Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy
Break free from food and body image stress and build a healthier, more balanced life. Serving teens and adults in the Palo Alto Bay Area and online across California.
Decrease Preoccupation With Food & Your Body
Get relief from constant worries about food, weight, & how you look.
Build a Healthier Relationship With Food
Learn to eat in a way that feels more natural & balanced, without guilt or stress.
Live With More Freedom
Have more time and energy for the things that truly matter to you—beyond food & body concerns.
The pressure to look a certain way is exhausting
In a world that constantly pushes unrealistic beauty standards, especially for women, it can feel like no matter how much you plan, restrict, or try to control your eating—it’s never enough. Society’s expectations, combined with the pressure you put on yourself, can make it seem like you’re always chasing an impossible ideal. Over time, this takes a toll—not just on your body, but on your mind and sense of self.
At Core Wellness Living & Family Therapy, we’re here to help you break free from disordered eating and find peace with food and your body.
Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy | Palo Alto Bay Area
- Feeling trapped in a cycle of food obsession, unable to focus on anything else.
- Avoiding social events or meals because of anxiety about food or your body.
- Feeling constantly exhausted by thoughts of calories, weight, or appearance.
- Comparing your body to others and always feeling like you're falling short.
- Wanting to change your relationship with food but struggling to break old patterns.
- Dodging meals or conversations about eating to avoid discomfort.
- Feeling disconnected from loved ones, even as you try to maintain control over your eating.
- Thinking, “I shouldn’t feel this way,” but not knowing how to stop.
Who Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy Can Help
If you find yourself constantly thinking about what to eat, when to eat, or how your body looks—you’re not alone. Disordered eating exists on a spectrum, and even without a diagnosis, harmful patterns like obsessing over food, dieting, or feeling out of control around eating can take a toll on your life. You may feel stuck in cycles of restricting, overeating, or compensating, or believe that changing your body is the only way to feel successful, accomplished, or “enough”.
At Core Wellness Living & Family Therapy, we help you break free from these patterns by addressing the deeper emotions and beliefs driving them. Disordered eating isn’t just about food—it’s about the pressures, guilt, and shame tied to it. Eating disorder therapy can help you develop a healthier relationship with food, your body, and yourself.
We use approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to challenge unhelpful thoughts, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to manage overwhelming emotions, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you focus on what truly matters. For teens, we also offer Family-Based Treatment (FBT) and Adolescent-Focused Therapy (AFT) to include loved ones in the process.
Your body is not your identity—who you are is so much more than how you look. Therapy can help you reconnect with yourself, find freedom from food and body stress, and start living with more balance and ease.
Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy | Palo Alto Bay Area
What The Spectrum Of Disordered Eating Can Look Like
Disordered eating exists on a spectrum, ranging from mild preoccupation with food and body image to more severe and harmful patterns. It can include:
Rigid Control Over Eating
Obsessively counting calories, avoiding certain foods, or feeling anxious about meals.
Binge Eating
Eating large amounts of food in a short period, often followed by guilt or shame.
Restricting & Compensating
Skipping meals, overexercising, purging, or using other methods to "make up" for eating.
Constant Food & Body Thoughts
Spending most of your mental energy worrying about food, weight, or appearance.
Emotional Eating
Overly relying on food to cope with stress, sadness, or other emotions.
Types of Eating Disorders We Can Help With:
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Binge Eating Disorder
- Other Specified Eating Disorders (OSFED)
- Disordered Eating
- Chronic Dieting
- Negative Body Image
- Anxiety and Mood-Related Symptoms
Challenge the belief that changing your body will make you feel “worthy” or “enough”
We understand how deeply ingrained this belief can be—that if only you could lose weight or change your appearance, everything else in life would fall into place. Eating disorder therapy helps you explore these thoughts and shift your focus from external validation to building a stronger sense of self-worth that isn’t tied to your weight or body shape.
Feel less alone
Untangle deeply internalized cultural beauty standards
Find a path to happiness that isn’t about appearance
Work toward accepting your body as it is
Who We Are
Why Work With Core Wellness Living & Family Therapy
Life can be complicated.
The demands of work, family, relationships, and self-expectations can feel overwhelming, leaving you unsure of how to cope. At times, it may seem like there’s too much to balance, and managing it all becomes exhausting. In these moments, it’s easy to feel stuck or disconnected from the life you truly want to live.
At Core Wellness Living, we believe therapy is where clarity begins. It’s a space to make sense of your experiences and learn healthier ways to manage stress and emotions. We help you embrace your imperfections, find strength in your individuality, and connect with the shared human experience.
Our diverse team of therapists brings over 15 years of combined experience, offering a personalized approach that honors your culture, history, and personal journey, using evidence-based methods to guide you toward meaningful change.
