Binge Eating
Binge Eating Therapy in Austin
Binge eating is rarely about willpower and often about relief. Here we approach it with curiosity instead of shame, grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model: no moralizing about food, no disguised pursuit of thinness, and no new set of rules to fail.
What binge eating can feel like
You may eat past fullness in private, quickly and almost on autopilot, then feel the shame arrive the moment it is over. You promise yourself tomorrow will be different. You may restrict, skip meals or follow strict rules all day, only to find the evening ends in another binge. Other people may call it a lack of discipline. To you it may feel like the one reliable way to get relief from stress, loneliness, exhaustion or pain that has nowhere else to go.
- Eating past fullness in private, then the shame afterward
- Cycles of restriction followed by a binge
- Starting over every Monday
- Thoughts about food that crowd out everything else
- Eating differently when no one is watching
Why the binge makes sense
A binge is doing a job. It may quiet anxiety, numb a painful memory, fill an empty evening, or offer the only rest your day allowed. When we understand the job, the behavior stops looking like a character flaw and starts looking like a coping strategy that has outlived its usefulness. Restriction often sets the stage, too. When your body goes without during the day, it can push back hard later, and the cycle feels like proof that you cannot be trusted around food. That conclusion deserves a second look.
Sometimes binge eating sits on top of something older, such as trauma, family patterns around food and bodies, or years of pressure to look a certain way. Trauma is the primary specialty of this practice. If it is part of your story, we move as fast as your nervous system allows and as slow as your story requires, and you do not have to retell everything. Trauma therapy can become part of this work when you are ready.
Intuitive Eating, without the rules
In practice, the Intuitive Eating Model means we stop treating food as a moral test. There are no good days and bad days based on what you ate, and no plan to follow perfectly. Instead we work on rebuilding trust with your body: noticing hunger before it becomes urgent, noticing fullness without panic, and slowly making peace with foods that have felt off limits. The aim is for food to take up less space in your mind, so the rest of your life can take up more. Intuitive eating counseling explains the model in more depth.
My own recovery, briefly
I have been in recovery from an eating disorder for almost two decades. I share that briefly, not because my story is the same as yours, but because it shapes how I sit with you. Shame can make it hard to even say the word binge out loud, and hope can feel risky when you have tried many times before. You do not have to perform progress for me. Setbacks are treated as information, not failure, and we go at your pace. You can read more of my story if it helps.
When weekly sessions are not enough room
When weekly sessions keep getting interrupted by the next cycle, an eating disorder intensive offers concentrated time grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model. You can choose 1 day of 6 hours for $1,000; 2 days totaling 11 hours for $1,800; or 3 days totaling 16 hours for $2,500. Breaks and pacing are built in. Longer does not mean forced; safety, consent and your capacity still guide the day. Neither weekly therapy nor an intensive is better, and we decide together on the free consultation.
Medical care, body image and how we meet
Therapy works alongside medical care, not in place of it. If your body needs medical attention, that comes first. If the mirror is as loud as the food, body image therapy is closely connected to this work. In-person sessions are at my Southwest Austin office, 5900 Southwest Pkwy, Building 5, Suite 230, on Fridays and some select other times and days as schedules allow. Telehealth is available anywhere in Texas while you are located in Texas, in English or Spanish. Weekly individual sessions are $190 for 50 minutes or $275 for 80 minutes.
Common Questions
Is this a diet or a meal plan?
No. I work from the Intuitive Eating Model, which means no moralizing about food, no disguised pursuit of thinness, and no new set of rules to fail. The focus is making peace with food and your body.
Do I need a binge eating diagnosis to start?
No. You do not need a diagnosis to start. A few honest sentences about what has been hardest are enough for the free 15-minute phone consultation.
What do eating disorder intensives cost?
Eating Disorder Intensives are $1,000 for 1 day (6 hours), $1,800 for 2 days (11 hours) and $2,500 for 3 days (16 hours). Breaks and pacing are built in, and safety, consent and your capacity guide the day.
Can I do this work by telehealth?
Yes. Telehealth is available by secure video anywhere in Texas, in English or Spanish, as long as you are located in Texas during each session.
The consultation is free and there is no obligation on either side.
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