Eating Disorder Intensive
Eating Disorder Intensives
When food, body image and exercise have started to crowd out everything else, one session a week can feel too small for what you are carrying. An eating disorder intensive gives the work one to three focused days, grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model and paced so you can stay present.
When Food and Body Take Up Too Much Room
Food and body can take over quietly. Maybe it is eating past fullness in private and the shame that follows. Maybe it is a cycle of restriction followed by a binge, then a promise to do better tomorrow. Maybe the mirror sets the tone for your whole day, or exercise has stopped being something you enjoy and become something you owe. However it shows up, food, body image and exercise can take on a kind of power that eclipses work, relationships and rest. Binge eating is rarely about willpower and often about relief, and the pages on binge eating therapy and body image describe the weekly side of this work.
Grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model
Every eating disorder intensive is grounded in the Intuitive Eating Model, the same model I work from week to week. That means no moralizing about food, no disguised pursuit of thinness, and no new set of rules to fail. An intensive is not another food plan. It is focused time to rebuild trust in your body: listening to hunger and fullness cues, finding joy in nourishment, reducing guilt and shame, and limiting the power that food, body image and exercise have come to have in your life. The page on intuitive eating counseling explains the model in more detail.
Three Lengths and What They Cost
Eating disorder intensives come in three lengths. A single day gives you six hours of focused work, while two or three days let the work deepen, rest overnight and pick back up the next morning. There is also the initial assessment that applies to every service, 80 minutes for $275. That gives us room to shape the time around your history and what you want to be different.
Like every service here, an intensive is self-pay, with payment due at the time of service. Monthly superbills are available for possible out-of-network reimbursement, and the rates page lists every fee along with the cancellation policy. Cost is a fair thing to raise on the free consultation. It will not offend me, and if the numbers feel like a barrier, I would rather you say so plainly.
- 1 day, 6 hours: $1,000
- 2 days, 11 hours: $1,800
- 3 days, 16 hours: $2,500
The Shape of a Six-Hour Day
Knowing the shape of the day ahead of time can take some of the fear out of it. Here is a sample one-day rhythm. It is an example, not a rigid agenda, and exact pacing and breaks are personalized. If a lunch break feels loaded for you, say so; that is something we can plan for together in advance rather than pretend it is neutral.
- 9:00 Arrive, settle and set the day's focus
- 9:30 A focused block with pacing breaks
- 12:00 Lunch and quiet integration time
- 1:00 Continue the work and practice new responses
- 3:00 Grounding, next steps and the transition home
Safety, Consent and Your Capacity Lead
Six hours is a long time to stay with hard material, so pacing is part of the plan from the start rather than an afterthought. Longer does not mean forced. Safety, consent and your capacity still guide the day, and you can slow down, take a break or say no to a topic at any point without anything bad happening. We move as fast as your nervous system allows and as slow as your story requires.
An intensive is not a substitute for medical care. If your body needs medical attention, that comes first, ahead of any therapy schedule, and I would rather we pause than push past it. If you are unsure whether that applies to you, bring it up on the free consultation and we will talk it through honestly before anything is booked.
Why This Work Is Personal to Me
My own history is part of why I do this work. I have been in recovery from an eating disorder for almost two decades, and I call myself a recovering perfectionist. I share that briefly, not because my path is a template for yours, but because I know from the inside how much courage it takes to be known. It shaped how I understand safety, shame and the slow work of making peace with food and your body. Present over Perfect applies here too: you do not have to do an intensive perfectly for it to matter. You can read my story if it helps to know who you would be working with.
Common Questions
Will I be given a meal plan or new food rules?
No. The Intuitive Eating Model means no moralizing about food, no disguised pursuit of thinness, and no new set of rules to fail. The focus is rebuilding trust in your body and reducing the power food, body image and exercise have taken on.
What do eating disorder intensives cost?
A one-day intensive is 6 hours for $1,000. A two-day intensive is 11 hours for $1,800. A three-day intensive is 16 hours for $2,500.
What if my body needs medical care?
Medical care comes first. An intensive is not a substitute for it, and if your body needs medical attention, that takes priority over any therapy schedule.
Is an intensive better than weekly therapy?
Neither format is better. Weekly sessions give you time to practice between appointments, while an intensive can help when momentum keeps getting lost or weekly appointments are hard to sustain. We decide together on the free consultation.
The consultation is free and there is no obligation on either side.
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