also believe we live in a world that capitalizes on the marginalization of vulnerable people, and that in a context convinced of their unworthiness, it can be hard for many of my clients to find a counternarrative. For that reason, I rely on Health at Every Size® (HAES®). Its insistence on the worth and dignity of all bodies and its expanded definition of health IS the counternarrative.
Recent research by Meadows and Higgs (2022) found that people who believed that weight stigma was justified were more likely to experience internalized weight stigma and have lower self-worth as a result. However, people who recognized that weight stigma was wrong were protected from this.
So I rely on HAES® as a protective, more humane context in which clients can begin to conceive of themselves. I use it alongside Internal Family Systems, which validates internal parts that form to protect clients (e.g., a self-critical part), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which allows for the possibility of accepting thoughts without acting on them and instead choosing behavior driven by one’s values.
About Me & My Practice
I came to Health at Every Size® as part of my own recovery from eating disorders. Up until that point, I did not know that it was possible to “be healthy,” which felt like a value of mine, and gain weight, which would be critical to my recovery. Learning about Health at Every Size felt like a gift, like breathing room, and like the scientific evidence that I needed to achieve recovery, allowing as it did for health and weight to be both related (i.e. yes, you can be in a bigger body and be healthy, if that is something that you choose to pursue) and unrelated (i.e. health is not contingent on and involves much more than weight).
From that point on, it became a part of my world view. And since then, I have embraced it as not only an approach to individual clinical care, but also social justice. I focused on HAES®-informed models of eating disorder treatment and clinical psychotherapy in graduate school, I received HAES®-informed supervision during pre-licensure work (and still today), and I have attended and continue to attend trainings on weight-inclusive eating disorder care.
In recent years, as I have become more confident in what I know and can contribute, I have prioritized advocacy for my clients and others.
More personally, I am a mom to three humans and one dog, and I love being outside, eating good food, reading most things, and sleeping. I also really and truly love my work, for which I’m never not grateful.
From that point on, it became a part of my world view. And since then, I have embraced it as not only an approach to individual clinical care, but also social justice. I focused on HAES®-informed models of eating disorder treatment and clinical psychotherapy in graduate school, I received HAES®-informed supervision during pre-licensure work (and still today), and I have attended and continue to attend trainings on weight-inclusive eating disorder care.
In recent years, as I have become more confident in what I know and can contribute, I have prioritized advocacy for my clients and others.
More personally, I am a mom to three humans and one dog, and I love being outside, eating good food, reading most things, and sleeping. I also really and truly love my work, for which I’m never not grateful.
Accessibility Considerations
As I provide my services via teletherapy, my clients can meet me from wherever they are most comfortable, provided they have access to the internet and a private space. I only refer clients to dietitians and other professionals who are competent in Health at Every Size®-informed practices. If and when there is a situation in which that is not possible, or when a client needs the services of someone with whom I am not familiar, I work closely with clients, equipping them with information that will enable them to advocate for themselves and/or educating providers on their behalf, thereby working to ensure their safety and comfort.