The values behind Core Wellness Living & Family Therapy
Genuineness
We believe that being comfortable with who you are is key to meaningful change. Our approach is open, authentic, and grounded, helping you embrace your own truth.
Common Humanity
We all face struggles, make mistakes, and experience pain. Instead of seeing these challenges as personal failings, we view them as a part of being human.
Compassion
We believe that showing kindness and empathy to both ourselves and others can foster deeper connections, promote healing, and create a more compassionate world.
Curiosity
We encourage a mindset of curiosity—a desire to explore new ideas and perspectives that invite growth and help us better understand ourselves and the world around us.
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Meet Our Team
Match With An Eating Disorder Therapist
Find the right eating disorder therapist or counselor for you. Browse our team profiles or contact us to get matched. Our team is available for in-person therapy in the Palo Alto Bay Area or online therapy sessions across California.
Our Approach
How Eating Disorder Therapy Works
1. We take the time to get to know you
We start by learning about your history with food, body image, and exercise. Our goal is to build trust, understand your unique story and explore where you are facing your greatest challenges. Depending on your needs, we assess whether outpatient eating disorder therapy is the appropriate level of care for you to begin your recovery journey.
2. We create a plan together.
3. We support you every step of the way.
“And I said to my body softly, ‘I want to be your friend.’ It took a long breath and replied, ‘I have been waiting my whole life for this.’” — Nayyirah Waheed
Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy | Palo Alto Bay Area
Questions About Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy
What is Family-Based Treatment (FBT)?
What is Adolescent-Focused Therapy (AFT)?
Is eating disorder treatment different for teens and adults?
Yes and no. The goals of recovery are the same, but the approach can differ. Treatment for adults focuses on stopping disordered behaviors, resolving medical and health issues, and building on their motivation to recover.
Adults have the choice to engage in treatment, and many seek therapy after years of struggling with disordered eating and its consequences. Ambivalence and resistance to change are common, which can lead to long-term illness and challenges. Motivation may be inconsistent, often linked to health concerns or external pressure from others.
In contrast, eating disorder treatment for teens and minors involves a greater emphasis on family support. The primary goal is to ensure the teen enters adulthood with a healthy, nourished body and mind to set them up for a successful future.
What if my eating disorder isn’t that bad?
There are many misconceptions about eating disorders, and there’s no such thing as being “not sick enough” to need help. Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect people of all ages, body shapes, sizes, and weights. Early intervention significantly improves treatment outcomes.
Resistance to treatment is common, as denying or downplaying symptoms is a known sign of brain changes caused by eating disorders and malnutrition. Anosognosia, the inability to recognize one’s own illness, is a frequent symptom of restrictive eating disorders. It’s not a choice or conscious denial but rather a feature of brain dysfunction, which is further complicated and negatively enforced by cultural ideals and capitalistic influences values in our society.
Is recovery even possible?
Yes! Recovery is absolutely possible. It involves achieving and maintaining a healthy weight based on individual growth history and establishing regular, balanced eating patterns that meet the body’s needs.
Therapy is a place where you can build awareness, learn new skills, and strengthen your motivation for recovery. The process is unique for each person, but the ultimate goal is to accept your natural body shape and size, stop engaging in disordered eating behaviors, and develop a healthier, more realistic perspective on food, body weight, and body image.
Do I need to work with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders? Why?
Yes, working with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders is highly recommended. Eating disorder treatment is a specialized field that requires extensive training in evidence-based practices, ongoing education, certification, supervision, and consultation. Specialists have experience with specific treatment approaches such as Family-Based Treatment (FBT), Adolescent-Focused Therapy (AFT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
At Core Wellness, our team includes therapists trained in these areas, ensuring you receive the expert care needed for recovery. These therapists are also skilled in working as part of a treatment team, coordinating care with professionals like dietitians, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and primary care providers. Additionally, they have established referral networks and resources, including an important understanding of the various levels of care in ED treatment and appropriate referral sources to higher levels of care when necessary. Working with a specialized therapist ensures you’re receiving the most effective, comprehensive treatment possible.
Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy | Palo Alto Bay Area
What You Can Expect From Disordered Eating & Eating Disorder Therapy
While everyone’s journey is different, with time, effort, and commitment to therapy, you may experience:
- A more balanced and accepting relationship with food and your body
- Freedom from obsessive thoughts about appearance and food
- Increased emotional resilience and the ability to manage stress without using disordered behaviors
- More time and energy to focus on personal goals, relationships, and the future
- A sense of self-worth not tied to body size or weight
Core Wellness Living & Family Therapy
How To Get Started
Ready to take the next step or have questions? You can schedule a free 15-minute consultation, send us a message through our contact form, or give us a call—we’re here to make getting started as easy as possible.
